Ontario Provincial Election – Scarborough becomes the center of attention
Scarborough seems to have earned the position as one of the key focus areas for all the major parties in this year’s provincial election. Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath officially kicked off her campaign tour from Scarborough Southwest this Tuesday, May 8th. Talking to a crowd of mixed generations and backgrounds in front of the community office of Doly Begum, NDP Candidate for Scarborough Southwest, Ms. Horwath criticized PC leader Doug Ford for not being open and honest about his economical plans. “People are tired of choosing between bad and worst, but it doesn’t have to be that way” said Horwath, surrounded by a jubilant crowed. She was critical of the PCs not disclosing their full plan on how to materialize the cuts without impacting essential services.
It has been a good week so far for Ms. Horwath and the NDP supporters. Right after the first leader’s debate on City TV, she became the “most trustworthy” leader to be the premier, based on the twitter poll of City TV, leaving Mr. Ford and Ms. Wynne behind. Riding on the spirit of having a platform that states what their promises are and how those promises will be fulfilled, a rejuvenated NDP seems to be ready to give the Ontarians a fresh start. The lack of clarity and transparency from Mr. Ford’s part and Ms. Wynne’s government’s record of alleged mismanagement and lack of transparency will certainly help Ms. Horwath’s bid as well, say political thinkers. The twitter poll run by City TV did not send a shockwaves across provincial political world for sure, but certainly boosted the moral of the NDP supporters as well as candidates.
The Campaign Tour kickoff hosted in front of the Community Office of Doly Begum, the Ontario NDP candidate for Scarborough Southwest, saw a lot of young voters and supporters showing up. This may also be taken as a sign of support from the more younger demographic, voters typically known to be keener on transparency and accountability from politicians. Doly Begum, who belong to the millennial generation herself and therefore expected to share the ideas and thought process of the millennials, had a noticeable crowd of older generations present at the event as well.
“They (PC and Liberals) have sold some of our most valuable assets. Hwy 407, Hydro One to cover up their miscalculations and mismanagement” said Doly. In a one on one conversation with The Toronto Citizen right after the event, Doly added that the least the people of Ontario expect is to have a government that they can trust. A government that will be working for the people, not for a selected few. A government that will protect our interest, not sell it off to cover up their wrongdoings. Most importantly, we need a government that owe their allegiance only to the people of Ontario because they are the employees of the people appointed to serve them. A government who puts the interest of millions of Ontarians at the top of their priority list.
Talking about her own constituency, Doly said “… people of Scarborough Southwest deserve a representative who will listen to them, be with them not just in ‘spirit’ showing up at events and giving speeches, but in reality as well. They deserve to have a representative who will understand the needs and priorities of the people of these neighborhoods, a representative who will take this position to work hard for people. I have grown up in this riding, I have worked hard to support my middle-class family as well as to serve people even before I contemplated running for any public office. I have spent almost all my adult life working for people, be it with Power Unit Youth Organization or Scarborough Health Coalition or Warden Woods Community Centre or Keep Hydro Public movement. I have lived a life where I had to wait long time for the bus to come, face the challenges that a high school student goes through in our public school system, struggle through multiple jobs to pay my student debt, wait for hours at the hospital to receive proper attention, pay higher auto insurance just because my home is in a certain postal code, feel the bite of ever increasing hydro bills. I have lived through these, so I genuinely appreciate the impact of these issues on our lives…..” Doly added.
