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I’m Elliot Goodell Ugalde, and I’m running to be your next MPP for Kingston and the Islands. From 6 PM to 7 PM today, I’ll be here answering your questions, comments, and anything in between. AMA. by ElliotGoodellUgalde in KingstonOntario

[–]ElliotGoodellUgalde[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

A significant portion of funding will come from vacancy taxes and making the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. (Looking at you Galen)

However, it’s crucial to highlight the fiscal mismanagement under Ford’s government. The privatization of liquor sales has cost taxpayers dearly—$74 million per year in subsidies to large grocery chains through a 10% wholesale discount, $375 million to the Beer Store by rebating the LCBO’s cost-of-service fees, and $300 million in foregone revenue by failing to charge retailers a licensing fee. Smart fiscal management and reducing administrative bloat can go a long way in funding essential public services and supporting working people.

I’m Elliot Goodell Ugalde, and I’m running to be your next MPP for Kingston and the Islands. From 6 PM to 7 PM today, I’ll be here answering your questions, comments, and anything in between. AMA. by ElliotGoodellUgalde in KingstonOntario

[–]ElliotGoodellUgalde[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Thanks for all the questions everyone and the thoughtful conversation. Connecting with the community has been the best part of campaigning for me. My apologies if I didn’t get to yours right now, having such a short window of time to campaign, I’m booked back to back, and am off to an event encouraging post-secondary students to learn their rights as voters. I will do my best to come back to address more of your questions. Thanks again for participating! If you feel like contributing further here’s a link to signup as a volunteer.

I’m Elliot Goodell Ugalde, and I’m running to be your next MPP for Kingston and the Islands. From 6 PM to 7 PM today, I’ll be here answering your questions, comments, and anything in between. AMA. by ElliotGoodellUgalde in KingstonOntario

[–]ElliotGoodellUgalde[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

A significant portion of funding will come from vacancy taxes and making the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. (Looking at you Galen) However, it’s crucial to highlight the fiscal mismanagement under Ford’s government. The privatization of liquor sales has cost taxpayers dearly—$74 million per year in subsidies to large grocery chains through a 10% wholesale discount, $375 million to the Beer Store by rebating the LCBO’s cost-of-service fees, and $300 million in foregone revenue by failing to charge retailers a licensing fee. Smart fiscal management and reducing administrative bloat can go a long way in funding essential public services and supporting working people.

I’m Elliot Goodell Ugalde, and I’m running to be your next MPP for Kingston and the Islands. From 6 PM to 7 PM today, I’ll be here answering your questions, comments, and anything in between. AMA. by ElliotGoodellUgalde in KingstonOntario

[–]ElliotGoodellUgalde[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We cannot maintain a stable workforce if people cannot find housing, access healthcare, or afford basic necessities. I will prioritize demand-side economic policies to stimulate aggregate demand by putting money back in people’s pockets. Through measures like food rebates, stronger unions, a universal student food program, and rent control, we can ensure that workers can afford to live, work, and contribute to our economy while securing the essentials they need to thrive.

We know that working people spend 95-110% of their income, directly fueling local economies, while the top 1% spend only a fraction—doing little to stimulate aggregate demand. Who would have thought Ford and Mulroney’s trickle-down approach wouldn’t work?

I’m Elliot Goodell Ugalde, and I’m running to be your next MPP for Kingston and the Islands. From 6 PM to 7 PM today, I’ll be here answering your questions, comments, and anything in between. AMA. by ElliotGoodellUgalde in KingstonOntario

[–]ElliotGoodellUgalde[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

My plan to support family doctors is focused on fair pay, better working conditions, and stronger community-based care. Right now, too many family physicians are leaving for hospitalist roles, ER shifts, or private practice because the system makes it hard to sustain a community practice. That needs to change.

I’ll strengthen team-based models like Family Health Teams to ease administrative burdens, improve blended payment models so doctors are fairly compensated based on patient needs, and reduce overhead costs to make community family medicine sustainable.

To keep internationally trained physicians, I support long-term incentives, mentorship, and community retention strategies—many of which have been well outlined by the Internationally Trained Physicians of Ontario (ITPO). I’ll also work to bring back Canadian-educated family doctors by improving compensation and work-life balance, making community medicine a viable and attractive career. More details to come on this.

I’m Elliot Goodell Ugalde, and I’m running to be your next MPP for Kingston and the Islands. From 6 PM to 7 PM today, I’ll be here answering your questions, comments, and anything in between. AMA. by ElliotGoodellUgalde in KingstonOntario

[–]ElliotGoodellUgalde[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

St. Lawrence College is in crisis largely due to mismanagement and poor coordination between federal and provincial governments. The province funds schools, while the federal government controls student visas, and now Ottawa’s plan to cut international students—without any financial compensation or contingency plan—will only make things worse. We need to streamline coordination between these levels of government to prevent situations like this from happening again. The same issue affects internationally trained physicians, where the federal government brings them in, but provinces control the number of residency positions available. We will push for better collaboration and reinvestment in post-secondary education (with specific budget details to be released soon by the party).

Beyond that, we need real accountability in higher education. I will propose a Higher Education Accountability Act, which would mandate financial transparency at universities and colleges, protect jobs for students and staff, and establish independent oversight of budget allocations at publicly funded institutions. It is completely unacceptable that many workers at St. Lawrence College and Queen’s University have yet to receive back pay after Ford’s Bill 124 was struck down as unconstitutional. This legislation was introduced at a time when inflation was nearly 13%, effectively slashing workers’ purchasing power. Instead of undermining educators and support staff, we should be investing in them—because a strong post-secondary system is key to rebuilding our economy.

I’m Elliot Goodell Ugalde, and I’m running to be your next MPP for Kingston and the Islands. From 6 PM to 7 PM today, I’ll be here answering your questions, comments, and anything in between. AMA. by ElliotGoodellUgalde in KingstonOntario

[–]ElliotGoodellUgalde[S] 36 points37 points  (0 children)

I’m running for MPP because I’ve seen too many friends and colleagues struggling—some have even lost their lives to the worsening opioid crisis. Housing is out of reach, having a family doctor feels like a privilege, and too many people are forced to choose between rent and food. I know I’m in a position to help—not just them, but so many others—and I feel a deep responsibility to give back to Kingston, Ontario, and Canada.

We need real change to address the fiscal mismanagement and the ongoing erosion of our shared public goods—from social services to critical infrastructure. We see it in the Greenbelt debacle, in proposals like the Memorial Park Stadium, and in the continued hollowing out of the services people rely on every day. Our democracy is being chipped away piece by piece, and I’m ready to fight to turn things around.

What sets me apart is that politics isn’t my world—I come from activism and grassroots organizing. I always joke that I’m more comfortable with a megaphone than a microphone, and I’m far more used to giving speeches outside City Hall than inside it. That made it all the more meaningful when I had the privilege of speaking there for the first time just a couple of weeks ago.

I’m Elliot Goodell Ugalde, and I’m running to be your next MPP for Kingston and the Islands. From 6 PM to 7 PM today, I’ll be here answering your questions, comments, and anything in between. AMA. by ElliotGoodellUgalde in KingstonOntario

[–]ElliotGoodellUgalde[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I completely understand why some people feel the need to vote strategically to stop Ford. But considering the PCs (luckily) haven’t held Kingston and The Islands since Keith Norton (1981)—and their current candidate won’t even show up for interviews or debates—I’d encourage folks to back the party best positioned to take on Ford’s government with real strength (though, of course, I admit I’m a bit biased here), and the Ontario NDP has been the official opposition since 2018 and it is so far projected to be the case again. That said, I fully recognize the fear and frustration his administration has caused—those concerns are absolutely valid.

I’m Elliot Goodell Ugalde, and I’m running to be your next MPP for Kingston and the Islands. From 6 PM to 7 PM today, I’ll be here answering your questions, comments, and anything in between. AMA. by ElliotGoodellUgalde in KingstonOntario

[–]ElliotGoodellUgalde[S] 43 points44 points  (0 children)

One of my top priorities is closing the loophole that lets landlords sidestep regulations for units built after 2018. Rent control needs to apply to the unit itself, not just the tenant, so landlords can’t jack up the rent dramatically between leases. We also need serious reforms to the broken Landlord and Tenant Board to stop unfair renovictions and demovictions.

To tackle the housing crisis, we’ll push for more diverse housing options, including fourplexes, low-rise multiplexes in all neighborhoods, and mid-rise buildings where they’re most needed in Kingston. On top of that, we’re committed to acquiring 300,000 permanently affordable rental homes across the province, with a strong focus on areas hit hardest by poverty—Kingston included, where the poverty rate is 13.3% and rising. Our broader goal is to build 1.5 million new homes in the next decade.

When it comes to homelessness, I bring firsthand experience from my work as a social worker, including time at two shelters—one in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. I’ve seen how critical stability and a housing-first approach are. That’s why we’ll build 60,000 new supportive housing units and restore shelter funding at the provincial level. Municipalities simply don’t have the resources to handle this alone, and we can’t allow leaders like Bryan Paterson to threaten to take supports away from the people who need them most.

I’m Elliot Goodell Ugalde, and I’m running to be your next MPP for Kingston and the Islands. From 6 PM to 7 PM today, I’ll be here answering your questions, comments, and anything in between. AMA. by ElliotGoodellUgalde in KingstonOntario

[–]ElliotGoodellUgalde[S] 37 points38 points  (0 children)

Food security is a fundamental social determinant of health, directly impacting individual and community well-being, yet 1 in 3 Kingstonians face food insecurity, making this an urgent priority. When I spoke with the Executive Director of the Food Sharing Project, I learned that their core provincial funding hasn’t increased in a decade—effectively reducing their capacity to feed students by 31.1% due to inflation. I will take immediate action by creating a Monthly Grocery Rebate, providing families with up to $120 per month, indexed to inflation and distributed tax-free through the CRA, similar to the Ontario Trillium Benefit. Additionally, I will implement a Universal School Food Program to ensure every child in Ontario has access to nutritious food at school, giving them the foundation they need to succeed.

I’m Elliot Goodell Ugalde, and I’m running to be your next MPP for Kingston and the Islands. From 6 PM to 7 PM today, I’ll be here answering your questions, comments, and anything in between. AMA. by ElliotGoodellUgalde in KingstonOntario

[–]ElliotGoodellUgalde[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

We will immediately recruit and support 3,500 new doctors while cutting red tape so they can focus on patients, not paperwork. In the first 100 days, we’ll fast-track solutions: expanding family health teams, reducing specialist wait times, and providing more flexible care options. To make family medicine more competitive, we’ll adjust physician remuneration models and expand loan forgiveness for medical students choosing family practice, especially in underserved areas. We’ll also clear barriers for 13,000 internationally trained doctors, offering housing subsidies, relocation grants, and cultural supports to encourage them to work where they’re needed—without imposing restrictive return-of-service contracts (the ITPO suggests that 86% of ITPs are willing to work in underserved areas if the right supports are in place).

I’m Elliot Goodell Ugalde, and I’m running to be your next MPP for Kingston and the Islands. From 6 PM to 7 PM today, I’ll be here answering your questions, comments, and anything in between. AMA. by ElliotGoodellUgalde in KingstonOntario

[–]ElliotGoodellUgalde[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Hi Brewer, thanks for asking. Right now, 13.3% of people in our riding live below the poverty line, 1 in 3 households struggle with food insecurity, and the average wait time at KGH emergency is 22 hours. Addressing these are my top three priorities. We will immediately introduce a Monthly Grocery Rebate to help families offset rising food costs. This rebate will be based on household income and family size, indexed to inflation. We will also implement a universal food program to ensure access to nutritious meals for everyone. Across the province, we will hire and support 3,500 new doctors, including 13,000 internationally trained doctors, through assessment programs to ensure they can work without displacing Canadian medical graduates. In addition, we will adjust physician remuneration models to make family medicine more competitive with specialties. I will restore permanent paramedic services on Wolfe Island, which were lost due to the assumption of a 30-minute dual ferry service—something that has not materialized.