SCARBOROUGH-GUILDWOOD: Hunter, Kerr and Kirupa debate issues at local police station

"It has now been 10 months, and guess what, Ms. Hunter has not moved here," the realtor told about 70 residents gathered Wednesday in the community room at the Toronto police 43 Division station on Lawrence Avenue.

"I understand the needs of our community because I am here every day."

Hunter maintained she is still the riding’s best possible representative.

"My roots run very, very deep in Scarborough," she said, glancing at Kirupa and adding she grew up here and attended the University of Toronto Scarborough.

"I am present in this community all the time," she added later.

Kirupa wasn’t done, however, accusing Hunter of having spent tax dollars "inappropriately" while she served as CAO of Toronto Community Housing Corporation, including on "four-star hotels and meals in California."

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Hunter said all spending she authorized was approved by the housing authority’s CEO or done according to its spending guidelines. "Not everything you read in the papers is fact," she added.

Hunter went on the attack too, saying Toronto is growing by 100,000 residents a year, but PC Leader Tim Hudak and his party "have threatened to slash services" with 100,000 public sector job cuts.

"That’s not true," Kirupa responded, continuing to object as Hunter said PCs have threatened to cut funding to hospitals, and "that is something we cannot let happen."

Kirupa later said "there has been lots of fearmongering by Liberals and media" about the proposal to cut public sector jobs, over four years, down to what he said were 2009 levels in Ontario.

"It’s very simple, nothing to worry about," he added, to laughter from Liberal supporters. "The government is too big; you know that."

While Kirupa said his party "are not going to cut front-line services," Hunter said Hudak would cut educational assistants in the classroom and personal support workers needed in the riding.

The debate organized by the Coronation Community Association had been postponed to Wednesday night the day before. The riding’s New Democratic candidate Shuja Syed and Jeffrey Bustard, a Green, were invited but didn’t attend.

The only other candidate who came was Richard Kerr, a Libertarian and Durham College professor who said his party would bring government "back to the essentials," by casting off affordable housing, tourism and other services best done by private companies.

"If the market is there, they will build it," he said.

Kirupa and Hunter also clashed on the Scarborough subway extension, which was a top issue in the byelection last year despite having a proposed route outside the riding.

Kirupa said the Liberals have done "nothing" to start the extension since, adding the PC party is the only one with a plan to "bring real subways to Scarborough."

Hunter she’s worked hard to ensure funds for the Scarborough subway are a concrete part of the Liberal plan.

Asked how the Liberals could be trusted after years of scandals, Hunter replied, "Governments of all stripes have made mistakes," and added, to some heckling, that Premier Kathleen Wynne, since taking office, "his been very transparent, open and accountable."

Acknowledging Scarborough’s hospitals are old and outdated. the former executive director of the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance said she’s encouraged by work they’ve done together to improve their delivery of services.

Hunter said the Liberals invested $3.8 million "to help (the two hospitals) develop their capital planning," though this money was spent on studying a merger between The Scarborough Hospital and Rouge Valley Health System that was shelved after the hospitals asked for more provincial support.

Kirupa said it’s important to fund the hospitals properly, but the Liberals have wasted money on the area’s Local Health Integration Network and its community care access centre, the body assigning home care services. "The money we spend on the middle management can be put to the front line," he said.

Asked how he would address racial discrimination affecting the riding’s black community, Kerr said everyone should be protected by law enforcement and treated equally.

"I have a tough time with colour because I don’t see colour," he said.

An immigrant from Sri Lanka, Kirupa called Canada "the best country you could see" in terms of how minorities are treated, suggesting the fact he was chosen by his party to run for MPP was part of the proof.

Hunter, however, said racial discrimination is "something we have to confront as a society," and noted it is aboriginal and black youth in Ontario that face the highest unemployment. "Some communities are struggling more" and need more supports, she said.

Kerr said every community suffers from a lack of jobs, but making more government jobs is not the answer. Instead, he said, young people should be encouraged to use their skills and create their own companies.