Skelly is projected to easily win re-election on Feb. 27. Pictured: MPP Donna Skelly. Photo Credit: Donna Skelly/X.
Incumbent Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Donna Skelly defended the Ontario PC Party’s record in government in the Flamborough-Glanbrook election debate last week on Hamilton’s Cable 14.
Skelly began the debate by saying, “I believe that this is one of the most important elections in our lifetime. This country, this province, this city, is under attack by onerous unnecessary tariffs threatened by US president Donald Trump.”
The Flamborough-Glanbrook riding encompasses most of rural Hamilton. The riding includes the communities of Carlisle, Freelton, Millgrove, Waterdown, Rockton, Lynden, Jerseyville, Mount Hope, Binbrook, and Upper Stoney Creek.
The riding was first created in 2015. Skelly has held the seat since its creation, earning 43.5 per cent of the vote in 2018 and 46.2 per cent of the vote in 2022.
According to current projections from Politico poll analyst Philippe J. Fournier, who runs the site 338Canada, the riding is a safe PC seat, with Skelly currently projected to get about 53 per cent of the vote. The Ontario Liberals are projected in second place with 25 per cent of the vote and the NDP in third with 15 per cent.
The other candidates running in the riding are Joshua Bell for the Ontario Liberal Party, Lilly Noble for the Ontario NDP, Janet Errygers for the Green Party of Ontario and Kristen Halfpenny for the New Blue Party.
The first question in the debate was in regards to the stormwater fee, also called a rain tax, that the City of Hamilton is planning to implement and what the candidates would do to address the concerns of farmers as it relates to the new tax.
Bell appeared somewhat neutral on the stormwater fee, saying “we need to do what we can to ensure that these people are feeling supported” and “people need to actually be receiving services for the amount of tax dollars that they’re paying.”
Meanwhile, Skelly said that the new tax “was one of the most egregious taxes imposed by the City of Hamilton on the members of the agricultural community in Flamborough-Glanbrook.”
She said she met with farmers who told her that one farm was going to be taxed $88,000 per year in stormwater fees.
“The city is saying that they could possibly rebate some of those funds to farmers, but they don’t believe that the city should be taking any funding from them.”
She added that she brought forward a motion at Queen’s Park that has received support from the NDP, the Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of Rural Affairs, and the Minister of Housing that will ban municipalities from imposing a stormwater fee on any agricultural piece of land if they do not receive services.
Skelly was also criticized by the other candidates for not doing enough to support education in Flamborough-Glanbrook.
She responded by outlining various investments the Ontario PCs have made in the riding.
“I’m very proud that I’ve brought a brand-new school that’s going to be built within two years in Waterdown: an elementary public school. We’ve just announced a brand-new high school for Binbrook with 1,000 students and another brand new school in Binbrook as well,” she explained.
“As well, hundreds of new spaces for students at three other schools: Janet Lee Elementary in Stoney Creek, St. Paul Catholic Elementary School, also in Stoney Creek, and Mount Hope Elementary School. Along with the student spaces, there will be plenty of additional daycare spaces.”
“We have invested a record amount of money in education and it’s paying off here in Flamborough-Glanbrook – we’re bringing schools to the communities,” she added.
Noble, the NDP candidate, contended, “that’s not enough.”
Skelly was also questioned on the PC government’s record on healthcare.
“We have spent an historic amount of money on healthcare. We spent $85 billion this past year in healthcare. That does not include $50 billion towards building new hospitals across Ontario,” she said.
“We’ve also added 340 undergraduate and 551 residency spots, two new medical schools. This compares to the Liberals that actually eliminated 50 medical residency positions.”
She also shared that an Ontario PC government will invest just under $2 billion “to connect every person in Ontario to a primary care team made up of doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, and midwives by 2029.”
The Ontario provincial election is this Thursday, Feb. 27. Polls close at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
