Marc Benoit acclaimed as NDP candidate

nnCORNWALL – Marc Benoit was secured the nomination May 8th to be the provincial NDP candidate for the June 7th election for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry. As the only person seeking the nomination, he was acclaimed at the meeting in Cornwall.nn“It was a good crowd at the event,” Benoit told The Leader. “There’s definitely energy among our supporters.”nnHe said that affordability is the largest issue facing the riding.nn“The cost of living is too high. We can’t afford day care, doctors, prescription drugs, and dental care. I live paycheque to paycheque like everyone else. I don’t live in a bubble.”nnBenoit said that voters are not seeing action on issues from current premier Kathleen Wynne.nn“And Doug Ford is not a good answer.”nnBenoit attacked the Liberals plan for lowering electricity costs in the province.nn“[Wynne] is borrowing money to make electricity cheaper, that’s not a plan,” he said. “Andrea Horwath has a real plan to make electricity affordable.”nnThat plan includes returning Hydro One to 100 per cent government ownership; ending mandatory time-of-day pricing; capping private profit margins; harmonizing delivery charges between rural and urban customers; and ending the practice of overpaying for unneeded electricity generated.nnBenoit said that trust in government was the biggest issue facing the province as a whole.nn“After 14 years in power, people just do not trust the current premier,” he said.nnOn school closings, Benoit said that he didn’t want to see more schools closing, and that the party wants to equalize funding between the different boards.nnPresently the English-Catholic, French-Catholic and French-Public boards are paid prorated funding over and above the English-Public amount. He said that the party wanted more use of schools as community hubs.nnBenoit believes his election changes are good in SDSG. “After 20 years of the Liberals and Conservatives, it’s not working. They’re not listening,” he said. “We’re not the same party we were 30 years ago. We are going to work for change for the better.”