No fanfare, no special guests, just some soup, coffee and a discussion about what people want.
That's all Windsor-West MPP Candidate Krysta Glovasky-Ridsdale wanted for her campaign office opening on Wyandotte St. W. near Rankin Ave.
More than a dozen people sat around a table discussing everything from the economy to energy costs.
When it comes to economics, Glovasky-Ridsdale tells AM800 News it's time to take a different approach. "I agree it's a good idea to bring businesses to our area but we have to look at placing them in a place where people can get to them using Transit Windsor. Entice them to build or to start where the workforce is rather than trying to figure out how to get the workforce out there and focus on small business," she says.
Glovasky-Ridsdale believes small businesses will keep the local economy strong. "If you have one factory of 200 people close, you would have to have 100 small businesses with two employees each close to have the same economic impact," says Glovasky-Ridsdale. "That is less likely to happen because small businesses have had more growth than any other sector."
The hot topic for every campaign is hydro-costs, and with a possible hike in usage rates coming, she says it's time to cut out the middle-man and give people the tools to lower their energy cost on their own. "Opening up opportunities for energy retro-fits for homeowners and small businesses, large businesses too, but they don't tend to go for those as often because they get offsets in other ways from government," she says. "Things that people can put in place in their own homes and their own lives, which will save them money."
New Democrat Lisa Gretzky is the incumbent for Windsor-West.