The Parties of the 2022 Ontario Election

It’s the last week of the Ontario election campaign and each party is working overtime to earn the votes of Ontarians over the age of 18. If you haven’t taken advantage of the advanced polling opportunities and are still undecided, here’s a brief look at six parties (each party that was represented by an MPP prior to the election) and what they’re saying.

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Ontario Progressive Conservative Party

Campaign Slogan: “(Only Doug will) Get it done.”

2018 Election Result: The PC Party formed a majority government taking 76 out of a possible 124 seats and 40.5% of the popular vote.

The PC Party has been campaigning on two things: their record and their plan going forward. They’re counting on the people of Ontario to have liked what they and their leader Doug Ford were able to accomplish in the last 4 years. Their plan going forward is based on what was presented just prior to the election – the 2022 Ontario Budget: Ontario’s Plan to Build.  In their own words, they have a “plan to build Ontario [that] is rooted in five key commitments to the people of this province”.

1. We will rebuild Ontario’s economy and bring good manufacturing jobs back to the province. We will unlock the economic potential of the Ring of Fire and northern minerals by connecting them to the future of electric vehicles and the batteries that power them.
2. We will build highways and key infrastructure, including Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass. We will keep expanding public transit and bring GO train service to Bowmanville and London.
3. We will never stop working for workers by getting more people into the skilled trades. We will invest in training and make it easier for newcomers to start careers. We will expand three-year college degrees and increase the minimum wage.
4. We will keep costs down by cutting the gas tax and scrapping licence plate sticker fees. We will keep tolls off Highways 412 and 418 and build 1.5 million new homes over 10 years so more people can afford to buy a home.
5. We have a plan to stay open and hire more doctors, nurses and personal support workers. We will help seniors stay in their homes longer and produce more PPE and vaccines right here in Ontario so we don’t have to rely on other countries ever again.

The PC Party of Ontario is convinced that their “plan will bring better jobs and bigger paycheques, get shovels in the ground faster on highways, hospitals and key infrastructure, and keep costs down for Ontario families while keeping our economy open and strong.” 

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Ontario New Democratic Party

Campaign Slogan: “Strong. Ready. Working for you.”

2018 Election Result: The NDP became the official opposition after winning 40 seats and 33.6% of the popular vote.

Andrea Horwath and the NDP are presenting themselves as the party that will fix the problems that were created by the Ford government. As noted, their official campaign slogan is: “Strong. Ready. Working for you.” But they are also using the phrase “They broke it, we’ll fix it.” They’re hoping that the average Ontarian is unhappy with the Ford government and sees them as the right response to what they perceive to be the PC government’s broken promises and broken systems.

The NDP’s election platform is 94 pages and lays out their plan. Here are some highlights:

1. Making life affordable – A commitment to get more homes built. Increased rent control. Speed up implementation of $10/day childcare. Regulate gas and stop oil companies from gouging Ontarians.
2. Fixing our healthcare system – Universal public mental health care, dental care and pharmacare. Hire 10,000 PSWs and give them $5/hour raises. Hire 30,000 nurses. Repeal Bill 124 which limits wage increases for nurses. Expand Ontario’s hospice network.
3. Fixing home care and long-term care – Make long-term care public and not-for-profit. Add 50,000 new long-term care beds by 2030. Long-term care that reflects culture of residents.
4. Fixing education and schools – Hire 20,000 teachers and education workers. Repeal Bill 124 which limit wage increases for education workers. Cap grade 4-8 class sizes at 24 students. Remove standardized testing and streaming.
5. The New Green Democratic Deal – Net zero emissions by 2050. New cap and trade system making polluters pay for emissions. Expand Ontario’s greenbelt. End drinking water advisories.
6. Equity – Appoint a minister responsible for anti-racism. Launch a 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion action plan so that government services like education and health care are inclusive and welcoming of 2SLGBTQIA+ Ontarians. Introduce a grant program to support 2SLGBTQIA+ community organizations to expand programming and services.
7. Fiscal Approach – Freeze taxes for low and middle income families. Ensure that the wealthiest Ontarians and big corporations pay their fair share.
8. Recovering from Covid – Launch a full and public inquiry into Covid-19 response. Introduce a new Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act including annual reporting on emergency preparedness.

The final paragraph of Andrea Horwath’s message (p. 3 of the platform) says, “Let’s revive our public health care system and ramp up staffing. Let’s get every Ontarian mental health care, drug and dental care, paid for with your OHIP card, not your credit card. Let’s get profit out of seniors care and give our elders the quality, hands-on, culturally appropriate home and community care and long-term care they deserve. And let’s make life more affordable for everyone – from hydro to auto insurance, to childcare and the cost of housing.”

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Liberal Party of Ontario

Campaign Slogan: “A place to grow.”

2018 Election Result: After leading the province for 15 years, the Liberals not only found themselves as the third-place party, but they were left with just 7 MPPs and 19.6% of the popular vote after the 2018 election.

Going into this election, with new leader Steven Del Duca, the Liberals are hoping to leap from third place to first, although one would have to think that they would consider becoming the opposition party with a strong number of MPPs a “win”. They are banking on several initiatives and promises to give them a strong showing this election as found in their platform:

1. A Place to Grow Your Family – Eliminate HST on more meals, funded by fair taxes. Raise the minimum wage. Build 1.5 million new homes and deliver rent control.
2. A Place to Grow Older – Transform senior care in Ontario by guaranteeing home care. End for-profit long-term care. Boost pensions by $1,000 for seniors who need it.
3. A Place to Grow Healthy – Clear the surgical backlog and set maximum wait times. Ensure access to a doctor or nurse practitioner within 24 hours. Make more mental health help available.
4. A Place to Grow Economic Dignity – Give every worker access to benefits and 10 paid sick days. Build to a four-day work week. Eliminate corporate taxes for two years for small businesses hit hard by the pandemic.
5. A Place to Grow Up – Build and repair schools with $10 billion funded by scrapping Highway 413. Hire 10,000 more teachers for smaller class sizes. Offer optional Grade 13 to give students a chance to catch up. Reinvest in OSAP and eliminate interest on student loans
6. A Place to Grow Sustainably – Cut transit fares to $1 a ride everywhere in Ontario. Cut Ontario’s carbon pollution in half by 2030. Expand the Greenbelt and provincial parks.
7. A Place to Grow Together – Raise disability and social assistance benefits. Advance Indigenous reconciliation. Ban handguns.

Steven Del Duca and the Liberal party are convinced that “Ontario can be a place to grow, but only if we make the right choices. We need to rebuild what’s always made Ontario strong. Education. Health care. Public services that support working families. They’re all key to a better future and economic dignity for our families… It’s your choice. This is our plan. We can build a province that works as hard and cares as much as you do. Join us.”

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Green Party of Ontario

Campaign Slogan: “The Ontario You Want. The Leadership We Need.”

2018 Election Result: The 2018 election was historic for the Green Party – they won their first ever Ontario seat with 4.6% of the popular vote.

The Green Party is typically seen as the fourth-place party in Ontario. The Green party states that they are socially progressive, focused on the environment, and fiscally responsible. This year, the Ontario Green Party released a full election platform, at 64 pages long. Here are the highlights:

1. Homes not highways – Freeze urban boundaries, build 1.5M homes and provide people with more choices such as triplexes, fourplexes, and walk up apartments. Clamp down on speculation because homes are for people, not speculators. Invest $1B/year to build 182,000 affordable community rental homes, including 60,000 supportive homes over the next decade.
2. Mental health is health – Increase mental health spending to 10% of our health budget to include mental health care under OHIP. Increase funding for children’s mental health to reduce wait times to less than 30 days. Decriminalise drug use to improve lives, lower costs and treat mental health as a public health issue.
3. New climate economy – Establish a transparent annual carbon budget to reach net zero by 2045. Electrify transportation, buildings and industry to crush pollution and lower energy costs. Provide up to $15,000 in incentives for homeowners for energy retrofits to help people save money by saving energy.
4. Respect for people – Repeal Bill 124, pay PSWs, nurses and ECEs a fair wage and hire 33,000 nurses. Double the rates for Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). Implement UNDRIP and act on the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
5. Reinvest in health and education – Help people age in place with a $1.6B investment in home care. Support in-person learning and oppose any move toward mandatory e-learning or hybrid learning models. Enhance affordability and access to post-secondary by converting loans to grants for low and middle income post-secondary students.
6. Protect nature – Permanently protect prime farmland, wetlands and conserve 30% of nature by 2030. Provide $1B in funding for Indigenous climate leadership including Indigenous protected and conserved areas. Make infrastructure climate ready with a $2B adaptation fund for municipalities.

Mike Schreiner and the Green Party present themselves as the party which cares about the province and will help build a good future for Ontarians. As Schreiner states, “Our vision is for the Ontario we all want – caring, connected, and ready for the new climate economy.” 

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New Blue Party of Ontario

Campaign Slogan: “Let us stand up for you, with the New Blue!”

2018 Election Result: This is the first time the New Blue Party will be on the ballot.

The New Blue party was formed by corporate lawyer Jim Karahalios and his wife, MPP Belinda Karahalios (Cambridge). MPP Karahalios was removed from the Ontario PC Party’s caucus for voting against Bill 195, Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act. Without getting into all the nitty gritty details, MPP Karahalios felt that “At its core, Bill 195 takes away the legislature’s ability to vote on the use of extraordinary emergency powers on Ontarians for the next year…” It shouldn’t be a surprise that the New Blue Party’s policies and initiatives are very much focused on issues like freedom and accountability. They don’t have as fulsome an election platform as the other parties, but here are some highlights of what a New Blue government would focus on:

1. Renew political accountability by scrapping the $100 million taxpayer subsidy of political parties, banning lobbyists from party politics, and cracking down on voter fraud in internal party elections.
2. Defund the establishment media and promote a free press by cancelling the Toronto Star’s $500 million online gambling licence (gifted by the Ford PCs) and taxing all corporate media that receive any of the $600 million federal government taxpayer “bailout” subsidy from the Trudeau Liberals.
3. Grow Ontario’s economy at 5% of GDP annually starting with taking down wind turbines to reduce electricity prices and slashing the regulatory burden to improve productivity.
4. Provide tax relief by cutting the HST from 13% to 10% and axe the Doug Ford carbon tax.
5. Reform education by reducing administrative costs, introducing alternative schooling tax credits and stopping “woke” activism with the removal of critical race theory and gender identity theory from our schools.
6. Restore dignity and transparency in our healthcare by expanding early treatment for COVID-19, and clearing the backlog of procedures by rehiring healthcare workers and offering choice in services.

The New Blue Party summarize their plan this way: “The New Blueprint will move us forward – the right way forward – with strength, stability, liberty, and good government. It’s time to stand for principle and stand up for you, with the New Blue in ’22!”

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Ontario Party 

Campaign Slogan: “Freedom, Family, & Faith.”

2018 Election Result: The Ontario Party had only five candidates in the last election. They did not win any seats and had 0.4% of the popular vote.

Derek Sloan and the Ontario Party are presenting themselves as the true conservative party in Ontario, arguing that Doug Ford and the PC party are Liberals disguised as Conservatives. Sloan says that he wants to present a message of hope for the future of the province. The Ontario Party’s first MPP, Rick Nicholls (Chatham-Kent-Leamington), was also elected in 2018 as a PC party member, but he was removed from caucus for refusing to get vaccinated for Covid-19. Their election platform focus, as their slogan indicates, is on initiatives that support “Freedom, Family, & Faith”:

1. Conscience Rights – Use all means at our disposal to ensure that no Ontario citizen can be compelled to commit an act, or communicate an idea, that directly contradicts their sincerely held religious beliefs.
2. Covid-19 – Immediately end any remaining restrictions. Pass legislation that outlaws the provincial government’s ability to impose lockdowns. Require businesses and organizations that fired for vaccine non-compliance return those workers to their original positions.
3. Education (K-12) – Fund Kindergarten to Grade 12 students directly allowing families to choose the education providers that best meet their children’s needs. Students will learn that there are two genders, learn not to be ashamed of their race or sex, and learn that Canada is not a fundamentally evil country.
4. Protecting Life – Repeal the “Bubble Zone” legislation, Bill 163, and restore and protect free speech for all legally held views, including pro-life views. Provide additional funding and support for crisis pregnancy centers. Make it easier to adopt and will introduce measures to better assist pregnant women who may wish to put their child up for adoption.
5. Family Law – Introduce legislation that: 1) protects a parent’s right to be informed in advance of any procedure, treatment, or medication administered to their child; 2) ensures no child can obtain a procedure, treatment, or medication without explicit parental consent.

Other issues covered in their election platform include job creation, digital ID, energy, the environment, health care, housing, infrastructure, private property, and a recall policy. Derek Sloan is presenting the Ontario Party as the party of freedom and hope for the future. “Our freedom is gasping, and we’re down to the last breath. But where there is breath, there is life. Where there is life, there is hope. I have a message of life and hope.”

For more on these issues and more, check out our Ontario Election Guide. Election day is June 2^nd and polling stations are open from 9 am to 9 pm. The choice is yours. Get out and vote!