Liberal candidate Amanda Pulker-Mok – unfinished business

Jeff Green | Mar 30, 2022

Amanda Pulker-Mok finished third in the Lanark Frontenac Kingston riding in the provincial election in 2018, facing the negative headwinds, in the dying days of a 15 year, Liberal majority government in Ontario.

She is running again for the Liberals in the riding this June, and made time for a phone interview this week.

She said that the main thing that motivated her to run in 2018 was “the experience that I had with my mom. She had gone from diagnosis, to home care, to long term care, and going through the system, as a support person for her, was a real eye-opener for me. I wanted to bring the patient perspective of the healthcare system to that election.

“Now that everyone is enlightened to the challenge of long-term care, after what COVID did early on in the pandemic, I think those issues will get a hearing this time.”

She has returned to teaching since 2018, and this year she had a long-term contract teaching kindergarten, which ended last week. She will be doing some limited supply teaching this month, but already started doing door to door campaigning last weekend, and will be fully devoted to campaigning when the election gets going in earnest, in early May.

She said that the back-to-school plan, that was in place this year under the Ford government, was a disaster, and the plan put forward by the Liberals would have been safer for everyone and better for students.

“We needed to limit class sizes more in order for everyone to remain safe. The plan, which was put forward by our leader Stephen Del Duca, called for innovation, even using community halls for classrooms when necessary, in order to keep class sizes low, and increase distancing for everyone. But the government did not want to innovate. Paid sick days and mental health supports were also part of his plan, but none of that had happened under Ford,” she said.

Healthcare and education are major issues for her in this campaign, but she said that the one thing that is top of mind right now, for her and for the people she has met with during the early campaign, is affordability.

“Our full platform will be released closer to the election, and will be fully costed, but Stephen Del Duca has already released some information about the Liberal plan for economic dignity, which looks at supporting workers through a regional living wage. Under a regional approach, the cost of living across the province and in rural areas, not just Toronto, will be factored in. The minimum wage will go to $16 in January of 2023, under the Liberals. Our plan will include 10 paid sick days for all workers, because workers who are living paycheque to paycheque can't afford to stay home when they are sick.”

Another affordability issue that she noted, has come into focus as gas prices have risen.

“The Ford government scrapped the electric vehicle incentives that the Liberals had in place. Our plan is to bring a rebate of up to $8,000, and up to $1,500 for a home electric upgrade for charging vehicles.”

Last year, Amanda and her family moved from Almonte to “our dream home” in nearby Carleton Place, which is one of the fastest growing communities in Canada.

“Carleton Place is growing because it is a great place to live, but there is a critical shortage of primary care. As a government, looking at nurse practitioner-led clinics is a necessity, even as we try to bring in more doctors.”

With the election coming up in 66 days, as of this Monday, Amanda Pukker-Mok is ramping up her campaign and preparing to visit communities across the riding.

“We had a team out in Sydenham, on the weekend, and I was in Carleton Place. We are looking at getting to every community to talk to people about what concerns them the most,” she said