For some, the fever surrounding the federal election may just be abating but the provincial election is just around the corner and the four candidates for Ottawa Centre are hitting the pavement and campaigning for votes.
Liberal Yasir Naqvi currently holds the seat. He is opposed by Kevin O’Donnell of the Green Party, Anil Naidoo for the NDP and Robert Dekker of the Progressive Conservatives.
Kevin O’Donnell, the Ottawa Centre candidate for the Green Party
Being involved in the Green Party as long as he has, O’Donnell called himself a “stereotype of Green Party members and supporters.”
“My environmental goal is very much like everyone else,” he said.
Environmental sustainability, he said, goes beyond the narrow definition and includes food and health care and how those two contribute to growth in the economy.
Born and raised in Ottawa, O’Donnell currently works at Bell Canada as a senior software developer and has been working in the information technology field for more than 16 years and is a father of a five-year-old daughter.
O’Donnell volunteers as community representative in Ottawa’s Western Light Rail Transit environmental assessment and has used this opportunity to meet with community groups about over-intensification, in-fill developments and traffic issues.
Health care is a ballooning issue, he said, and services need to be delivered more efficiently.
“The Green party would push for electronic health records,” he said. “We need to start spending more money on frontline care and services . . . not just with administration.”
O’Donnell said he also wants to focus on buying and eating local foods.
“We have so many farmers who live within the city of Ottawa, the Green party is really focused on fixing regulations, zoning and assessment for farms to enable them to produce local foods,” he said.
With many political leaders highlighting in their platforms an environmental or “green” focus, O’Donnell said that only validates the Green party’s platform.
“That’s a challenge because how do we get voters to vote Green?” he said. “If the other parties are talking about green issues why not just put green into Queen’s Park?”
Coming fresh out of a historical victory, the NDP are hoping to have similar success in the provincial government.
“There's a lot of money being spread around and . . . I would suggest the timing is more political than showing any kind of long-term vision for the province,” said Naidoo.
NDP’s Ottawa Centre candidate Anil Naidoo
The strength of the NDP is relying on volunteers and a really strong ground game, said Naidoo. And that’s not going to change, he added.
“We’re going to be out there in full force, knocking on doors and representing our vision,” he said.
As a child Naidoo moved to Alberta, fleeing apartheid in South Africa. In 2000, Naidoo settled in Ottawa to work with the NDP.
For the past 11 years, Naidoo has also worked with the Council of Canadians dealing with issues relating to healthcare, energy and international water.
“Last year, we got water recognized as a human right in the United Nations,” he said. “I was the lead organizer on that.”
From the community perspective, Naidoo was involved in successfully starting a community-based campaign to prevent the relocation of a parole office to 1010 Somerset Street, just down the road from his children’s school.
Naidoo’s focus for this campaign revolves around long-term health care, high transit fares, high tuition costs for university and college students and preventing raw sewage from being dumped into the Ottawa River.
Naidoo said he also wants to stop the current government from cutting jobs in the public service, including social services.
“It’s the wrong direction and potentially harming the most vulnerable,” he said.
Another focus for Naidoo is education at both the post-secondary and primary levels.
“We already have the highest tuition fees in the country and they just went up 5.4 per cent on average,” said Naidoo.
Primary schools also need upgrades, he said, because parents are being forced to raise money for things needed in schools.
“I think (McGuinty’s Liberal government) needs to be judged on its own record . . . they do not deserve a third election,” said Naidoo.
Progressive Conservative party candidate, Robert Dekker
Robert Dekker of the Progressive Conservative party hopes to edge his way into a riding that has never had conservative representation in provincial government.
“We have a strong message which says it's going to be bringing relief to Ontario,” he said.
Dekker said that the Progressive Conservative party’s Changebook platform will resonate with Ottawa Centre voters.
“These are ideas . . . that will benefit people who haven't traditionally voted (Conservative),” said Dekker.
Dekker has lived in Ottawa for 20 years and as been active with the Kid’s Help Phone for the last 5 five years. Now, Dekker volunteers as president with Daybreak Non-Profit Housing.
“For me, community service has been a part of who I am for the past 30 years,” he said.
Dekker said he decided to run in the election because he is “really disappointed in the way the current government has handled the province for the last eight years.
“Tax increases and the spending has just overall cost (Ontarians) more to live life. McGuinty has chosen to run the government with mismanagement of taxpayer money and I thought ‘enough of this – this has to stop.’”
Dekker wants to create a higher profile for homelessness and housing and said the province can play a bigger role in supporting housing organizations.
He said if he is lucky enough to be elected – Ottawa Centre has never elected a Conservative MPP –he will represent the riding with more “veracity and with more energy than what’s currently being done.”
If voters have never traditionally voted Conservative in Ottawa Centre before, Dekker said the party’s platform has something that everyone will resonate with. His party’s platform is about bringing tax relief for Ontario families, he said.
“Two parties (the Liberal and NDP) have raised taxes to get their projects done,” he said. “We . . . will not raise taxes, we’re going to lower taxes. I’m really looking forward to bringing that relief to Ottawa Centre.”
Liberal incumbent Naqvi, meanwhile, is depending on his record as the riding’s MPP for the last four years to get re-elected.
Yasir Naqvi, Liberal incumbent for Ottawa Centre
“We will continue to provide the best service one can through my office. Our saying here and something I tell myself is that ‘we're the end of the revolving door, he said.
And despite the Liberals setback in the last federal election, Naqvi said he remains motivated.
“I never stopped and I will keep going neighbourhood by neighbourhood, building by building and asking people how I can help them,” he said, claiming that he’s knocked on 30,000 doors in the riding in the last four years.
Prior to seeking public office, Naqvi was a lawyer in Ottawa and part-time professor at the University of Ottawa. He volunteered with the Ottawa Food Bank and the Centretown Community Health Centre.
For Naqvi, community engagement is a priority.
“I’ve been involved in hundreds and hundreds of events helping community organizations and groups celebrate activities and town hall meetings,” he said.
Naqvi said he has organized two to three town halls per year, including a pre-budget town hall to learn from the community before the budget is approved.
“I think anything I’ve demonstrated over the past four years is that I’m a hard worker,” said Naqvi. “I’m confident that I will gain the trust of the people of Ottawa Centre.”
Naqvi has introduced four private member’s bills. All four, he said, have come about as a result of public consultation. One of his bills served to create an independent board of public health for the City of Ottawa.
“I’m very happy to say (that bill) became law . . . it is now in operation, which is a cooperation between city councillors and community members,” he said.
The election is on Oct. 6.