LIBERAL PARTY CANDIDATE MELISSE WILLEMS

NAME: Melisse Willems

RIDING: FlamboroughGlanbrook

PARTY: Liberal

AGE: 47

OCCUPATION: Lifelong advocate. Lawyer by training. Former registrar and executive director of the College of Dietitians, the regulatory body for registered dietitians.

RESIDENCE: Toronto

PAST POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Willems has volunteered for political campaigns and worked closely with government for many years in the licensure and regulation of several health professions in Ontario.

HOW WOULD YOU GRADE THE PROVINCE'S COVID-19 RESPONSE AND WHY? C minus. The government has failed to consistently make decisions based on facts and expertise. Too often, the government was reactive instead of proactive. This led to surges in cases that overwhelmed our hospitals, resulting in many cancellations of lifesaving procedures. The deaths of thousands of our parents and grandparents in long-term care was nothing short of a tragedy. And our kids have seemed to be an afterthought in decisionmaking, coming second to other interests.

IF ELECTED, I PLEDGE TO use my advocacy expertise to ensure that FlamboroughGlanbrook has a voice at Queen's Park. I will be ethical and transparent and swayed by logic and facts, not personal gain. I will work to make sure that our health-care system is strengthened, rather than eroded, because health is a fundamental human right.