Alvarez-Bardales Is On A Mission
By John Swartz
SUNonline/Orillia profiles candidates from each party in the forthcoming provincial election. Each candidate was asked the same set of questions. All candidates were invited to participate, however Jill Dunlop of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario did not make arrangements to meet with SUNonline/Orillia.
One does not often meet a political contender with a resume and a different story than heard time and again. Walter Alvarez-Bardales is an immigrant from Guatemala, which for those who are familiar with Central American history will know his life before, during and after immigrating, is not an easy one. His achievements since becoming a Canadian in 2001 are great, and now he’s the Liberal Party of Ontario’s candidate in Simcoe North.
The route to this riding is long. Civil war Is no joke. His brother was murdered. When he had no family left, he left. But he learned to speak out.
“We feel complicit if we are quiet. My father, rest in peace, he was kidnapped and beaten up so many times,” Alvarez-Bardales said.
“I was so close to death so many times. At one point a bullet was flying so close to me the wind trailing the bullet was gently caressing my hair.”
He got out, though not the way you’d think, walking until he hit the Rio Grande and all that entails.
“There are many ways to escape. Unfortunately 99% had to do it that way. The way I did, not to brag, it’s not a reflection of me, it’s a reflection of my parents, even when the bullets were flying all over, my father was teacher, so he would teach me at home. He would say, “Education is very important.” I finished high school with straight A’s.”
“I managed to escape with a scholarship (in 1993). That’s how I found my freedom. I went through Arkansas, it’s called Harding University (in Searcy, Arkansas). With poor English and my brother recently killed my object was not to acquire an education, it’s too expensive anyway, but to escape. I did manage to finish one year.”
While there he experienced something completely new.
“That’s when I experienced the vicious racism in the south of the United States. Just open racism. It was not something I was used to. Don’t get me wrong, I love the American people. The average American is good, but there is a small segment that is very racist.”
He then went to New Brunswick, New Jersey where there is a Guatemalan community, but not for long, He came to Canada, worked for several years and then went to school at Cape Breton University.
“After I got my MBA (2020) my academic career started taking off. I applied to be a PhD student (at Royal Roads University, Victoria, B.C.) and got accepted. I gained many scholarships. In fact they created a scholarship to hour my achievements, you know, from poverty to what I was accomplishing.”
He didn’t just graduate, he was Salutatorian of his class. And on the scholarship; Apply Board, a network of graduate international students, selects 10 Canadian international students annually to receive the International Alumni of Impact Award, with that a $20,000 dollar scholarship is created at each recipient’s school for international students still enrolled – and then names the award for the student selected, in this case international students at Cape Breton University can apply for the Walter Alvarez-Bardales Scholarship.
On top of that he was selected to represent Canada at a prestigious conclave.
“Just before graduation I earned a spot to represent Canada at the United Nations Model. We do political competitions mimicking what happens in the United Nations. All the major Ivy League schools go there,” he said. That happened in Washington, D.C. and students from around the world learn more about the principles of the UN and how it functions.
Between arriving and going to school, Alvarez-Bardales worked for Revenue Canada.
“I know it’s not very popular. I was one of the good guys advocating for the little person. Whenever there was doubt, I was objective, if I was going to make an error it would be on the side of the taxpayer and not the board.”
Getting Into Politics
So how did Alvarez-Bardales get into politics, and since he still lives in Scarborough, how did he end up as a candidate in Simcoe North? That too is a long story.
“A few years back I was volunteering during Stephen Harper’s administration. I was a refugee, I was homeless, I was hungry and the nation was so good to me and I wanted to give back.”
“One way I found to give back was to help people, refugees. In one case in particular where this person who did not have health insurance. I gave moral support to the person, but at the same time I was using all my intellect to ask Stephen Harper for assistance on compassionate grounds for this person. We begged the government for help saving this person’s life.”
“We received a letter, very straight forward, “your application has been denied.” Those five words amounted to a death sentence for him. He died in my arms in three days. He was living 6 or 7 blocks away from Princess Margaret Hospital. It destroyed something within me. I couldn’t reconcile how a nation that had been so good to me, that accepted me with open arms.”
“They had a harsh stance on spending money on refugees. I made so much noise, I’m sure Stephen Harper heard about it. What he did created a Liberal.”
“I thought immigrants were safe. I felt safe. It hurt my soul so much. But I found Jesus. Without him I wouldn’t be here. I also decided to study the issue because for months I couldn’t function because of the pain. I had to reconstruct myself. I also decided to pursue higher education.”
“I did better than I thought (at school). I never really had the opportunity, being refugee, being in poverty. As the years went by I did have the chance.”
“I created a master’s thesis on that person’s case and how in my academic opinion we violated human rights entirely. We let other Canadians down.”
So he joined the political world.
“I enrolled in politics first as a volunteer for Justin Trudeau. I was a campaign fellow,” he said. He specifically worked on the campaign of Gary Anandasangaree in the Scarborough-Rouge Park riding, but as a fellow which is a kind of advisor to the National effort.
He then shifted to the provincial level as a volunteer until he thought all his education and experience was being wasted, so he became a candidate in the 2022 provincial election in the York-Simcoe riding.
“That was my first attempt. Here I am, so full of ideas, competing against (Caroline) Mulroney. It was so exciting, but it also was a wake up call, I understood (learned) how politics in rural areas are. Oh, she won by a landslide,” he said.
Leadership changed and Alvarez-Bardales got lost in the shuffle.
“Once Steven Del Duca was gone, I’m a nobody.” He had to almost badger party officials with his resume and accomplishments before someone took notice.
“They asked me to run here and the logic was because they think I can bring a fresh perspective here. That’s been a problem for the Liberals in this riding, the apathy. So I jumped at the opportunity,”
Candidates are asked what they would change about the party they represent.
“I think politically speaking, I love Steven Del Duca but unfortunately politics is not a game of the best idea, it’s a game of the best marketer. I would have more of Bonnie Crombie’s style. It’s OK to go off script. If you sound like you are reading a book, nobody is going to vote for you. You need to be a real person. I would ask the candidates to be brave and courageous, speak form the heart,” Alvarez-Bardales said.
Healthcare
SUNonline/Orillia wanted to know what candidates views were about the privatization of healthcare and how much the public can take before the system breaks down.
“Based on all my academic research, almost zero. We’re almost at the point of no return,” he said. “It is very likely it could break down. The way the sneaky politicians worked it out, when that happens, and I hope I don’t see the day, Doug Ford is going to say, “See, this is not sustainable, so we have to make it private all together,” like our neighbours to the south. I’ve lived in the United States, that type of healthcare perpetrates and increases suffering.”
Alvarez-Bardales spoke of things he was familiar with from his American experience, real horror stories.
“I don’t want to see my fellow Canadians going through something like that,”
The issue is not we can’t afford it, it’s how the money is being spent with premiums paid for private temporary nurses, privately run surgeries and etc.siphoning money from the public system and transferred to private companies.
“It does make perfect economic sense if you are a millionaire close to the Ford inner circle, then it will make a lot of sense. The owners of these employment agencies, the owners of everything you just described, it amounts to a slow death sentence. It’s so invisible and insidious because you don’t see it. And they’re doing with a smile on their face. If you are not well-read, you will receive the $200 bribe and be happy and vote for Ford. It’s awful.”
Climate Change
Days after Doug Ford took office in 2018 he cancelled 758 solar, wind and in Orillia’s case, hydro generation projects at a cost of $231 million. Recently we have witnessed the gutting of environmental and natural habitat agencies in the U.S. Industry rebels against any kind of environmental regulation and all around the world conservative politicians are not taking climate change seriously. SUNonline/Orillia wants to know if candidates think this is a good idea, or a bad idea.
“Money spent for nothing,” Alvarez-Bar said of the cancelled contracts. “I think we should redouble our efforts and do it in an efficient and smart way. It’s not necessarily taxing people left and right. We need to work in cooperation with the three levels of government and partner with businesses if we want our children and our children’s children to have a future where they can breathe fresh air,”
The failed Greenbelt giveaway is at its root a climate issue. It’s the greenbelt after all, a buffer between urban centers. It was protected for a reason because of it’s benefit to the environment. That and the push to build Highway 413 through sensitive lands and digging a tunnel under the 401 don’t make any sense to people who know something about the environment, and those who know something about highways.
“Once again, let’s examine who is going to benefit, the inner circle,” he said.
Housing
SUNonline/Orillia contends a major cause of the rising cost of housing are two things, Real Estate Investment Trusts, of which some are buying up whole neighbourhoods to turn family homes into rental units, and Airbnb, which incentivizes smaller landlords to take rentals out of the market to turn into quasi hotels. It seems the mainstream media and politicians think speaking about their role is Kryptonite. What, if anything can the provincial government do to halt, or roll back the high cost of housing?
“It requires political will to do it. At the present time, with Doug Ford, the people that are creating artificial raising of prices of housing, they are in Doug Ford’s inner circle, so they are benefitting.”
“A premier with political will for greater benefit would start with Airbnb – regulation. We need to study the effect on the economy. I suspect it is (negatively effecting), and if it is then why are we allowing it?”
“Increasing regulation, the economic benefit wouldn’t take too long to be seen.”
Even with a stock of condos sitting empty at the moment, filling them won’t be enough and building housing is necessary as well.
“You’ve got to stop building and pretending that building the wrong kind of housing is the solution to the problem. It has got to be the right type of housing also,” Alvarez-Bardales said in reference to what was proposed for the Greenbelt.
“It has to be a comprehensive approach, but you have to be willing to take some flack about it. I think if it’s affecting the economy, and I believe it is, that needs to be stopped all together and the province has the authority to do it,”
Immigration
This is mostly a federal issue, experienced at the local level. There are many ramifications of too many immigrants coming in too short a time. It seems those who prey on and take advantage of the influx of new residents can do what they want. From immigration lawyers, to employers and landlords, immigrants are being taken advantage of. Does the province have a role in immigration?
“The role of the province is supporting community groups, and I’m talking with funding. They already exist, but we need to fund them better.”
“Overall, it’s a great country for immigrants. In the first 5 minutes, I went to Niagara Falls and I thought I was in a city of the future. Everything was so efficient, so clean, nobody looked at me funny because I obviously looked ethnic.”
“I think the province can do it, practical things immigrants need; learn English, connect them to jobs, all that. The people of Canada, they are good people, they are doing a good job.”
Americanization (Not Tariffs)
There is a growing concern among the electorate about the Americanization of Canadian politics. It’s an attitude, a say anything, blame anyone (or you more figuratively and specifically) and creating issues where none exists, or are so small it hardly warrants National headlines. There is a normalization of false talking points based on air.
Do we not have enough of our own problems without importing them? How much responsibility does media bear for this?
“I don’t know what my party lines are specifically on that, but what I can tell you is both are responsible, irresponsible politicians and the media, for making a big deal out of the false messages sent to the world. It’s so awful because hate messages, that’s what I call them, but they dress them up as political. The politicians, I don’t believe they feel hate, what they are doing is they are utilizing populism because it is easier,” Alvarez-Bardales said.
“If I appeal to your emotions, if I tell you, “that group over there hates you; vote for me and I’ll do something about that particular group.” If they appeal to people’s emotions with lies, they are more likely to get elected.”
“One of the things I love about Canadian democracy because my experience has been living in Guatemala under dictatorship, then I went to the United States for a couple of years and experienced that type of democracy. And then I came to Canada. Canada’s institutions, customs and traditions are what I suspect are a big part of making Canadians what they are, which is a good, tolerant people. When we start making (characterization) for political gain, it’s just changing the nature of the game and it’s a very sad day for Canada.”
The Last Word
Each candidate was invited to speak about an issue important to them that may not have been covered already.
“I don’t mind people knowing my story. I survived a war. The story of overcoming is very important. What I believe an advocate is, is somebody who speaks truth to power. An advocate speaks truth to power when it’s uncomfortable to do so, especially when it’s uncomfortable,”
“Wouldn’t you want an advocate that truly fights for you?” Alvarez-Bardales said before switching to third person.
“He’s been there, he doesn’t speak the proverbial Bill Clinton, “I feel your pain.” No, he’s actually been on the streets, hungry, he wants to fight for you. At the very least he wants to bring out all the dirty deeds to light, so the people can be informed and know. What’s done in secret in darkness is something that’s not good for the people, and that’s why they do it in the darkness.”
“If I win, rest assured so help me god, make me a servant of the people, so I can fight for the person that cannot fight for themselves.”
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia) Main: Ontario Liberal Party Simcoe North candidate Walter Alvarez-Bardales.
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