It was a full house at the Italian Canadian Club in Guelph on Thursday night for a debate between the local federal election candidates.

The event focused on social justice issues, such as housing, healthcare and pharmacare, the environment and the rights of refugees.

The organizers said they invited all of the candidates they could reach and all but one showed up — Conservative Party candidate Ashish Sachan.

Along with the other main parties being represented, the crowd was introduced to the so-called fringe party candidates who were also invited: Juanita Burnett is running for the Communist Party, Gordon Truscott is representing the Christian Heritage Party and Kornelis Klevering, who ran for the Marijuana Party in 2015, is now running as an Independent.

While some shots were taken at the Trudeau government during the two-hour debate, Liberal incumbent Lloyd Longfield calmly spent the evening talking about what the Liberal government has accomplished in four years.

During a question about affordable housing, he touted the Liberals’ $40-billion National Housing Strategy and complimented the work being done at a local level through organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and St. Joseph’s Health Centre.

“Getting seniors into new housing, to open up the mid-market for younger people to move into, and provide the tools and the incentives for them to be able to afford to get into their first home is something we’ve been working on across the board,” he said.

People’s Party of Canada candidate Mark Paralovos said reducing immigration will fix the housing problem.

“Having our infrastructure used for Canadians citizens, that’s important,” he said.

The People’s Party, led by Maxime Bernier, has come under fire for its immigration policies. Paralovos doubled down on its position when asked about the rights of refugees.

“The People’s Party government would accept fewer refugees and we will take every measure necessary in partnership with our neighbours to stop the flow of illegal migrants,” he said, noting his party is the only one supporting a reduction in immigration.

The NDP would suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States, party candidate Aisha Jahangir said to a round of applause.

Burnett echoed that statement and took it one step further by saying the Communist Party would end the temporary foreign workers program.

Green Party candidate Steve Dyck, who helped sponsor a Syrian refugee family, called for more resources and said welcoming migrants is good for the economy.

Klevering added he’d like to see colonies built for refugees, while Truscott said he doesn’t have any problem sharing Canada, as long as refugees are properly vetted.

The candidates will meet for at least four more debates before the Oct. 21 vote, including one hosted by the Guelph Chamber of Commerce at Guelph City Hall on Oct. 9.

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