Naila Saeed- NDP
Jason Cherniak - Liberal
The other candidates did not respond
Naila Saeed (NDP)
1 . What do you see as Richmond Hill’s strengths and weaknesses?
Richmond Hill is a vibrant and diverse community with a strong local economy, great schools, and beautiful green spaces. However, affordability—whether it’s housing, transit, or everyday living costs—continues to be a major challenge. Our community needs investment in infrastructure, housing, and healthcare to ensure a high quality of life for all residents.
2. We need more mental health care. People and families are suffering. What are your party’s plans to address this need?
The Ontario NDP is committed to making mental health care more accessible by integrating it into OHIP, hiring more mental health professionals, and ensuring timely access to support services. We recognize that long wait times and high costs prevent many people from getting the help they need, and we will work to fix that.
3. I have paid attention to the Alliance for Liveable Ontario’s 5 Ways Home. Five Ways Home
Build in the right places
Build a wide variety of housing types
Build smarter and faster
Invest heavily in non-market, affordable housing
Make housing affordable and part of liveable communities.
What do you think of this report, and which ones of these 5 action items do you believe would help Richmond Hill have more housing?
I support the core principles of the 5 Ways Home framework, especially investing in non-market, affordable housing and ensuring that new developments create complete, liveable communities. The NDP will implement policies to build truly affordable housing, protect renters, and ensure sustainable growth in Richmond Hill.
4. I am concerned about the city’s ability to mitigate the damage of increased severe weather. I believe the biggest concern in Richmond Hill is flooding. Would you ask for more provincial funding for Richmond Hill to build the needed infrastructure?
Climate change is increasing the risk of severe weather events, and Richmond Hill needs strong provincial support to improve flood mitigation infrastructure. As MPP, I would advocate for increased provincial funding to ensure our community is resilient against future flooding and extreme weather.
5. What do you suggest can be done in Ontario to mitigate Trump’s tariffs?
Trump is a ruthless negotiator. Providing tit-for-tat responses will only be playing into his hands. I will be strategic, at the same time be direct in my responses. It is essential to keep reminding him of the wonderful and longstanding partnership between our two countries, and be ever more assertive of our Canadian identity. The idea of the ‘51st State’ is off the table.
Ontario must strengthen its domestic industries, diversify trade partnerships, and support local businesses to reduce our reliance on volatile international trade policies. The NDP will work with businesses, unions, and economic experts to ensure Ontario’s economy remains strong and resilient in the face of trade disruptions.
Jason Cherniak - Liberal Candidate
1 . What do you see as Richmond Hill’s strengths and weaknesses?
I grew up in Richmond Hill. When I finished law school, I decided to return here to start my own practice, build my business and raise my own family. I am an active volunteer and leader many local community, business, non-profit and governance groups, including the Rotary Club, the Richmond Hill Board of Trade and the Richmond Hill Library Board.
I think one of the strengths of Richmond Hill is its small-town atmosphere. When you go to local events, people are friendly and open to meeting new people. I often hear that this is different than the other southern York Region municipalities.
Unfortunately, Richmond Hill does not have sufficient employment land, meaning it is harder for residents to find work close to home. This leads to issues including increased traffic, the need for constantly improving intermodal transportation downtown and the need for increased amounts of reliable healthcare. It was made worse since Ford’s government has made it easier to convert employment lands to residential.
We need better, more professional and efficient government to help address these issues before they create lasting impacts to our communities.
2. We need more mental health care. People and families are suffering. What are your party’s plans to address this need?
Across Ontario, people are struggling with accessing basic mental-health services. People of all ages and in all regions of the province, are suffering. And yet, Doug Ford cut annual provincial funding for mental health services by as much as $350 million.
The shortage of mental-health service professionals has intensified. Waitlists continue to grow longer. Universities, high schools and even elementary schools are struggling to respond to the growing mental-health crisis. Many people experiencing mental health and addictions issues have little or no option beyond finding refuge in the streets. Deaths and hospitalization due to opioid overdoses have soared. And in Northern, rural, remote and Indigenous communities, the situation is far worse. We deserve better.
The Ontario Liberal Party knows that Mental Health Is Health.
The Ontario Liberals will prioritize easier access to essential mental-health services because mental health is health. Our objectives include
· Expanding and enhancing mental healthcare under OHIP
· Developing targeted, community-oriented approaches to support those most vulnerable to mental-health & addictions issues
· Respond swiftly to the opioid crisis using a whole-of-government approach
3. I have paid attention to the Alliance for Liveable Ontario’s 5 Ways Home. Five Ways Home
1. Build in the right places
2. Build a wide variety of housing types
3. Build smarter and faster
4. Invest heavily in non-market, affordable housing
5. Make housing affordable and part of liveable communities.
What do you think of this report, and which ones of these 5 action items do you believe would help Richmond Hill have more housing?
I have read and attended the Alliance for Livable Ontario’s 5 Ways Home presentation. It is an excellent overview advised and endorsed by respected leaders across Ontario and beyond. Its insights are needed in Ontario, especially as Doug Ford’s Conservatives are failing at building the housing Ontario needs. In particular, they have failed to focus on the “missing middle” such as apartments/condos with more bedrooms.
New housing builds in Ontario are down and the Ford government slashed money for municipalities trying to build affordable housing, choosing chaos such as his $600 million boozedoggle rather than building nearly 8,000 new affordable housing units for Ontario families.
The Ontario Liberal plan for housing reflects the best ideas and practices for driving increasing homebuilding at reasonable costs and where housing is needed.
An Ontario Liberal Government will:
· Eliminate the provincial Land Transfer Tax for first-time homebuyers, seniors downsizing, and non-profit home builders—saving families and seniors on average $13,500 off the cost of a new home.
· Scrap Development Charges on new middle-class housing, which can add up to $170,000 on the price of a new home and replacing them with the Better Communities Fund to ensure that the province invests in and benefits from sustainable municipal growth.
· Make renting more affordable by introducing fair, phased-in rent control similar to Manitoba, resolving Landlord-Tenant Board disputes within two months, and establishing the Rental Emergency Support for Tenants (REST) Fund to help vulnerable renters avoid eviction during financial emergencies.
· Double the current stock of supportive housing units.
4. I am concerned about the city’s ability to mitigate the damage of increased severe weather. I believe the biggest concern in Richmond Hill is flooding. Would you ask for more provincial funding for Richmond Hill to build the needed infrastructure?
With weather events becoming increasingly severe due to climate change, it is vital that cities and the City prepare to prevent damage to our necessary infrastructure. This can be a particular concern for older homes within flood plains. The province should be a part of planning for this preparation and assist in funding where municipalities cannot individually address the needed costs.
5. What do you suggest can be done in Ontario to mitigate Trump’s tariffs?
Bonnie Crombie, Leader of Ontario’s Liberals, stands with Team Canada in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
As Premier, Crombie would seek to ease the burden of these tariffs and attract new businesses and jobs to grow and diversify our economy for the future. She would be focused on spending money wisely and getting the basics right for the people of Ontario.
Our plan will:
Fight For You
· Offer a bonus to patriotic nurses and doctors who want to come back home to Canada from the U.S. and help solve Doug Ford’s health care crisis and get you a Family Doctor.
· Remove the hidden tax on home building to save real people up to $170,000 on the cost of a new home and make rent more affordable by introducing phased-in rent control.
· Save people in Ontario up to $1,150 a year immediately through our More for You Tax Cut, keeping more money in your pocket and taking the HST off your home heating and hydro bills.
· Cut the small business tax rate in half, 3.2% to 1.6%, and increase the eligible income threshold, saving small business owners as much as $18,000 a year.
Create More Jobs and Bigger Paycheques
· Backstop Ontario businesses with a new Fight Tariffs Fund that gives them access to lower-than-market interest rates (at government rates). This will allow our businesses to protect and create jobs by reducing the cost of borrowing money to operate or invest in their businesses and workers.
· Ensure stimulus spending on infrastructure is focused on the projects communities in Ontario need the most – hospitals, schools, roads and transit.
· Lead an across-government effort to ensure we spend taxpayers’ money wisely – including directing departments and agencies to exclude American companies like Elon Musk’s Starlink from procurement opportunities – and invest the savings back into supporting this stimulus plan.
· Work with other provinces to eliminate nonsensical interprovincial trade barriers and build a truly Team Canada approach to growing our economy.
