Town Hall Tales: notes from three federal election events in St. John’s

St. John’s has been host to several federal election town halls over the last few weeks. I attended three of them, hosted by The Independent, CBC, and environmental organizations Youth Climate Corps and Neighbours United.

As the province undergoes drastic changes in the economy, labour markets, and changing weather conditions, candidates and community members alike were deeply engaged with ideas and proposals put forward at the three town hall events.

For two of the three events, candidates addressed various issues around developing better systems, pathways, and policies they believe will bring a better, more prosperous province. For the third event, community members were given a chance to share their personal stories and put questions to political candidates.

The big question in everyone’s mind: if elected, how would candidates and parties get the work done? Based on the conversations, I want to focus on the key collaborative takeaways that speak to the younger generation of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, of which I am one. We must find ways to work with the older generations as they pass the torch to the province’s future leaders. 

Policies and principles rooted in social and economic justice

Vital to our future are social justice principles that put people first, consider scalable taxation plans to stop large corporate profits from monopolizing on basic needs and services like food, housing, education, and healthcare. 

Aging with dignity should be a lifelong concept, not something people need to work for or earn. Promoting and encouraging wraparound supports that include age-related life-cycle programs from childhood to post-retirement, with flexible considerations around financially supporting disabled individuals regardless of working status — and ensuring that individuals are engaged socially, mentally, and spiritually, at an early age, to cultivate an engaged citizenship and a healthier democracy.

Housing and homelessness

The CBC’s End Homelessness Town Hall centered these principles and hosted candidates from St. John’s East, including Mary Shortall (NDP), Joanne Thompson (Liberal Party), Otis Crandell (Green Party), David Brazil (Conservative Party), and Cape Spear candidate Tom Osborne (Liberal Party). All candidates acknowledged that affordable housing is a big concern, but they had different ideas on how to address the crisis. As the candidates gave insight on how to create more affordable and accessible housing in the province, the audience gained insight on the different ways affordable housing could become a reality. Notably, in 2024, the Tent City for Change encampment and protest raised debatable concerns in the provincial legislature about contributing systemic factors that create homelessness and how to mitigate, prevent, and support those who are seeking safe, affordable, and accessible housing. 

Green Party candidate Otis Crandell suggested declaring the lack of affordable housing a national housing emergency, while taxing rich corporations to bring money back into the hands of working people. Crandell has acknowledged that he is not tied to the party completely and that he would support and amplify local concerns by bringing them directly to Ottawa and collating MPs who share similar visions and goals.  

NDP candidate and party president Mary Shortall said the rising cost of rent could be addressed through rent controls and creating national regulations that would limit rent to one-third of a tenant’s income, as well as creating living-wage regulations to match the cost of living. Shortall acknowledged the close intersection of her professional values and guiding principles of the NDP and stood behind the rent-control initiative at the forefront of the NDP’s platform. 

Conservative candidate David Brazil, a former provincial cabinet minister, acknowledged the lack of continuous funding for non-for-profit services that reduce homelessness and focused on how to create continuous support for on-the-ground service provisions like acute and long-term supports. Brazil’s ideas partially align with his party’s compassionate intervention proposal, which talks about safe housing supports and rehabilitation-centred sentencing but doesn’t acknowledge wraparound supports such as employment access and positive socialization. The proposal also raises questions around the criminalization of those who experience mental health and addictions problems either as a result of, or leading up to, homelessness. 

Liberal incumbent and federal cabinet minister Joanne Thompson agreed with most of the other candidates’ solutions; she supported the Liberal Party’s plan to invest $20 billion in affordable housing.The Liberals mention large urban areas such as Toronto and Vancouver, but don’t mention cities with lower population densities like St. John’s, Mount Pearl and Paradise. 

Former provincial cabinet minister Tom Osborne, the Liberal candidate for Cape Spear, mentioned his party’s plan to create a crown corporation that would regulate housing prices from conception to construction and make building materials cheaper. The Liberal Party notes crown corporations that make major capital acquisitions, like VIA Rail, can increase unity and resilience.

Public participation in energy democracy and just transition

Subsidies for oil and gas companies need to stop. Key to transforming the social and cultural approaches to energy development and sustainability are transparent plans and investments that include climate-friendly jobs in the areas of climate mitigation, climate adaptation, and renewable energy. High priority must also be given for livable wages and increased efforts to uplift and sustain women and gender-diverse leaders in these sectors.

The Independent’s April 16 federal election candidates debate in St. John’s East featured Sam Crete (Communist Party), Mary Shortall (NDP) and Otis Crandell (Green Party). The debate touched on equitable participation in society and affordable everyday necessities like transportation and heating. Shared resources and nationalizing the energy sector were seen as viable pathways, as was the need to cultivate more diverse economies, better jobs, greener spaces, and happier societies.

“If we emphasize the social benefits of health care [and] affordable housing, we can attract people into regions and get industries working in those regions,” Crandell said during the debate. 

“We should have a say on how things operate and those profits should be redistributed to everyone,” added Crete.

Candidates suggested steering away from mega projects and considering more circular versions of economic prosperity and sovereignty over energy sources to avoid exploitative prices and potential fallouts like stranded assets or having an underskilled workforce. 

“Most people working in the oil and gas industry or working the spinoff jobs don’t want to come knocking on their parents’ door saying, ‘mom and dad I gotta come live with you, we just lost our jobs [and] we can’t make a decent living now because nobody had a plan,” said Shortall.

Environmental justice and reconciliation with Indigenous communities

Accountability is key for any political jurisdiction. Newfoundland and Labrador is one of the three provinces that produce crude oil and is still heavily reliant on the oil and gas industry despite economic and environmental data that warrant divestment. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians of all ages and backgrounds are feeling the impacts of the climate crisis—in large part a result of nearly two centuries of fossil fuel extraction. Two community members—one from Port Aux Basques, and another from Ecuador—shared their experiences.   

The Youth Climate Corps and Neighbours United Just Transition Town Hall featured St. John’s East candidates Mary Shortall (NDP), Otis Crandell (Green Party), David Brazil (Conservative), Sam Crete (Communist Party), and Cape Spear candidates Kaelem Tingate (Green Party) and Mike Peach (Animal Protection Party). The event created an engaging space where community members and candidates could share ideas and stories while discussing pathways to collaboration on agreed upon initiatives.

Friday’s for Future organizer Megan Scott, from Channel-Port aux Basques, talked about the devastation Hurricane Fiona caused in her community and recounted her experience of losing a family home filled with trinkets and generational memories. Scott recalled early dismissals of the storm’s severity, and the shocking force of the waves washing in, displacing families from their homes. Scott now advocates for funding to rebuild rural infrastructure like fishing stages and other sustainable infrastructure to support a just transition for communities facing climate impacts like Fiona.

“What resources can we have in place for the next time [a hurricane like Fiona] happens?” Scott asked. In response, Shortall stressed the need for collective action on climate issues and agreed Fiona was a stark warning of more extreme weather events to come. She said it’s the government’s responsibility to provide relief and lead the shift away from fossil fuel. She noted that any climate plan must focus on green rebuilding, a clear funding strategy, and workforce planning. 

Now residing in St. John’s and researching LGBTQIA+ and inclusive community spaces with the Anti-Racism Coalition of NL and sustainability initiatives, Doménica Lombeida reflected on the deep connection to nature that was shaped by childhood trips to Esmaraldes, Ecuador, and river fishing. “I saw [people] gathering shellfish from the mud and catching fresh fish from the river,” they said. “When I close my eyes, I can still feel the heavy mud on my boots.” Lombeida’s understanding of mutual aid and environmental cohabitation stems from witnessing the mismanagement of environmental disasters in Ecuador, such as oil spills. For decades, and still today, ongoing environmental disasters in Ecuador continue devastating forests, marine life and local communities. “I feel hopeless that, regardless of [the] laws in place, drilling continues in Ecuador. What hopes are [there] for Canada or Newfoundland and Labrador to prevent the same fate?” Lombeida asked.

In response, Crete emphasized that capitalism has severed our inherent connection to nature, as noted in Lombeida’s story from Ecuador. Crete said real climate action requires a shift to a socialist economy, and that without systemic change politics-as-usual will continue to undermine progress towards a just transition. Lasting solutions, he said, depend on confronting capitalism. 

As described in the stories, human influence and extractive industries like the fossil fuel sector are responsible for environmental disasters like oil spills and contribute to increasingly hostile weather conditions, like hurricane Fiona.

Newfoundland and Labrador still plans to develop Bay du Nord, a deepwater offshore oil project that would threaten migratory fishing patterns that are relied on by Indigenous communities, and which directly threatens the bottlenose whale, which is important to Mi’kmaw culture. The next generation of Indigenous youth and children who grow up with familiarity with the whales and ocean lifestyle are now at risk of not being able to have that experience. Many Indigenous businesses that rely on the ocean face dismal futures with rising costs, uncertain weather conditions, and potential changes in migratory patterns due to seismic surveys, drilling, and oil spills.

Jude Benoit, a consultant with the Mixed Coast Collective and two-spirited Mi’kmaw person who comes from a lobster fishing family, expressed concerns over the sustainability of the current and future offshore oil projects. Benoit critiqued Bay du Nord—which proponent Equinor has put on pause for three years—and called for a shift toward Indigenous sovereignty and green jobs. “Would any amount of oil or projects or jobs make torturing and cleaning an animal like the whale worth it?” they asked.

In response, Crandell said no amount of oil or jobs justify harming marine animals. Beyond climate change, he highlighted how the fossil fuel industry damaged both sea and land ecosystems. Crandell called for solutions like a Youth Climate Corps and Adult Climate Corps initiative, where funding could come from redirecting fossil fuel subsidies to go directly into green jobs. Lastly, Crandell supports the idea of increasing the tax on oil companies instead of  giving them subsidies.  

Planning a way forward

It’s not enough to plan — it is time to invest. Community groups like the Youth Climate Corps say the government should commit at least $1 billion to support 20,000 jobs in climate mitigation, adaptation, and the province’s renewable energy sector. They say this would give meaning to its commitment to divesting from fossil fuels and reducing emissions to ensure we are working in a climate resilient province and economy.

“Will you support an initial commitment of $1 billion, or will you fight for an initial commitment of $1 billion to create a Youth Climate Corps […] and will you support and demand a program that grows based on demand and remains fully public and in partnerships with Indigenous communities and municipalities and provinces?” Youth Climate Corps organizer Lea Movelle asked the candidates at the Just Transition Town Hall.

“Yes,” said Crete, adding “we must be doing this kind of work outside of the election cycle.” Shortall pointed to a motion the NDP passed in late 2023 announcing its support for a Youth Climate Corps. “Oil companies themselves have already made their decision,” she said.

“Unequivocally, yes,” said Crandell. “We can’t shut off oil tomorrow but we need to stop expansion, and move to transitioning to other alternatives.” Tingate said a Youth Climate Corps is “important,” and that the program would give people “an opportunity to make a difference, be boots on the ground to help people,” and that a $1 billion investment, compared to other government investments and subsidies, is “a very reasonable request.” 

Peach of the Animal Protection Party said he would like to see the government “implement aggressive carbon avoidance, halt expansion of new pipelines, impose tariffs on nations with no green focus, [and] remove tax incentives and subsidies from animal and oil and gas sectors to go towards greener energy sources in collaboration with local communities.”

As the federal election campaign comes to an end, Newfoundland and Labrador will soon head into a provincial election, so conversations about fossil fuels, climate change and a just transition are far from over. It’s apparent now more than ever that we all have a lot to consider when building our communities, and that it is important to unite for collective progress as we strive for a more equitable, happier, and livable world. 

The Independent’s federal election coverage is supported by the Covering Canada: Election 2025 Fund.