Guelph will get a medical school and, maybe, a bullet train to Toronto if the Liberal Party forms the next provincial government, local candidate Mustafa Zuberi announced during a recent online candidates’ event.
“We will be investing in a medical school here in Guelph, at the University of Guelph, that will bring bright medical minds here to Guelph from across the world,” said Zuberi, who is carrying the Liberal Party banner into the Feb. 27 general election. “That will immediately address the healthcare crisis that we have and, in the future, give us more access to healthcare – not just the hospitals that we have but also at the University of Guelph.”
Guelph Chamber of Commerce hosted a virtual question and answer session with three of the four local major party candidates on Wednesday morning. A recording was posted to the chamber’s YouTube channel that afternoon.
It’s nearly 70 minutes long, with pre-selected questions from community and chamber members, posed by chamber president Andy Veilleux.
Though a chamber spokesperson said all four local major party candidates were invited to participate, Progressive Conservative party candidate Robert Coole did not.
Asked why that was, Coole told GuelphToday there was a communication error involving his campaign team that left him unaware of the invitation.
Mustafa’s medical school announcement came in response to a question about how each of the candidates present – Mustafa, Mike Schreiner (Green) and Cameron Spence (NDP) – would address gaps in the healthcare system.
He later clarified to GuelphToday the U of G medical centre would be one of two new ones the Liberal Party is calling for.
Efforts to reach the U of G for comment weren’t immediately successful.
The Liberal candidate further called for expansion of and renovations at Guelph General Hospital to address growing needs in the short-term followed by a potential second hospital in the long-term.
In Schreiner’s eyes, the biggest healthcare gap issue is a shortage of medical staff, combined with a lack of wage parity across the system. He’s also calling for increased mental health funding.
Spence echoed that funding call and acknowledged staffing shortages, calling for a whole-system approach beginning with better child care and access to primary care services.
Mustafa’s second Guelph-specific pledge – that the Liberal Party would look at launching a bullet train between Kitchener and Toronto, through Guelph – came in response to a question about support for improved inter-regional transit.
“This would immediately change the entire game of transportation and business going in and out of Guelph,” Mutsafa said, noting the trip would take 20 minutes to make.
He further offered Liberal Party support for the long-awaited new Highway 7 between Guelph and Kitchener, “major improvements” on Highway 6 and renewed efforts to establish two-way, all-day GO trains to the city.
In addition to supporting two-way, all-day GO trains, the NDP would like to see electrification of the rail line, as well as creation of the long-discussed Morriston bypass.
“We’re also going to cover 50 per cent of the net operating cost of transit in the city,” said Spence. “That is another way that can allow the city to improve transit.”
Things like digging a tunnel under Highway 401 take funding away from projects such as a new Highway 7 or Morriston bypass, Schreiner said.
“I’m going to keep pushing against these unnecessary, highly expensive projects in the GTA so we can fund projects in the rest of the project,” he said, noting he’s been an MPP under two different governments that have promised to deliver two-way, all-day GO trains, but hasn’t delivered.
In the meantime, Schreiner called for improved inter-regional bus services to Waterloo Region, Hamilton and other nearby municipalities.
Though election day is set for Feb. 27, advanced voting is available now.
