Candidates become focus of criticism in Scarborough-Agincourt

Candidates become focus of criticism in Scarborough-Agincourt. Paul Choi (NDP), left, Pauline Thompson (Green Party) and Soo Wong, (Liberal) sit on the panel during the Scarborough-Agincourt riding all-candidates meeting held Monday at the Agincourt Branch Public Library. (Sept. 19, 2011) Staff photo/MIKE ADLER

Liberal Soo Wong was criticized because she is running to be MPP for the riding a year after being re-elected as its public school trustee.

The New Democrat, Paul Choi, fought the charge he is too young or inexperienced for the job.

And Progressive Conservative Liang Chen was criticized for not showing up.

All three, and Pauline Thompson of the Green Party, are contending to replace Gerry Phillips, a retiring Liberal stalwart who has been the local MPP for a generation.

Thompson suggested Wong was in a "conflict of interest" running if she was still a trustee.

"How can you wear two hats?" she asked Wong.

Wong said her candidacy is legal - since May she has donated her salary to a local Rotary club - but though she is on a leave of absence she remains a trustee and feels "I have a duty to respond" when parents contact her office.

Choi, however, suggested Wong was leaving constituents who voted for her behind, at one point calling his Liberal opponent both "ambitious" and "malicious."

Wong said she will continue speaking for the riding's education needs at Queen's Park.

"I have been stellar in terms of listening to the community and acting on issues."

Choi, who left the crowded event at the Agincourt Public Library 10 minutes early, said he grew up in the riding's Chester Le neighbourhood but did not "fall through the cracks" and doesn't want anyone else to.

A man in the audience said he seemed too inexperienced to be an MPP, but Choi disagreed. "He doesn't know how well-connected I am in the community," said Choi. "There's an old person trapped in this body."â?¨He added that unlike his two opponents Monday he lives in the riding. "I know how crowded our buses are, I know how infrequently our buses come."

Chen (who, her campaign said, has appeared with other candidates at local shopping centres and a retirement home) said she would not come, in spite of efforts to accommodate her with other dates, said Jessica Roher of debate organizers the Scarborough Civic Action Network.

Questions and answers, in a riding where unemployment is higher and incomes are lower than average, tended to return to the subject of jobs.

Zelda Cumberbatch, a personal support worker, asked about the minimum wage. With the cost of living is so high, she said, "we're not getting enough money to support our families."

Choi said the New Democrats would raise the wage from $10.25 to $11. "These are pocketbook issues that we're all about," he said.

Thompson said it was more important to give tax breaks to small and medium-sized companies so they could create jobs. The province could find the money by charging big companies for their waste and pollution, she said.

Wong said the Liberal's full-day kindergarten initiative would save more riding residents money spent on day care, and added personal income taxes for low and middle-income Ontarians have gone down.