Ontario NDP begins nominations

Party director says NDP is equipped to win

TORONTO — With the Ontario NDP to begin nominating candidates for the 2022 election this weekend, Provincial Director Lucy Watson says the party is now positioned to run its largest-ever campaign in Ontario.

“It is incredibly clear to us that we have not only a very strong opportunity to form a progressive New Democratic government for Ontario in 2022, but that millions of Ontarians are really counting on us to do that,” said Watson. “For the sake of our parents and grandparents long-term care, for our kids’ schools, for the protection and expansion of our public health care system, people are turning to Andrea Horwath to stop the cuts, and give us hope for the future.”

Watson said the NDP is the only political party in Ontario that started 2020 out of debt.

The party’s election training program has delivered more than 200 individual training sessions to over 3,500 campaign workers so far in 2020.

The number of people who have signed petitions supporting the NDP’s views and plans has reached nearly 375,000 in 2020 alone.

In 2020, the NDP received 22,444 individual donations. That’s more individual acts of support than the Liberals’ 10,107 individual donations and the Ford Conservatives’ 5,240 individual donations combined.

“The Liberals had 15 years to help people, and they let us down. The Doug Ford government is dragging us backward with deep cuts to the things we count on, from cutting thousands of teachers and education workers to demolishing environmental protections,” said Watson. “During these incredibly difficult times, we can’t leave people at risk of more cuts, and that’s why our party is ready to win this election.”

The NDP heads into the campaign as the official Opposition, holding 40 seats. The first candidate to be nominated will be York South—Weston MPP Faisal Hassan. The NDP holds open nominations, with candidates chosen by NDP members who live in the community. All nominations will held online for the foreseeable future, as a COVID-19 safety measure.