Political parties are aligning their stars for next year's Ontario elections

The provincial elections are eight months away, but the star candidates are already lining up.

Ontario’s four political parties are promoting prominent people running for them in the June 2 campaign, including two provincial watchdogs whose jobs were fired by Prime Minister Doug Ford shortly after the 2018 election.

On Wednesday, the New Democrats announced that Irwin Elman, the province’s first and only advocate for children, who served as an independent voice for youth, will participate in the running of Don Valley West in Toronto.

That key Toronto leadership has been represented since 2003 by former Liberal Prime Minister Kathleen Wynne, who is not seeking reelection.

“We are delighted that Irwin has found his home in the NDP,” said new Democratic leader Andrea Horwath. “We share a firm commitment to improving people’s lives.”

Elman said he is running to address “the nonsense we have now” under the progressive Conservative government.

He pointed out that his mother always told him that “it is not your responsibility to change the world, but you are not exempt from trying.”

In fact, when asked about his chances of winning in a race that has never been won by the NDP, Elman called it “a mistake to count the ballots before casting them.”

“The pandemic has laid things out for all to see,” he added.

“We have seen what happens … when government does not start from a place that focuses on the well-being of the people.”

In Brantford-Brant, the NDP expects Harvey Bischof, a well-known former teacher union president, to oust progressive Conservative MP Will Bouma, who won by a narrow margin in 2018.

“I still have commitment and energy to give, and I thought this was one way I could move forward,” said Bischof, whose tenure as an executive with the Ontario Federation of High School Teachers was the longest in its 102-year history. .

Bischof, who lives in Brantford, said his focus is on the “widespread belief that government can be a force for good in people’s lives: it can help bring stability to people and reduce precariousness and empower them. opportunity to do something with their lives. “

Dianne Saxe, whose role as environmental commissioner was eliminated by Ford in 2018, has also thrown herself into partisan circles as a green candidate at University-Rosedale, currently held by new Democrat Jessica Bell.

Saxe, a lawyer with a doctorate and internationally recognized for her work on the environment, was the party’s first candidate to be announced for next spring’s election.

As with Elman, his old position was eliminated when Ford tried to streamline the watchdogs that oversaw the provincial government after he gained power.

Saxe, whose father, Morton Shulman, was the MPP for New Democracy in High Park from 1967 to 1975, insists that while she prefers to be “nonpartisan … I can’t stay on the sidelines any longer.”

“With others in Ontario, I am running to fight for a cleaner, safer and healthier future,” said the chair of the Toronto climate advisory committee.

Even though the Conservatives won 76 of 124 legislative seats in the last election, they are still trying to increase their count by targeting districts represented by New Democrats and Liberals.

On Tuesday, Ford announced that Timmins Mayor George Pirie would be his candidate in a traditional New Democracy stronghold now represented by veteran MPP Gilles Bisson.

“He is one of the largest mayors in the province,” Ford said during a campaign-style tour of the northern city, where he praised Pirie for his “leadership during this pandemic.”

Conservatives also aim to pick Scarborough-Guildwood with candidate Alicia Vianga, a small business owner and advocate for breast cancer survivors and their families.

Vianga, a highly respected local businesswoman, owns a boutique that offers swimwear and lingerie, as well as bras and prosthetics.

While the parties have high hopes for their high-profile candidates, some will face uphill battles.

Scarborough-Guildwood, for example, is currently in the hands of Liberal Mitzie Hunter. Hunter, a respected former cabinet minister in the Wynne administration, was one of the seven Grits who kept his seats in the 2018 collapse of the Conservatives.

Steven Del Duca’s Liberals, who had vacancies in 117 constituencies due to poor performance three years ago, are also drawing new accomplished people into the fold.

In Mississauga-Streetsville, now in the hands of Associate Minister for Small Business and Bureaucracy Reduction, Nina Tangri, liberals have drawn Jill Promoli into the fold.

Promoli is a small business owner and mother who has spoken openly about flu prevention and the importance of vaccinations after one of her twin sons died in 2016 at age two from the virus.

He later founded an advocacy and information group called “For Jude, For All,” which has attracted international attention.

In Toronto-St. Paul’s, a once secure liberal seat now represented by prominent Democrat Jill Andrew, the Grits are introducing Dr. Nathan Stall.

Stall, who until recently was a member of the province’s “scientific board” of COVID-19 advisers, has risen to prominence, like some other doctors, during the pandemic as an outspoken critic of the government, both on Twitter and in mainstream media. Communication.

A specialist in internal medicine and geriatrics, she has conducted research on the elderly and long-term care, which is now a major political focus for all four political parties.

“Nathan’s expertise in healthcare is what we need to ensure that Ontarians remain safe and healthy during their recovery from the pandemic,” Del Duca said in August.

“With Nathan at Queen’s Park, the residents of Toronto-St. Paul has someone in his corner who is really ready to fight for them and their families. “