At the beginning of the town hall, each candidate got the chance to introduce themselves to an audience of approximately 285 people before taking questions. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm

With less than a week until election day, Nanaimo-Ladysmith candidates took to the stage to answer questions from engaged voters.

On Tuesday, April 22, the Vancouver Island University Political Studies Department hosted a Candidates’ Town Hall at the Malaspina Theatre for students and community members to hear from those running to be the next Member of Parliament for the riding of Nanaimo-Ladysmith.

In attendance was Lisa Marie Barron with the NDP, Liberal Party of Canada candidate Michelle Corfield, Green Party of Canada candidate Paul Manly, and Stephen Welton with the People's Party of Canada.

Tamara Kronis with the Conservative Party of Canada was the only candidate not in attendance for the event.

At the beginning of the town hall, each candidate got the chance to introduce themselves to an audience of approximately 285 people before taking questions.

Questions were asked three at a time, then each candidate had the opportunity to respond. These are some of the questions asked.

The first question asked Barron and Corfield what action their parties would take to protect employees and retirees whose pension plans are underfunded.

Corfield responded by saying seniors built this country so they deserve real care and peace of mind when it comes to their pension plans.

“I just met with a 99-year-old lady, and she said she was going to run out of money when she was 100, and I said I would talk to [Mark Carney] about making sure that she was adequately taken care of,” Corfield said. “So I'm going to think about how to protect our Canadians who reach the age of 100.”

Barron said she is seeing many seniors in the community who are now retired after working their whole lives, looking for work to make ends meet.

“Everybody should be able to retire with dignity and respect. So there's so much work that has to be done around that. I don't understand why we don't have a national strategy,” Barron said. “We know that our population is aging, but ultimately, we need to look at protecting pensions.”

Another audience member asked the candidates what their plan is to address the increasingly toxic and unpredictable nature of the unregulated drug supply in Canada.

Welton responded to the question, saying he and his party take a harder line on the issue of illicit substances, and if elected, he and his party would recriminalize hard drugs.

“Which would empower the police to do things about a lot of social issues that we suffer because of substance abuse,” Welton

As the former executive director of the Nanaimo Unitarian Shelter, Manly said he has seen firsthand the effects of the toxic substances and addiction.

“I know we have some of them use things like fentanyl patches and other ways to mitigate the addiction and the sickness that's caused by opioids. It's a very, very serious thing. So people do need a safe supply,” Manly said. “It needs to be regulated very well because we can't have it out in the community. So the fentanyl patches, I saw something that was a reasonable way to give people the dosage that they needed when they need it on a regular basis, and not something that they can, you know, break up and smoke or something like that.”

Barron pointed out how many lives have been lost due to the toxic substances that are in the communities. According to the Government of BC, between 2014 and January 2025, 566 people have died from unregulated drugs in Nanaimo.

“The people that we need to be listening to are the public health experts who are in the field, who understand what is required. I will tell you the very first thing that they say is to please, keep people safe, keep people alive, so they can access the treatment that they need to access, the supports that they need to access, wrap-around supports, whatever that looks like for them.” Barron said. “So whether that's on-demand treatment, whether that's mental health counselling, we need to meet people where they're at.”

Regarding official party status, Manly and Welton were both asked, as both the Green Party and the PPC do not have official party status, what they would do if elected to best support and advocate for their party platform in the House of Commons.

Manly, as a former Green Party MP, said even without official party status, he was still able to put forward motions and private members' bills.

“I don't need official party status to get things done in the House of Commons. Elizabeth May never had official party status. She's had two private members' bills that have been passed, one on Lyme disease and one on protecting whales,” Manly said. So it's about working across party lines, it's about being respectful and working with other people and treating them humanely and in a human way.”

Welton responded, saying advocating for their newer party’s platform is just part of the job.

“The reason I'm with the PPC is that we've seen this over this last decade, which is being called a ‘lost decade’, as Canada's economic measures and social measures are going down the toilet,” Welton said. “So what I'm here to do is represent the PPC and build this party to where we can go in there and make real change.”

The final day to vote in the Federal Election is on April 28, with polls open from 7 A.M. until 7 P.M.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.