Things are off to a rocky start with less than 12 days to go until the September 20 federal elections.

It was a low-key Etobicoke Lakeshore all candidates meeting on September 7 as one of the main contenders did not show up.

First-time Conservative Party of Canada candidate Indira Bains was noticeably absent from the virtual meeting on Wednesday that was organized by Our Lady of Sorrows Parish.

Fielding an hour’s worth of questions from moderator Brian McIntosh were Liberal incumbent James Maloney, the NDP’s Sasha Kane and Afam Elue, of the Green Party.

The candidates agreed there has to be more affordable housing in the community, more work to be  done to fight climate change and more high speed Internet in remote places of Canada.

“People are getting richer as many people are homeless,” Elue pointed out. “Something has to be done about the homeless situation in this community.”

Kane said the NDP will tackle climate change, carbon emission and work for an all-electric TTC fleet.

Maloney said the Liberals are working to bring about more affordable housing in South Etobicoke.

“Housing affordability is a problem in the South Etobicoke,” the Liberal MP said. “There has to be a two-year ban on foreign buyers who help drive up the prices.”

He and the other candidates stress it is ‘unacceptable’ for protestors to throw sand or rocks at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as they recently did at a campaign stop.

According to reports there were two separate incidents in which Trudeau was hit by items on September 6. The first occurred in London, Ont., as stones were thrown over a fence and hit staff at an event attended by the PM. Another incident took place when rocks were thrown at Trudeau as he was approaching and boarding his campaign bus.

“What we saw was unacceptable and shouldn’t be tolerated,” Maloney said of the incident.

‘This is a democracy and we have a right to put forward our opinion and you have a right to ask us questions,” Maloney said.

He is ‘particularly proud’ of the record of his party and how they handled COVID-19 and climate change.

There is another debate on September 9 at 12 noon that is sponsored by the Daily Bread Food Bank.