{"id":198107,"date":"2023-11-27T12:14:36","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T17:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=198107"},"modified":"2023-11-27T12:14:36","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T17:14:36","slug":"kitchener-centre-by-election-waiting-on-a-train-that-never-arrives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/kitchener-centre-by-election-waiting-on-a-train-that-never-arrives\/","title":{"rendered":"Kitchener Centre by-election: waiting on a train that never arrives"},"content":{"rendered":"

In early November the NDP leader Marit Stiles\u00a0introduced a motion<\/a> called on the government to provide a timeline and funding commitment for the Kitchener GO Line expansion, which was then promptly voted down by the Conservatives (66 to 30).<\/p>\n

With the Kitchener Centre by-election this week, CKMS took the opportunity to ask the four front-runner candidates if, after all the effort that has been applied, the government still won\u2019t budge, what can they add to this effort?<\/p>\n

The four main candidates are Rob Elliott<\/a> of the Progressive Conservatives, Debbie Chapman<\/a> of the NDP, Kelly Steiss<\/a> of the Ontario Liberal party, and Aislinn Clancy<\/a> of the Ontario Greens.<\/p>\n

CKMS News made three attempts over 10 days\u00a0 to contact the Progressive Conservative candidate Rob Elliot, but did not hear back from the PCs in time for broadcast of this story. The other three candidates responded and spoke to CKMS News about GO train service in Kitchener Waterloo.<\/p>\n

First up is Debbie Chapman of the NDP who says two-way, all-day GO service is a top priority for her and her party,\u00a0 and despite the Conservatives voted down the motion, the fight continues.<\/p>\n

The Liberals have also called for all-day and all weekend train service to Toronto. Kelly Steiss, the Liberal candidate explains how people have been pushing for more GO trains and acknowledges the frustration riders feel.<\/p>\n

Aislinn Clancy of the Ontario Greens noted how the PCs have said they are supportive of the idea of increased GO service, but then vote against it. Clancy has called on focusing on financial elements of the decision to appeal to the Conservatives. All levels of government to speed up the process to secure increased GO service.<\/p>\n

CKMS asked the candidates who agreed to speak about\u00a0 their familiarity with local transit is and if they actually use it, asking them \u201cWhen was the last time you went to Toronto on the GO train?\u201d and \u201cWhen was the last time you took the GRT (Grand River Transit buses) and Ion Rapid Transit Service (light rail)?\u201d<\/p>\n

Debbie Chapman of the NDP had not taken the GO transit to Toronto recently, but does take local public transport<\/p>\n

Aislinn Clancy of the Greens has had recent experience on GO transit and the GRT and highlighted the problems that she has experienced and heard.<\/p>\n

While Kelly Steiss of the Liberals has not had recent experience with GO Transit, her campaign staff have. She also has recent positive experience with the Ion.<\/p>\n

Listen below:<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In early November the NDP leader Marit Stiles\u00a0introduced a motion called on the government to provide a timeline and funding commitment for the Kitchener GO Line expansion, which was then promptly voted down by the Conservatives (66 to 30). With the Kitchener Centre by-election this week, CKMS took the opportunity to ask the four front-runner…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":198090,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[225,2602],"tags":[1500,30550,4527,33399,4591,28461],"radio":[253],"origine":[267,271,269],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198107"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198107"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198199,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198107\/revisions\/198199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198107"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=198107"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=198107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}