Provincial Election 2025: Beaches-East York Canadians’ Choice Party candidate Bahman Yazdanfar answers our questions
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Beach Metro Community News sent these questions to candidates we were aware of in Beaches-East York. Not all candidates responded by our deadline. Candidates were asked to keep their responses to approximately 200 words. Please visit our website at www.beachmetro.com for more information on the candidates.)
QUESTION 1: Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself and why you are running in this election?
Born in Tehran, I made a choice of settling in Canada and came to Toronto as an immigrant early in 1986 at the age of 27. Receiving my citizenship in 1990, I traveled from coast to coast to discover Canada and its culture, which was very different from that of Iran, or of Afghanistan, where I attended medical school. One of my most important accomplishments is to have become an autodidact, a person with an ability to discipline myself to contemplate, absorb, process, and learn on my own.
Poverty, poor social services, and health care are the main issues that have motivated me to partake in the electoral process, directly. These are the result of the inadequate government policies and laws that favour some above others, and have led to widespread disparity across Ontario and Canada in general.
Ontarians have been neglected by governments, whether Liberal, Conservative, or NDP, in the last four decades. As a candidate for Beaches – East York I hope to educate and urge my constituents to firstly avoid making the mistake of voting for the three mainstream parties, and secondly, and to vote for a candidate who is part of the suffering population and not a member of the aristocratic oligarchy.
QUESTION 2: Please tell our readers what you and your party will be doing to deal with the lack of affordable housing and homelessness issues in Beaches-East York.
Not including refugee claimants, the City of Toronto spends over $537 Million to accommodate the needs of 5,200 homeless people in Toronto. That is to say, taxpayers cough up over $100,000 annually for each homeless person, without any solution. The only conclusion a reasonable person could draw is either incompetence or lack of political will.
Cities are largely under the control of Provinces. As an MPP, I will be able to present Private Members’ Bills, addressing specific needs of my constituency. While passing a bill can be challenging, it’s a way to spotlight important issues. These bills provide solutions such as: ering mental health services, addiction counseling, and case management alongside a Housing First model in order to address homelessness. And to push for affordable and accessible housing, Private Members’ Bills can pressure other MPPs to support ideas such as: building more low-income housing units and implementing policies to prevent rapid rent increases to alleviate the housing crises. I can only speak for myself, since the party is too small to form a government or even an opposition. However, an MPP can educate constituents about the root causes of these issues and how they can help, encouraging them to get involved in order to bring Governments, charities, and the private sector to work together to mitigate these problems.
QUESTION 3: What do you think is the issue in your riding that you can have the most impact on if you are elected MPP?
In addition to the housing crises, inaccessibility to health services in a timely manner, poverty, lack of purchasing power for basic needs such as groceries, excessive costs of gas, heating and hydro bills, high taxes, and a messy educational system are affecting every resident of Beaches – East York. These complex and chronic challenges require multifaceted solutions.
Besides Private Member’s Bills, if elected, I can raise these pressing issues during parliamentary sessions, where I can question ministers and participate in debates. I can join and influence parliamentary committees to push for investigations and policy recommendations. An MPP can organize town halls, consultations, and campaigns to involve citizens, start petitions and raise awareness, introduce motions for debate on petitions from constituents to pressure decision-makers. I can expose government inefficiencies and corruption to build pressure, file legal challenges or support public interest litigation, as well as using formal and informal channels to ensure that government programs are implemented effectively.
QUESTION 4: How will your party and your party’s leader deal with the economic and other challenges facing Ontario and Canada that are presented by the Administration of U.S. President Donald Trump?
Although I believe that the recent back and forth threats of tariffs are blown out of proportion, dealing with them if they are imposed by the new US administration can be tricky. An MPP from a small party can provide suggestions to the parliament, without seeking any credit.
Here are a few ideas that might be accepted and implemented by the sitting government:
a) Negotiate a reduction or a removal of the tariff through diplomatic channels.
b) Leverage international organizations, engaging them in trade negotiations to help resolve the issue.
c) Substitute non-tariff-barrier quotas, licensing restrictions, or subsidies to be used in lieu of tariffs, where they are possible.
d) Provide subsidies, tax incentives, and other help to support local industries to become more competitive, investing in innovation and infrastructure.
e) Increase and develop more competitive finished goods, since tariffs mostly target raw materials.
f) Shift trade to countries that have favourable agreements and/or lower tariffs. Canada and its second-largest province, Ontario have relatively good relations with other nations.
g) Impose calculated retaliatory tariffs with a focus on not escalating tensions.
