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Windsor-Tecumseh Liberal candidate Gary Kaschak kicked off his provincial election run Saturday with the opening of his campaign office.
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“This is day one, where we start to get the Liberals back in power here in Windsor-Tecumseh,” said Kaschak who is currently a Windsor city councilor elected to represent Ward 8 in 2018.
The retired Canada Border Services Agency administrator was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate during a nomination meeting in March.
Born and raised in Windsor, Kaschak, 62, began working in the public service sector in 1980 but retired shortly after the 2018 election to become a full-time city councillor.
“I’m always wanting to make things better for people,” he said, adding as a councilor he has worked to make the community better and make life better for the people of Windsor. “(It) is really important to me.”
Kaschak said his top priority, if elected, will be to have the new regional hospital built in Windsor.
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“What have we had in three years of a PC government? We’ve got a sign on the corner of County Road 42 and lots of consultation and a 2031 or 2032 start date for that hospital.
“And that’s not acceptable. That hospital should be built a lot faster and the Liberal government is going to certainly make sure that happens.”
It is expected an election writ will be dropped by Wednesday for the June 2 election.
“I love campaigning. I love talking to people. I love going door to door,” Kaschak said. “You get some real good reactions, you talk to some real engaging people.”
Windsor-Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk made the opening remarks Saturday before a small crowd of people gathered at Kaschak’s Tecumseh Road East campaign office, which is a couple of doors down from Kusmierczyk’s constituency office.
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“I had the privilege of sitting with Gary on city council and I can tell you that this is one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met,” Kusmierczyk said. “He’s a person of incredible, incredible integrity.
“And he is very effective at what he does,” he said. “He knows how to get things done for this community.”
Percy Hatfield (NDP), Windsor-Tecumseh’s current MPP, announced his political retirement in July of 2021.
Other candidates in the riding include New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Gemma Grey-Hall and Tecumseh councilor Andrew Dowie, candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party.
NDP MPP Lisa Gretzky, who has represented the Windsor West riding since 2014, also opened her campaign office Saturday.
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Gretzky said she’s already knocking on doors and has heard that “people are ready for a change of government.”
“They recognize that the NDP is just a few seats away from defeating Doug Ford,” Gretzky said.
“And what they want is a party like ours that are going to invest in health care, invest in workers, invest in long-term care rather than what we’ve seen with the Ford government over the last four years, which is disrespecting workers and cutting the services that people rely on the most. ”
Gretzky, who’s running for her third term, is currently serving as the Ontario NDP’s critic for community and social services.
Nominations open Monday for municipal elections, set to take place in October.
