The long, troubled tenure of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party and their fumbling of the Greenbelt scandal likely led to a recent Green Party byelection win, experts say.
Aislinn Clancy, Ontario’s newly-elected Green Party MPP, won the Kitchener Centre seat, formerly held by the New Democrats. While she credits her win on the Greenbelt controversy, along with the housing and affordability crisis, others say Ontarians are simply growing tired of the Ford government, which came to power in 2018.
In an interview with Canada's National Observer, Clancy said people were motivated to choose her over other candidates in November because they feel betrayed by the Ford government.
“The lack of leadership in the Ford government, especially regarding affordability and climate issues, is concerning,” said Clancy. “It feels like we're on the Titanic, knowing an iceberg is ahead, yet someone is pressing the gas pedal.” Instead, Clancy hopes to present her constituents with thoughtful solutions to climate and affordability problems. “We can't afford Ford anymore.”
Clancy’s win establishes a Green Party caucus in the legislature, along with party leader Mike Schreiner.
While the Kitchener by-election success does nothing to tip the current balance of power at Queen's Park, it indicates a drop in voter satisfaction, local environmental advocates say. Ontario voters are tiring of Ford government policies, particularly those dealing with climate, housing, and affordability, said Kevin Thomason, an environmental advocate in Waterloo.
Thomason attributed the change to grievances over the Greenbelt land swap scandal and forced urban boundary expansions by the Ford government.
“I don’t think Doug Ford grasps just how concerned Canadians are about climate change and how concerned they are to see his continual actions against green energy, public transit, and farmland protection,” said Kevin Thomason, an environmental advocate in Waterloo.
In 2022, the Ford government removed a total of 7,400 acres of land from the Greenbelt to open it up for housing development, as part of the province’s commitment to build 1.5 million new homes over the next decade. However, last year, Ford reversed his decision and admitted the mistake, following significant public pressure and two scathing reports by the province's auditor general and its integrity commissioner. These reports revealed the Ford government’s Greenbelt decision in 2022 was the result of a deeply flawed, biased process and Ontario Housing Minister Steve Clark had violated ethics rules.
Thomason said Clancy was a strong advocate for the Greenbelt, local protected areas and strongly opposed the forced urban boundary expansions that destroyed the city’s sustainable Regional Official Plan. Canadians are just starting to grasp how serious climate change is and what could lie ahead if action is not taken, he added.
The byelection followed the resignation of former NDP MPP Laura Mae Lindo, who accepted a position at the University of Waterloo, citing high child-care costs as a contributing factor. Voter turnout was low at 27 per cent.
While environmentalists play up the effect of the Greenbelt scandal on support for the Conservatives, one political science professor says that’s only part of the equation.
“Things like the Greenbelt will hurt Ford, and his party will lose more seats in the next election, but the main reason won't necessarily be because of this,” said Nelson Wiseman, emeritus professor of political science at the University of Toronto.
People vote for different reasons, but a significant factor is the electorate’s simple desire for change after about 10 years, Wiseman said. “When a government has won two elections, many people start thinking they are getting too comfortable where they are. There are more grievances, and they opt to give somebody else a chance.”
Clancy highlights the urgent need for climate action, and plans to continue emphasizing the interconnectedness of affordability, housing crises, and climate challenges. She’ll also keep railing against the current government.
The Greenbelt scandal left people feeling betrayed,” said Clancy. People are tired of politicians promising to act differently and failing to follow through, she said. “People want honesty. While they need reliable resources like drinking water and food for future generations, they also want a party that will be truthful.”
Looking ahead, her agenda for climate change integrates environmental considerations into all policies and plans. Ontario’s housing affordability problem should be tackled within existing urban boundaries. This benefits the climate and reduces taxes, she notes. She will also promote the green economy, and encourage initiatives like heat pumps and decentralized renewable power.
“We need to … create an ecosystem that supports renewable companies offering solar panels or reusable takeout containers, for instance.”
In response to the by-election results, NDP Leader Marit Stiles said in a statement the party will continue their fight for the people and emphasize hardships experienced under Ford's leadership.
This story was produced in partnership with Journalists for Human Rights for the Afghan Journalists-in-Residence program funded by the Meta Journalism Project.
Comments
Okay, some progress but with the Liberals, NDP AND Greens still splitting the progressive vote in Ontario, when will that SAME threat, i.e. their collective narcissism of small differences be admitted to?
Only when that happens are ANY of them actually believable despite all their earnest and basically identical declarations?! Where are the talks about uniting the left?
When the differences become small, more specifically when the Liberals become progressive. They aren't. You KNOW they aren't. They're a corporate-dominated party. True, unlike the Conservatives they aren't making plans for their volcano villain hideout, but that does not make you progressive.
You're filling Geoffrey's usual slot of tribal purist/idealist, a slot already taken by the conservatives, which is why they're regarded as "extreme" btw. No offence because I certainly appreciate your point of view but that attitude does seem to skew male.
I've voted for all progressive parties, including the Greens when in B.C., and don't feel attached to any one progressive party as long as they can WIN, and the Liberals have proven that they qualify, even with a split vote and in this big, spread-out and increasingly fractious country.
So all I'm interested in is reducing the cons back to TWO seats, something that so rightly happened under Mulroney, whose transgressions now sound relatively minor (that word is key), more like the good old days.
And YOU know that the differences ARE relatively small, "relatively" again being the key word in that it speaks to the scale of perspective needed in the context of the political reality--- that there may be millions of potential voters, but the majority just don't pay much attention.
This says something sad about the Ontario NDP. If people are sick of the Tories, that still doesn't say why Greens. I presume the NDP in Ontario got no mojo. And I mean, the NDP very specifically, not social democrats in general, like the one who took the Mayoral chair of Toronto not long ago.
Or they like the Green Party policies?