MPP hopefuls vow to continue work even after election losses

CONNOR LUCZKA, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Ian Morton of the Green Party of Ontario is disappointed – not with his own performance in the Feb. 27 election where he and other candidates lost to incumbent Matthew Rae of the PC Party of Ontario, but at the results as a whole.

“I don’t know why there's so many people voting for this government and this Conservative party that are experiencing so many difficulties,” Morton said the morning after the loss. “I don't feel like our MPP really represented the people of the riding very well at all, and yet he's getting … the same level of voting. So, it's pretty disappointing.”

That being said, Morton did say he was pleased with his own performance. Though he came in fourth with 3,299 votes, 7.47 per cent of all votes cast, it was growth for the Greens in Perth-Wellington. During the last election in 2022, then Green candidate Laura Bisutti netted 2,627 votes.

Morton has shared throughout the election cycle that his plans were to run long-term and to grow the Green Party steadily over many years and many elections. He said he is proud of himself and his team for running a good campaign and performing well in debates across the riding.

Jason Davis of the New Democratic Party (NDP) of Ontario said he’d anticipated the results of the election leading up to when they started trickling in.

Though other parties saw increased support this year, the NDP’s support dropped dramatically. Davis secured 5,580 votes, 12.64 per cent of the vote, compared to when candidate Jo-Dee Burbach secured 9,170 votes and 22.04 per cent of the vote in the 2022 election.

This is the second year in a row that NDPs hemorrhaged votes. In 2018, candidate Michael O’Brien had 14,385 votes.

Davis had heard from numerous residents. While they told him they wanted to support the NDP, they were voting strategically this election in order to oust Rae and party leader Doug Ford from the legislature.

“And I had those conversations with people,” Davis said. “I explained to them, ‘Hey, look, if the first thing that you care about is health care, I would suggest you vote for something instead of against. If your main concern is the affordability of housing, I would suggest that you vote for something instead of against.’ … But we knew it was coming. It was somewhat expected.

“The good thing that we had going for us, though, is that we had a lot of … Conservative voters contact us and say, ‘We're looking to make a change now because it's not like the current administration has been fiscally responsible in any way,’ and it was nice to have those conversations. Obviously, it wasn't enough.”

Although runner-up Ashley Fox of the Ontario Liberal Party lost to Rae by a wide margin of 8,205 votes, it was still a marked improvement over last election.

Fox received 12,547 votes, 28.42 per cent of the electorate that cast a ballot this election. That is more than double what she got in the 2022 election, when she netted 6,708 votes.

“I had support across party lines, and that's amazing,” Fox shared. “That's amazing to be trusted with their vote, to be trusted to advocate for them. I'm absolutely so proud and even though the results are not exactly what we were expecting, you know, it's so rare to see across-party-line support. And that thrilled me, like absolutely thrilled me, because people did realize that we need a change.”

Morton, Davis and Fox said the voter turnout rate of 53.33 per cent was disappointing; however, Fox was the only one to point out a silver lining. It increased from 2022’s 50.09 per cent in a winter election, when turnout was expected to drop due to the weather conditions. It was also above the provincial average of 45.40 per cent.

Additionally, they thanked their supporters and said this won’t be the last Perth-Wellington hears from them. All said they will work over the next four years to hold this new government accountable.

Rae will return to Queen’s Park when Premier Ford calls the 44th Parliament of Ontario to session.

Along with Morton, Davis and Fox, Rae beat James Montgomery of the New Blue Party (1,284 votes), Sarah Zenuh of the Ontario Party (458 votes) and Rob Smink of the Freedom Party of Ontario (229 votes) to secure his decisive win.