With Ontario heading to the polls on June 2, each party is trying to convince us that they are best positioned to govern our province for the coming four years. As citizens, we have the privilege to vote in Ontario’s provincial election, and with this privilege comes the responsibility to educate ourselves and ensure we cast our votes wisely. We need to consider the issues that really matter to us, and ensure that those issues are prioritized within a party’s platforms before we cast our vote. A party’s platform reflects that party’s policy priorities, and provincial policies matter because they influence the type of life we experience living in Ontario.
Fix Our Schools wants to see a provincial government elected that prioritizes publicly funded schools and education. Over the past four years with Doug Ford as Premier, we have seen our provincial government fail time and again to prioritize public schools and education. This was not surprising to us, given that the Ford government’s platform back in 2018 was scant, at best, and highlighted policy priorities such as “Buck-A-Beer” rather anything of real value to Ontario, such as addressing the massive repair backlog in our public schools.
As voters, we also need to consider our local candidates and how they will personally serve our ridings in the coming four years. And, if we live in a swing riding, where the local candidate who is polling to win does not reflect our values and priorities, then we may be well served to consider strategic voting. Strategic voting occurs when we decide to vote not for our preferred party/candidate, but for a stronger contender in order to defeat the likeliest winner. For instance, if we view a PC victory as an undesirable outcome, we may vote for the NDP candidate who is polling second in our riding, even though our usual preference is the Green candidate. This strategic voting would be done with the hope of preventing the PC candidate from winning.
Here are some actions you can take and questions/messages you can send in the coming weeks to make it easy for you to have an impact.
- Find out who all your local candidates are by visiting the following links: Green Candidates; Liberal candidates; NDP candidates; PC Candidates
- Contact all your local candidates via email or phone call to ask questions and let them know that public schools and education are a priority for you
- Print out this one-page document of conversation starters and questions, and keep it near your front door so anyone in your household can easily engage when candidates are door-to-door campaigning
- Visit the FAQ section of our website for some quick background information on the issue of school conditions in Ontario and solutions to ensure all Ontario schools are safe, healthy and well-maintained
- Attend local debates and submit questions/ask questions
- Engage with Fix Our Schools on Twitter and Facebook to amplify our messages and make schools a priority issue
- If you live in Toronto, you may be interested in a new grassroots campaign called Not One Seat, that is working to ensure Doug Ford does not win one seat in the GTA. Engage with them on social media, and consider getting involved with this 100% volunteer-run initiative.
As voters, we all have the power to make a difference in the coming election, and to ensure that our next provincial government prioritizes issues that are important to us. So in the coming weeks leading up to the provincial election, take the opportunity to use this power wisely!