By Kate Harper
The race is on between provincial candidates of all party stripes who say they want to win Ottawa Centre back from the Liberals in this fall’s provincial election.
Though Ontarians do not head to the polls until Oct. 4, two people have already expressed interest in running for the Ontario New Democratic Party.
As motivation, they point to their party’s past in the riding.
“There is a history of people in this riding caring about the kind of mandate that the NDP are striving to gain and to try to work for,” says Will Murray, 39, an Ottawa lawyer and political newcomer who hopes to become Ottawa Centre’s NDP candidate. As proof, he points to Michael Cassidy, NDP MPP from 1971 to 1985, and Evelyn Gigantes, NDP MPP from 1985 to 1987 and 1990 to 1995.
Murray says if he becomes the NDP candidate, he will work towards raising Ontario’s minimum wage to $10 an hour from $8 an hour.
Jeff Atkinson, an unsuccessful NDP candidate in 2003, also says he is interested in running this fall.
He says he will focus on affordable housing, post-secondary tuition fees, and public transit.
“Four years ago, we were choosing between a third term of Conservative government, or something different,” Atkinson says.
“People opted for something different, and a lot of folks in Ottawa Centre voted for change. They didn’t get it … They didn’t pick me last time, but I don’t think they’re satisfied with the choice that they made.”
An NDP candidate will be picked at a nomination meeting in the next few months.
Blair McCreadie, president of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party, says his party is still looking for a candidate. McCreadie says whoever becomes the Conservative candidate will likely focus on Ontario’s scheduled coal power phase-out, health taxes, and property tax assessment reform.
“There are some folks who have expressed an interest, but the candidate search … is still ongoing,” McCreadie says.
Jay Van Oostdam, president of the Ottawa Centre provincial Green Party riding association, says the party will likely hold a nomination meeting at the end of April.
Van Oostdam says some people have expressed interest in running, but Chris Bradshaw, who ran in 2003, isn’t one of them, because he’s moved out of the riding. Van Oostdam says he’s confident the party’s next candidate will be as successful as Bradshaw.
“Chris got the most [Green] votes of any riding in Ontario last time,” he says.
In the 2003 provincial election, Bradshaw got 7.7 per cent of Ottawa’s votes.
“Ottawa Centre is a very green place,” Van Oostdam says.
Richard Patten has held Ottawa Centre for the Liberals since 1995. Patten was also MPP from 1987 to 1990. He lost the riding to Evelyn Gigantes in 1990, but won it back in 1995.
Patten says he will make a decision in the coming weeks about whether to run again.
“We’ve got things that we thought we [would be] able to accomplish in the first term that we haven’t yet achieved.”
For example, if he runs again, he says he will work to continue expansions and renovations to Ottawa’s hospitals. “You don’t get new doctors and new facilities overnight.”
Mary de Toro, president of the Ottawa Centre provincial Liberal riding association, says the party will not hold a nomination meeting until Patten makes a decision.
“I think other people would be interested in running if Richard decided not to run again,” she says.
“But if he is running again, I doubt very much that anyone will run against him.”