#ondp

Former Ottawa city councillor and mayoral candidate Catherine McKenney has been nominated as the Ontario NDP's candidate for Ottawa Centre in the next provincial election.

The news comes a little more than a month after McKenney announced they were turning their attention to provincial politics.

"I care deeply about housing and homelessness. I care deeply about active transportation and transit. I care deeply about affordability and health care and better schools," McKenney said Saturday after securing the party's nomination.

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In this bonus episode, Ariel talks with Brooklin Wallis, Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate for Kitchener Centre in the upcoming snap Ontario Election. This isn’t an endorsement, but a discussion that hopes to prod solarpunk talking points into the realm of politics. Brooklin even describes herself as someone with solarpunk leanings! How does that reconcile with participation in the democratic system in Ontario, Canada? What are her solarpunk goals?

NB: We drop a bunch of hyper-local references to places. This link will be helpful for listeners who aren’t familiar with the cities in Southern Ontario: https://gisgeography.com/ontario-map/

Turnout

As it stands, Elections Ontario has the turnout count pegged at 43%. The ridings with the highest turnout are Huron—Bruce with 54%, and then both Niagara West and Parry Sound—Muskoka with 53%. The ridings with the lowest turnout were Kiiwetinoong with 28% (only 92% of results are in), Humber River—Black Creek with 32%, and Windsor West with 33%.

It’s impossible to gauge how many voters were discouraged from voting by polls that consistently showed the PCs with a strong advantage. We also don’t know how many people didn’t vote due to Covid-19 infection or a lack of easy access to a nearby polling station. All parties were handed a major setback yesterday when a tech issue prevented them from downloading lists of which voters had already cast a ballot and which hadn’t yet, so their ability to work strategically yesterday was limited. Regardless, 43% is a pathetic turnout rate.

It’s worth noting that the Green Party campaigned relentlessly in Parry Sound—Muskoka because, with no Liberal candidate running, they had a good chance of winning that seat. A lot of effort was made to engage with voters and win their support, both from the Greens and the incumbent PCs. Niagara West is Sam Oosterhoff’s riding, where he can mobilize a large group of supporters from his church to canvass and help people vote. Running an energetic campaign is a candidate’s job, but for the rest of us, volunteering and helping to get people to a polling station really does help. Persuading friends and family to vote helps. We’re at a disadvantage in a first past the post electoral system, so there’s zero room for apathy.

Andrea Horwath and the NDP

After four elections as leader, Andrea Horwath read the room and stepped down after running a low-energy and uninspiring campaign. In Brampton, deputy party leader Sara Singh lost her seat, as did Gurratan Singh. The PCs secured several union endorsements over the traditionally more labour-friendly NDP. The Liberals will get more attention for their trainwreck of an election, but yesterday was awful for the NDP.

With Horwath quitting, the NDP’s other deputy leader, John Vanthof, may be interested in running for the party leadership. Joel Harden and Marit Stiles are other potential contenders.

Notable losers

New Blue MPP Belinda Karahalios and New Blue leader Jim Karahalios both lost badly in Cambridge and Kitchener—Conestoga respectively. Derek Sloan also lost by a huge margin. The former Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders lost in Kathleen Wynne’s old riding.

The Liberals took the riding of Kingston and the Islands from the NDP, beating Mary Rita Holland, the former president of Ontario’s NDP. Sandeep Singh, who was controversially chosen as the NDP candidate in Brampton North over the incumbent, Kevin Yarde, also lost.

Steven Del Duca has stepped down after failing to secure party status for the Liberals or win in Vaughan—Woodbridge. After flipping from the PCs to the Liberals in 2020, MPP Amanda Simard lost her seat and two of the most well-known Liberal newbie candidates, nurse Tyler Watt and vaccination advocate Jill Promoli, also lost.

There’s not much for the PCs to be disappointed about, but their candidate in Haldimand—Norfolk lost to an independent. Former seven-term PC MPP Toby Barrett chose not to run in this election, but he endorsed his assistant Bobbi Ann Brady who was running as an independent. 

Notable winners

After narrowly losing in 2018, Chandra Pasma unexpectedly flipped Ottawa West—Nepean to the NDP. With the NDP’s only other flip, Lise Vaugeois won in Thunder Bay—Superior North.

Hundreds of supporters gathered in solidarity with Sarah Jama, member of Provincial Parliament for Hamilton Centre, in a virtual rally on Friday. The rally featured a number of speakers who called for a ceasefire in Gaza and shared statements standing firmly behind Jama after her removal from the Ontario NDP caucus and censure in the assembly earlier this week. “There are those that would rather we stay silent, we stay complicit,” said Bianca Mugyenyi, director of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute and rally moderator, referring to Israeli violence in Gaza. “And for standing out and standing up against these horrors, Sarah Jama was censured by Ontario’s legislature and kicked out by the NDP caucus. “This is a shame. The anti-Palestinian racism that we’ve seen is flagrant, but this is also a story of anti-Blackness.”

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QUEEN’S PARK – NDP MPP Peggy Sattler (London West), Official Opposition NDP Labour critic, has released a statement after the Ford government refused to pass her legislation to provide paid sick days for workers in the province:

“Until we make it possible for every worker in Ontario to stay home if they are sick, we won’t be able to stop the spread of COVID-19. My bill, the Stay Home If You Are Sick Act, guarantees paid sick days for every worker, delivered by their employer so there is no interruption in pay. Workers should not have to lose income if they stay home with symptoms or are waiting for results of a COVID test. For the lowest-waged workers – who are least likely to have paid sick days – losing pay could mean not being able to make the rent or buy groceries. When they get sick, they will go in to work.

On Tuesday, Doug Ford and his MPPs again refused to pass this bill, which we know will save lives by protecting workers and their families. Without paid sick days, we will see more outbreaks, more infections and more avoidable deaths.

That’s why across the province, municipal leaders, physicians, nurses, public health experts, labour leaders, local boards of health, workers and business owners are all calling for provincially legislated paid sick days. It is past time for Ford to listen to the experts and pass this bill.

The Official Opposition NDP will keep fighting for paid sick days. I am bringing my bill for debate in the Ontario legislature again next week, and I am urging the Ford government to start listening and stop blocking this life-saving legislation.”