Each candidate was asked to submit a biography and answer three questions. Below is the response from the Ontario Liberal Party's candidate for London West, Ken Coran.
Biography (Source: http://www.votekencoran.ca)
Ken Coran is a proud Londoner, committed to being a strong voice for our community.
For the past five years, Ken served as President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation representing 61,000 teachers and educational support staff. For Ken, education is key to building a prosperous, fair and compassionate society.
A former school teacher and department head with the Thames Valley School Board, Ken has always worked to create a strong public education system, right here in London.
Ken served as a Vice President for the Ontario Federation of Labour. Working together, Ken believes that education can help create opportunity and jobs in our community.
Ken has lived in London for nearly forty years.
Why should the constituents of London West vote for you?
As a teacher in the London area for 25 years, I listened to parents and saw first hand the benefit a strong education system has on a community. As a parent, I understand the everyday things that matter to London families; making it easier to pay the bills, feeling safe in local neighbourhoods, and the security that comes with a stable well-paying job that allows them to provide for their family.
I have a proven record of solving difficult problems by listening to everyone’s concerns, bringing people together and addressing any challenge in a respectful, cooperative way. I have found that communities grow stronger when we all work together and through that unity of purpose, positive results are achieved.
I understand London West’s priorities. We need new, good jobs and continued excellence in our schools and hospitals. Unlike some of my opponents, I do not seek to divide communities but to bring every voice to the table.
If you are elected as an MPP, what will your top two priorities be?
London has a world renowned university, an outstanding college, and some of the best hospitals in the province. It is the perfect climate for investment. If I am elected as your MPP, I will make it my number one priority to attract new business and show the world that London is the number one place to invest. Creating new, good jobs right here in London will be my number one priority.
Kathleen Wynne and I believe in making your everyday life easier. That is why
Ontario Liberals have fought hard to take 15% off your auto insurance bill, reduce tuition by 30% for low and middle income families, added over 175 family doctors to London, and are taking 10% off your electricity bill. An important part of respecting the financial reality of Ontarians is ensuring that our government is managing tax dollars in a way that is accountable, efficient and transparent.
As your MPP, I will ensure that creating new jobs and making your everyday life easier will be my top priorities.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing Ontarians?
Each community in Ontario will have slightly varying challenges and priorities, but the consistent challenge every where is ensuring that we create sustainable, good-paying jobs while continuing to invest in our communities and protect the vital services such as education and healthcare that we all depend on.
Having beaten our reduction targets for the past five years in a row, we are confidently on track to have the deficit eliminated by 2017-18. Eliminating the deficit while protecting health and education is a challenge that I know Kathleen Wynne, myself and the Ontario Liberals can achieve.