Candidates who were part of a Thursday election panel had different approaches toward tackling the environment

Thursday’s candidates debate hosted by the Muslim Society of Guelph focused heavily on provincial cuts and the climate crisis.

The night began with Islamic speaker Muhammad Hassan Ilyas discussing the importance of democracy in the Islamic faith, saying that picking the right leader is not just a religious duty, but a generational one.

“We have to choose a candidate, not on the base of religion. We have to choose on the basis of their agenda, their moral consciousness, their social behaviours,” said Ilyas encouraging community members to enter the political system if they want to see a change in their society.

With local Green Party candidate Steve Dyck, NDP candidate Aisha Jahangir, Conservative Party candidate Ashish Sachan and Liberal incumbent Lloyd Longfield present at the panel, the room of approximately 60 people saw many conflicting views.

When discussing the recent provincial cuts, Sachan said there's a lack of cooperation at the provincial and federal level here in Guelph because we have a Green MPP, Liberal MP and Conservative Premier— something Longfield immediately rebutted.

“The fact that the governments are not getting along, I think shows that the people that have elected them need to stand up. Having a separate council isn't going to improve relationships,” said Longfield as the packed room of 60 people filled with applause.

“Regardless of whether it is federal or provincial or really even municipal, we need to be focused on policy, we need to be focused on people we are serving and not focused on what political games we can get that are dividing Canadians, but how we can bring Canadians together.”

Mayor Cam Guthrie and MPP Mike Schreiner were present in the audience along with local Communist Party candidate Juanita Burnett who was not participating in the panel.

When the candidates were questioned about their intent to implement a plan for the Green New Deal to address the climate emergency for their riding and for the country, Dyck said the Green party would reduce carbon emission by 60 per cent by 2030.

“This is what science requires,” said Dyck.

Longfield acknowledged that while the environment is the talk of the election, the Liberal government has already put in a plan to go forward in June.

Longfield said reaching net-zero emission by 2050 is also the goal of the federal government by working on transportation emissions, retrofitting homes and agriculture methods to help reach the goal.

Jahangir disagreed with environmental points on the panel stating that the Conservatives and Greens both want to cut off oil imports and build energy corridors that would take Alberta oil from the west that would have to be transported through indigenous territory and Quebec.

She also stated that the Liberals infringed on the rights of Indigenous peoples by building a pipeline and the NDP will do things differently by creating, $3.3 million in subsidies, standing up for workers rights, creating 300,000 new clean technology jobs, holding companies accountable for pollution, and introducing a climate accountability office.

Dyck rebutted Jahangir’s point on the environment stating that the Green Party is not talking about building pipelines across Canada.

“We don't need to build new infrastructure. We have all the oil capacity. We don't need to buy oil from Nigeria or Saudi Arabia,” said Dyck while also questioning the NDP’s plan to reduce 37 percent emissions by 2030 while the Green Party promises to reduce almost double the amount— a point Jahangir rebutted.

Jahangir said the NDP is committed to keeping emissions low to keep the temperature on an average of 1.5 degrees.

"We have to invest in science, yes. But we can't invest in an industry that's going to die in 30 years. That brings us 38 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 but to make up the rest of it, we know we need to vocalize all Canadians because this is in the best interest of all Canadians and society and we will implement solutions together because the government cannot do this alone," said Jahangir.

Sachan stated his disagreement towards the carbon tax

“I absolutely don't believe in taxes. I don't believe in the carbon tax. I believe in science,” said Sachan.

“Also I don't believe that the government can be responsible by taking taxes away from you and making the decisions undermining who are the winners and losers. So its science and power to the people and confidence that Canadians can do the right thing.”