An independent candidate who had never before run for a seat in Queen’s Park won a big Thursday night, ending the dominance of progressive conservatives for decades in rural southern Ontario in Haldimand-Norfolk.
Bobbi Ann Brady emerged from election night as the first woman to be elected as a pro-independence MP without a past victory with a political party. She is also the only independent candidate chosen as MPP in the 2022 election.
“I don’t think we really knew we were going to make history, but we did,” he told CBC Hamilton, adding that voters needed courage to bet on it instead of the established party.
His victory came when the PC and its leader Doug Ford won another provincial election, claiming 83 seats.
Haldimand-Norfolk riding was previously performed by PC MPP Toby Barrett. Instead of running for an eighth term, Barrett suggested that Brady, his former executive assistant, take his place.
Ken Hewitt, the current mayor of Haldimand County, was the PC candidate for Haldimand-Norfolk riding. (Submitted by Ken Hewitt)
Instead, Prime Minister Doug Ford opted for Haldimand County Mayor Ken Hewitt, setting the stage for a battle between Brady, who had the support of the former outgoing MPP, and Hewitt, who had the mark of the party behind him.
Many considered Brady the disadvantage because, as an independent candidate, she could not spend money on campaigns until the writ was issued, but not Hewitt.
“Have the current constituency office and the current association and current MPP belonging to the [Progressive] The Conservative Party, supporting and working for independents, would suggest otherwise, “Hewitt said in a telephone interview on Sunday.
MZO was a big election issue, Brady says
Brady said he believes Ford did not want her to be the PC candidate because of a controversial ministerial zoning order or MZO.
MZOs allow the province to immediately authorize development and circumvent local planning rules to speed up what it wants to build. City councils are requesting MZO on non-provincial land.
While they may be subject to judicial review, MZOs cannot be appealed or terminated unless the province does.
In this case, there is a proposal to build 15,000 homes and bring 40,000 residents to the Nanticoke industrial land.
Hewitt supports it, but Brady and Barrett don’t.
Hewitt said he was elected not by the MZO, but by his career as mayor.
He said the MZO issue is exaggerated and said he believes the issue is not relevant to the provincial elections.
Brady, meanwhile, said he heard all sorts of voters knocking on the door opposing the project and said he would oppose it every step of the way.
Brady attributes the victory to the team and the “old” campaign.
Brady said he spent election night watching his son play hockey before putting on some makeup at 8:30 p.m., while his family watched the voting numbers arrive.
“Everyone was stinging me,” he said.
“It’s very surreal after 27 days giving everything you have and saying ‘I hope that’s enough’ on that 28th day.”
With 62 polls reported, Brady beat Hewitt by 2,070 votes, a four-and-a-half percent margin.
Nearly half of the 93,511 registered voters in the constituency voted.
Brady attributes his victory to his experienced team and an “old” campaign.
“Not only did I have members of the PC who knew my job … we also had Liberals and members of the NPD who said, ‘You know what? We’re helping the little town girl,'” she said.
“Everyone went out into their community and talked to their friends, neighbors and family, they made phone calls like they did many, many campaigns ago … we did all the right things, we talked to all the right people and we did the job. “
Hewitt said Ford’s surprise call was a blessing, but also a curse.
“My campaigns as mayor have been going on for about four or five months and that’s four or five weeks,” Hewitt said.
He said it was “physically impossible” to stand in front of enough voters and also said he felt he did not get enough support from Norfolk County to win.
With a longer campaign, Hewitt believes he could have won. Now, think about whether he will run for mayor again in the fall.
He also congratulated Brady on his victory.
Among his plans as an MPP, Brady said he wants to improve the quality and access to home care.
It also wants to establish an all-party MPP committee on agriculture and rural issues for Ontario.
Brady said some have expressed concern about his ability to be effective at Queen’s Park as a freelancer, but said he has allies on all sides and that “there is no monopoly on a good idea.”
“Democracy must be maintained and the way political parties do business must go back to what we knew many years ago where the grassroots were respected,” he said.
“One of the things I want to do is make sure that political parties respect the people they serve. You can’t take your vote for granted, and you certainly can’t take your money for granted.”