The riding of Newmarket-Aurora is without an incumbent after Liberal MP Kyle Peterson decided not to run in this year’s election.
Liberal candidate and former mayor of Newmarket, Tony Van Bynen, is hoping to take his place to keep the riding red.
A banker for thirty years, Van Bynen became a Newmarket town councillor in 2000, then the mayor from 2006 until 2018 when he made the decision to run in the federal race.
“As a municipal mayor you really get to see and understand what the effects of both federal and provincial policy has on your municipality, said Van Bynen, “So I've decided I'm going to be an advocate for our municipality in Ottawa.”
His priorities for the riding include tackling climate change, reducing hospital volumes and preserving local heritage.
Conservative candidate Lois Brown is hoping to win back the riding-seat she held from 2008 to 2015.
On Saturday she spoke about her priorities for the riding at a cadet event at Aurora Town Hall.
“The cost of living is increasing on families and the issue of affordability is one that I have heard over and over,” said Brown.
NDP Candidate Yvonne Kelley is a social worker with a background in community development. She is also concerned about affordability and rising inequality.
She says her local priorities include climate change and local housing.
People are paying higher amounts of their income on rental and mortgages so that makes them very much at risk for homelessness.
Green candidate Walter Bauer says he would like to see the riding lead by example when it comes to reducing carbon emissions.
We need to electrify our buses, perhaps smaller buses, we need to offer incentives for retrofitting houses,” said Bauer.
The engineer, who has worked on solar farms, wind farms and nuclear stations, says climate action is his main priority.
“I've been hearing reports from climate scientists for thirty years and at first, like everybody else, I ignored it, but now I'm extremely concerned and I thought we have to do something about that"
