Provincial Election 2025: Beaches-East York Liberal candidate Mary-Margaret McMahon 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?
Growing up in a small town with parents who took me out volunteering every chance they could, taught me first hand the huge benefits of giving back to your community. The more we give, the happier we feel. That mantra has guided me my whole life.
It led me to politics, serving two terms as your City Councillor for beautiful Beaches-East York from 2010 to 2018 where I was focused on getting things done! My experience at City Hall means I can utilize the knowledge I gained to benefit my constituents and advocacy at Queen’s Park.
Since being elected as your Member of Provincial Parliament in 2022, I have put forward legislation and even had Bill 211 passed, a rare feat for opposition members. As your neighbour and your voice, I often oppose Ford’s priorities and actions, but pride myself on working collaboratively across party lines, ensuring Beaches-East York is always heard.
I am running again for the Ontario Liberal’s under Bonnie Crombie because we have to get back to the basics that matter to all of us – healthcare, housing, education, and affordability. I will deliver more for you with endless energy, an open-door policy at our Constituency Hub, and an open-heart at Queen’s Park.
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.
In large, the affordability crisis in Ontario is a result of the lack of affordable housing options. The Ontario Liberals’ plan will slash taxes on new homes, improve renter rights, and save you money. That means eliminating the provincial Land Transfer Tax for first-time homebuyers, seniors downsizing, and non-profit home builders and scrapping development charges on new middle-class housing. For renters, that means fair, phased-in rent control, ensuring Landlord-Tenant Board disputes are resolved within two months, and establishing the Rental Emergency Support for Tenants Fund.
I am proud of the housing projects that I was able to spearhead as your City Councillor, offering many people options to live in our beautiful Riding. In addition, I have a strong working relationship with BEY MP Nathaniel Erskine Smith, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, and through collaborative work, we will deliver the best for you.
My team and I provide crucial services, including offering housing resources, preventing evictions, and starting tenants associations. We have experienced our share of recent tragedies in BEY; unhoused neighbours who are greatly under-served. They deserve more. I will continue to work on sustainable solutions, including the Ontario Liberal promise to double ODSP and invest in our communities to help forge a path out of homelessness.
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 my time serving as your MPP for Beaches-East York, I heard so many stories about our dilapidated healthcare system. 23,000 Beaches-East Yorkers are in need of a family doctor and face the alarming consequences of the loss of access to essential medications and care. It can be nearly impossible to find a new family doctor. Fixing family medicine will be a top priority of an Ontario Liberal government and I will work tirelessly to ensure everyone in Beaches-East York has access to the care they need and deserve.
I have met with medical professionals to understand their challenges and have proposed solutions here in Beaches-East York, including hosting a community panel discussion with Michael Garron Hospital.
My Ontario Liberal colleagues and I have a plan to educate, attract and retain thousands of new domestic and internationally trained family doctors, improve the Ontario Health Team network, modernize family medicine, and stop penalizing patients and doctors if they seek care at walk-in clinics. This will take pressure off of hospitals and urgent care and be the first step in improving our healthcare system – one that should always be public and paid for by your OHIP card, not your credit card.
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 need strong leadership during this time of uncertainty, not a Premier who calls an unnecessary election in the face of tariff threats from our biggest trading partner. The Ontario Liberals have a four point costed economic plan to address these challenges:
Backstop Ontario businesses with a new Fight Tariffs Fund with access to lower-than-market interest rates (at government rates) allowing our businesses to protect and create jobs by reducing the cost of borrowing money to operate or invest in their businesses and workers.
Ensure stimulus spending on infrastructure focused on the projects communities in Ontario need the most – hospitals, schools, roads, and transit.
Lead an across-government effort to ensure we spend taxpayers’ money wisely – directing departments and agencies to exclude US companies like Elon Musk’s Starlink from procurement opportunities.
Work with other provinces to eliminate nonsensical interprovincial trade barriers and build a truly Team Canada approach to growing our economy.
In Beaches-East York, I will continue to champion our incredible small businesses, encouraging our community to shop local at every opportunity. The Ontario Liberals have proposed cutting the small business tax rate in half, 3.2 per cent to 1.6 per cent, and increasing the eligible income threshold, saving our irreplaceable small business owners up to $18,000 a year.
