Sudbury riding has a history dating to 1908

The Sudbury riding has changed hands many times since it was created in 1908. Here's a look at the candidates vying for the seat.

The Sudbury riding has been around since 1908 and during that time, it has been held by the Liberals, Conservatives and NDP.

Hoping to hang on to the seat for a third term is incumbent NDP MPP Jamie West, a labour organizer who has worked in the mines.

West said the No. 1 issue when speaking with people right now is affordability.

“I met with this senior couple in Gatchell and they were telling me that the husband’s … entire pension goes towards paying the rent,” he said.

“Her entire pension goes towards paying bills and they go to the food bank to make ends meet. We heard today from ourselves how in northern Ontario, rent has gone up by about $300 since Doug Ford got here. He doesn’t care that it is costing us a fortune.”

Many people are “house poor,” he added and are desperate to stay in their homes.

“We have to ensure people stay in their homes -- it’s actually one of the contributions towards addiction,” West said.

“If we can keep people from being evicted and being on the streets, they’re not self-medicating with drugs or alcohol.”

Seat at the table

Local business owner Max Massimiliano, who is hoping to win Sudbury for the Progressive Conservatives, said health-care access, homelessness and addictions are intertwined.

“We need to make sure that we can get access to … more funding so we can take care of mental health and drug abuse and get the proper care for them, as opposed to just, you know, giving them minimal care and not being able to treat them fully,” Massimiliano said.

“I think once we get a seat at the table, we’ll have access to more provincial funds and we can establish better programs for these people.”

This is the sixth time economist and Laurentian University professor David Robinson will run for the Green party.

Robinson said when it comes to affordable housing, several issues need to be addressed.

“The biggest one is that you gotta stop people speculating on land,” he said.

“And that means you’re going to use provincial land. This is our policy … but we’re only going to build cooperative and social housing. And the land never gets sold again, which means we’re not contributing another speculative push to the market. We’re going to start taxing speculative gains.”

Another local business owner, Rashid Mukhtar Choudhry, is running for the Liberal, but we were unable to secure an interview with him before our broadcast deadline.

The New Blue party candidate is Brady Legault while David Popescu, a Sudbury man convicted of promoting hate against a marginalized group, is again running as an independent.

Voters can cast their ballots in person on election day Feb. 27 in a week’s time, with early voting possible at the local election office at 2050 Regent St. until Feb. 26.

For details on your voting location, click here.