Learn to navigate the different provincial political parties and use your vote in the upcoming election!
Navigating the objectives of political parties, following the actions of candidates, and voicing your opinion on a ballot might feel like a daunting task. In fact, only 56.6% of Ontarians voted in the 2018 provincial election, which shows that a large percentage of people decided not to participate in provincial politics.
Why vote?
Although it might seem that as one person, your vote doesn’t matter, this is far from the truth. Even with almost 15 million citizens in the province, it is incredibly important that you express your opinion in the election. Voting allows politicians to learn more about what Ontarians want to see across the province, and potentially use that to strengthen their objectives.
Provincial Political Parties
When determining which party to vote for, it’s important to consider the objectives of the party and how they align with your view. Here’s a summarized list of the provincial parties:
- Conservative Party – Candidate Doug Ford: Key objectives are to increase healthcare funding to hospitals and long-term care, and expand natural gas and employment opportunities to northern Ontario.
- Liberal Party – Candidate Steven Del Duca: Key objectives are to make a significant effort to improve childcare with a retroactive child care payment plan, and focus on healthcare with goals to increase funding to hospitals.
- New Democratic Party – Candidate Andrea Horwath: Key objectives are to incorporate mental health services as part of the healthcare system with free counselling and therapy, and to increase minimum wage to $20/hour.
- Green Party – Candidate Mike Schreiner: Key objectives are to create connected, affordable, and sustainable housing to solve the housing crisis, and to crush climate pollution through a multi-layered strategy.
Important information
- The Ontario provincial election is on Thursday, June 2, 2022
- You can vote if you are 18 years old or above, a Canadian citizen, and a resident of Ontario
- Don’t stress if you are unable to vote on election day – there will be advanced polling about a week prior
- Bring a piece of ID to the polling station
- Register to vote at www.elections.on.ca