Catherine Fife is the NDP candidate for the Waterloo riding in the upcoming provincial election on Feb. 27. Fife has served four consecutive terms as the MPP for Waterloo after first getting elected in 2012. If re-elected, she will serve her fifth term.

One of the key points in Fife’s current campaign is the housing and rent control issue in Waterloo. This topic affects many students in the city making it difficult for them to be able to afford housing and feel safe in their homes. Fife discussed how after Conservative Premier Doug Ford removed rent control in 2018, it has been hard for students to find housing as many live on a fixed income, which is why she is advocating for the return of rent control. Fife wants to pass rent stabilization legislation that will ensure tenants are paying the same as the previous tenant, with the only change being from government calculated annual inflation. She also wants there to be a public rent registry, so that tenants can see what the previous tenant paid, and also provide legal aid so that tenants can protest illegal rent hikes.   

Another issue included in Fife’s campaign is the lack of public transit available to students. She is pushing for better transit access, specifically from Waterloo to Toronto. Fife says that other communities, such as Barrie and Stouffville, have been prioritized to receive reliable two-way, all-day GO service, which Waterloo still does not have. She also explained how Waterloo needs train services not only during the week but also on the weekends. 

When discussing how this issue affects the students of Waterloo, Fife said, “Spending three hours one way from Toronto to KW to get to a class is not viable and quite honestly, it’s insulting.”

Fife is also advocating for a wider range of mental health resources and services. She discussed how there are two main areas that need to be available to students who are struggling: on-campus and community-based services. Fife stressed the importance of how on-campus services need to be available for students in real time, whenever they have the courage to come forward and ask for help. Additionally, there needs to be more alternative destination clinics in the community to not only help alleviate the stress on hospital ERs but also to provide a less stressful experience for those seeking help.  

Fife also discussed what she is advocating for on the topic of OSAP. She explained how her platform for students has been around the expansion of grant applications to reduce student debt. “We don’t believe that the government should be profiting off interest on student debt, that seems extra insulting,” Fife said. Additionally, she discussed how her platform has made a commitment to review the base operational funding for universities and colleges as student fees are currently paying 50 per cent of the operational costs. 

Fife went on to discuss how the current housing crisis underpins a lot of the economic instability in Ontario and not being able to move out of family homes is becoming more and more of a reality. Living at home has become, for some people, the only financially viable option in the current economic and housing crisis in the province. Fife wants to combat this issue by petitioning the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to prioritize the repair of Ontario’s social housing stock, committing to building more affordable homes, make rent more affordable through rent control and update the current legislation surrounding housing. 

“[This] generation should have the right to work hard, get a job and be able to afford a house, right? And right now, that dream is very, very far away from the current experience of students,” Fife said. 

Looking forward, Fife’s main priorities if she gets re-elected include education, healthcare, including equal access to healthcare, and housing. Fife described the housing crisis as a humanitarian crisis and said that she sees housing as a right.