Ontario NDP logo. BlackburnNews.com file photo. Ontario NDP logo. BlackburnNews.com file photo.
London

Ontario NDPs to elect permanent leader next spring

The provincial New Democrats will have a new, permanent leader in the early spring.

Late Friday night, the party issued a statement that a leadership race for a new leader will soon begin, giving leadership hopefuls until December 2022 to register as potential candidates for the position. The leadership race is scheduled to take place sometime in March 2023.

"It's an exciting time to be a New Democrat in Ontario," said ONDP president Janelle Brady in a release. "Our party is stronger than ever, and in 2023 we’ll be electing not only the next leader of the NDP, but the next premier of Ontario."

Late last month, party members of the Official Opposition elected Toronto-Danforth MPP Peter Tabuns as the party's interim leader. His appointment followed former leader Andrea Horwath's resignation after the NDPs were unsuccessful in forming a government against Doug Ford and the PC Party of Ontario.

"We're ready to show Ontarians that they can finally have a premier who fights for families and workers — fixing health care, lifting wages up, and tackling the cost of living," said Brady.

The Ontario NDP provincial council has a number of contest rules in place for the race. Some of those rules include a requirement that candidates submit a minimum of 100 signatures from NDP members that support their candidacy, a minimum of 20 signatures must come from NDP members who live in at least four of six geographic regions, at least 50 per cent of each candidates’ signatories must be women and at least 25 per cent of each candidates’ signatories must be equity-seeking NDP members, including Black, Indigenous and racialized members.

A $5,000 registration fee will be required plus another $50,000 paid in installments. The NDP noted that this fee is significantly lower than the $100,000 registration fee for the most recent Ontario Liberal Party and Ontario PC Party leadership contests. Candidates can, however, spend up to $900,000 on their leadership campaigns.

The next Ontario NDP leader must be elected with more than 50 per cent plus-one vote from all ballots cast. A ranked balloting system will be used, with multiple rounds possible until a candidate reaches that majority.

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