By Emily Yeap
He got his first glimpse of politics as a young boy, watching his grandfather serve in the Dunwich township council.
Now, at 36, Jeff Atkinson is the New Democratic Party candidate for Ottawa Centre. “This is something I’ve always wanted to do. Public service is more of a calling than anything else,” Atkinson says. “I guess it also runs in the family.”
While the NDP platform promises such things as public power and public auto insurance, Atkinson is focusing on rent control. He says rent in Ottawa has gone up about 25 per cent from 1998-2002.
“About two-thirds of the voters in the riding rent their homes, so it’s a big concern.”
Atkinson says his party proposes a two-year freeze on all rent. It will also amend current rent control legislation to ensure rent on vacant units will be controlled in the same way as occupied units.
“Now, when someone leaves a lease and the unit’s vacant, the landlord can charge whatever they want, so they shoot for the sky,” Atkinson explains.
He says the city’s voice in the provincial legislation has become muted over the past few years because representatives from Ottawa have been chasing the government’s agenda instead of advocating city needs.
Born and raised in Duart, a small town in southwestern Ontario, Atkinson moved to Ottawa in 1986 to attend Carleton University. He never left.
A national representative with the Canadian Labour Congress, Atkinson worked on Parliament Hill as a legislative assistant. He has also been a communications officer for the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
Atkinson, who is openly gay, founded the first lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender group at Algonquin College in the late 1990s while pursuing a public relations certificate.
A member of the federal NDP executive, Atkinson is the party’s spokesman on gay issues.
The NDP last held a seat in Ottawa Centre from 1990-95. Atkinson says it is time the party reclaim the riding.
“People are looking at us again because we’re the only ones talking about the issues they’re interested in,” he says. “We’re the only ones with answers for their questions.”