.png;w=960)
The newest party represented in York-Simcoe for the provincial election on June 2, is the Ontario Party. Founded in 2018, the Ontario Party is a right-wing conservative party that has put an emphasis on its stance against COVID-19 restrictions.
That stance is what led Alana Hollander to put her name on the ballot to represent the party in the York-Simcoe riding this election.
“I got involved because Doug Ford was being a little restrictive with the mandates and I tried contacting Caroline Mulroney several times by email and she never answered me,” said Hollander. “We were putting our kids in masks in school, forcing people to get vaccinated to keep their jobs, we weren’t allowing people to get into the hospitals or to visit their parents in care homes.”
Given the situation, Hollander did research and found the Ontario Party aligned with how she felt.
“I was watching to see if anybody was going to represent the Ontario Party in our area and nobody stepped up so I thought I had to do something because I couldn’t vote for (the PC Party) after what’s been going on with what Doug Ford has done to this province,” she said.
Hollander’s first taste of the campaign trail has been busy as she meets more of the community and hears their needs.
“I started late because I was watching to see if someone else would step up, so I didn’t get started until about May 3,” she said. “It’s been great and the biggest concern I’ve heard is that residents are fed up with COVID restrictions, they’re fed up with not being able to do what they want to do, they’re fed up with inflation increasing housing prices up. My son is 17 and I don’t know how he’ll ever find a house. The cost of living is going up and that’s a problem.”
As a resident of the Holland Marsh whose home is surrounded by farm fields, Hollander knows just how important agriculture is to the York-Simcoe community, as well as small businesses.
“I know the farmers have struggled quite a lot with several different issues and I’d really like to stand up for them,” she said. “I live in this community, and I’ve seen what the mandates have done to businesses. It’s been crazy, so that’s where I want to start.”
Hollander was also drawn to the Ontario Party for its education platform.
“I homeschool both my kids,” she said. “It would be nice to have a little extra money to buy supplies for homeschooling. So, that with the COVID mandates are what stuck out most to me.”
Something else Hollander likes about the party's platform is its policy to hold MPPs more accountable.
“I like the recall policy they want to bring forward,” she said. “If MPP's constituents don’t like what their (representative is) doing or they’re not doing their job, they have the right to go in and ask for another vote to get rid of their MPP. If we had that in today maybe things would be different. We’ve lost that (accountability) over COVID.”
Since its inception as a riding in 2007, York-Simcoe has only ever been represented by an MPP from the PC Party, and Hollander thinks it’s time for a change.
“The Conservative Party isn’t conservative anymore… they’ve turned into the Liberal Party,” she said. “The Conservative Party is supposed to be there for the people, and they’re not there for the people. If you don’t agree with their agenda, they don’t get back to you. I’ve heard from several people that they’ve contacted their MPP, and nobody answers. That’s not how you run a government. You have to speak to the people and understand where they’re coming from. You can’t shut them out.”
