Meet Lee Fairclough: Etobicoke-Lakeshore candidate

While leading St. Mary’s General Hospital through the COVID-19 pandemic, Lee Fairclough says she began to see the impacts of the decisions made by the Ford government. Fairclough thought about what the coming years held for publicly funded healthcare and education systems. 

By 2022 and nearly 25 years of working in healthcare, Fairclough resigned as the hospital’s president and joined the Ontario Liberal Party. After a short and lost campaign, Fairclough has since taken the role as senior vice-president for clinical care at The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Though the choice to run came again.  

“The truth is, I’m only more worried,” she says. 

“I just really can’t stand by and watch billions of dollars being wasted and not ensure that there’s more accountability around those decisions.”  

As the Ontario Liberal Party candidate for Etobicoke-Lakeshore, Fairclough says she wants to protect Ontario’s public healthcare and education system. Fairclough says there is a big backlog on fixing public schools and getting back to the basics of learning such as providing enough textbooks for students or maintaining manageable class sizes. 

Prior to 2018, Fairclough says 90 per cent of people had access to a family doctor, but that the workforce has become too difficult.  

Fairclough says she believes people should have access to a good primary care team-based model with family physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers and youth mental health.  

“This is doable, it really is doable,” she says.  

“It’s just a matter of having a government that wants to be committed and sees it as their primary job.” 

Fairclough and her family have lived in Etobicoke for over 20 years. Outside of work, they are often hiking or planning the next family trip up in the mountains or a backcountry canoe trip. She says being involved with the community has given her insight into the issues and solutions for them. 

For students, she says there is a plan for no interest on OSAP loans for a period of time—giving people the flexibility to pay back until they are earning more than $50,000 a year.  

For first-time homeowners, she says this would mean to relieve the land transfer tax, and extend this to seniors who want to downsize, to free up the housing that is available for people who want to move to smaller housing. Fairclough says there is a plan to implement a rent control program, and a transitional fund—a short-term loan to help people who have lost their job and cannot meet their rent. 

For the small businesses that take over Etobicoke—restaurants, shops, entertainment—she says it starts from supporting and shopping local and through reducing taxes and total revenue amounts to be taxed at lower rates.  

“As your MPP, I will be a champion for you,” Fairclough says.  

“Given the situation with the U.S., we all need to be thinking about supporting local.” 

Fairclough says young people’s voices are important, and especially now more than ever it is important to do research for a chance to better understand what’s going on in the world and to make informed choices.  

She says she has seen the community come together in incredible ways to achieve all different things, and that she encourages people to get involved in what you are passionate about.  

“I think for the Ontario Liberal Party, for us, it’s been a time of rebuilding,” Fairclough says.  

“It’s gotten us right back to the grassroots. Why are we doing this? What’s our democracy about? How are we really hearing people? How are we encouraging them to be involved?”