Provincial Election 2025: Toronto-Danforth NDP candidate Peter Tabuns answers our questions

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Beach Metro Community News sent these questions to candidates we were aware of in the riding of Toronto-Danforth. Due to our early print deadline for the Family Day long weekend, not all candidates responded in time for them to be published in this edition. 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?

I’ve been the MPP in Toronto-Danforth for nearly 19 years. Before that, I had the pleasure of serving as the Executive Director of GREENPEACE as well as the Councillor for our community.

I’m seeking re-election because Toronto-Danforth is my community and nothing makes me prouder than fighting for the people in this riding. I know just how destructive Doug Ford can be. His record is nothing to run on. I’ve been fighting him for seven years at Queen’s Park and with good reason. His changes to the Greenbelt boundaries were so scandalous that the RCMP has launched a corruption probe.

His government lurches from crisis to crisis while starving health care, education and the services we all need. His government is more interested in gimmicks and headlines than in doing the hard work necessary to truly serve all Ontarians.

I don’t know how everything is going to turn out down South, but I do know, that no matter what, I want to keep fighting for this community.

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 Toronto-Danforth.

Home ownership is increasingly out of reach for all but the wealthiest Ontarians and tenants are at constant threat of being evicted through no fault of their own.

Under the last two years of the Doug Ford government, homelessness has seen a 25 per cent increase and the services that people who are struggling, rely on to survive, have been gutted. Seniors in particular, have seen huge increases to their risk of homelessness.

The NDP believes housing is a human right. Every Ontarian should have access to adequate housing, regardless of income, age, ability or family size. Reliance on the private market alone hasn’t delivered the housing we need. We’ll provide grants, low-cost financing, public land and other resources to public, non-profit and co-op housing providers to quickly increase the supply of permanently affordable non-market homes serving a mix of low-to-moderate income households.

We will build or acquire 300,000 new affordable homes within 10 years, delivering both affordable rental and ownership housing, while providing good, unionized jobs and access to skills training for Ontario workers. And we’ll increase protections for tenants to put a stop to unfair rental increases and renovictions. You can read more about this and other commitments at https://www.ontariondp.ca/commitments.

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?

The last Liberal government brought us hallway medicine and rather than keeping his promise to end the crisis in healthcare, Doug Ford has only made it worse. We have seen huge nursing shortages, a record number of Emergency room closures and 2.5 million Ontarians without access to family doctors.

Without a strong defence of our public healthcare system, we know where this is heading – to an unaffordable, private healthcare system where working conditions and quality of care suffer. Defending and expanding our public healthcare system is one of the most important things I can do as your MPP.

Let’s work together to ensure that everyone in Toronto-Danforth has a family doctor, access to medication that is affordable and where possible, produced right here in Canada. Let’s clear the path for the 13,000 internationally trained doctors ready to serve Ontarians and train more medical students by increasing the residency spots province-wide.

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?

We do know that we must stand up to bullying by the Trump government and that we’ll have to support those workers, families and communities most affected by the Trump tariffs.

To do that we’ll need strong, experienced MPPs at Queens Park working with Canadians across the political spectrum. Here is some of what I personally commit to doing:

• Working with the federal government to develop and put in place strong counter-tariffs over the coming months.
• Supporting Canadian jobs by restricting provincial contracts to Canadian firms and launching a Buy Canadian media programme to encourage consumers to do the same. Collaborating with the Ontario hospitality industry and promoting staycations.
• Partnering with business and labour to find new markets for our goods and services.
• Greening our Economy while investing in our community by retrofitting houses and businesses to make them more energy efficient; repairing our crumbling schools, roads and hospitals; and, building a better future for all Ontarians.
• Investing in our people by expanding training and skills upgrading opportunities.
• Creating good public-service jobs to make our lives better.