Ford's imminent election call throws London preparations into overdrive
Local party organizers gearing up for what will be a rare winter time election
With Premier Doug Ford set to call an early Ontario election on Wednesday, local Liberals have stepped up and shortened their nomination process to ensure candidates are in place when the writ drops or shortly after.
Bob Wright is the Ontario Liberals' regional manager for southwestern Ontario. He will also manage the campaign for Cathy Burghardt-Jesson, the Lucan mayor who will run under the Liberal banner in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.
"We actually declared 'electoral urgency' so that we could accelerate this process back in the summer," said Wright. "It means that the campaign team has extraordinary powers to abbreviate the rules."
That means instead of potential candidates getting the time to visit party members and pursue the nomination at local meetings; Wright said many candidates are being selected by party brass in Toronto.
"I received notices of six nominations just yesterday," said Wright.
As of Friday, the Liberals had not announced candidates in two of London's three downtown ridings: London-Fanshawe and London West.
While London North Centre Liberal candidate Tariq Khan was announced by the party on January 19, Wright said Kahn had submitted his papers for the nomination back in the summer.
Wright said Liberal party nominations will officially close two weeks after the writ drops but said the party hopes to have most or all of the nominations sorted sooner.
"Our target is to have as many nominations actually filed as possible when he drops the writ on Wednesday," he said.
NDP holds all 3 London downtown ridings
For the Ontario NDP candidates in London's core ridings, the process isn't so rushed. That's because all three of those seats are held by NDP incumbents seeking re-election: Terence Kernaghan (London North Centre), Teresa Armstrong (London-Fanshawe), and Peggy Sattler (London West).
For the Progressive Conservatives, the election call will come with the party in a strong majority position, holding 79 of the 124 seats at Queen's Park.
In justifying the early election call, Ford said he needed a mandate to defend the province against tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. Both the NDP and Liberals have rejected this, accusing Ford of using the U.S. threat as an excuse to call an "unnecessary" election.
Former London city councillor John Fyfe-Millar is managing the campaign for PC candidate Jerry Pribil in London North Centre. Pribil currently serves on London city council, from which he'll have to take a leave of absence when the election is called. Fyfe-Millar said the quicker run-up to a Feb. 27 vote is a challenge but one he and Pribil are happy to take on.
"It's not like you're filing in May, and you have an election in October," he said. "It's going to be short and sweet, and I'm really excited about that."
Fyfe-Millar admits it's helpful this won't be Pribil's first shot at the seat as it was in 2022 when he was defeated by Kernaghan with just over 3,900 more votes. Fyfe-Millar said this time, his candidate is much better known for his work in the council ward, which covers much of the same ground as the provincial riding.
"He's done a lot of good work in the ward, and I think that will bode well for him," said Fyfe-Millar.
The rare Ontario winter general election
Fyfe-Millar expects the weather could be another factor as the parties try to get their vote out, particularly after the last Ontario general set a record low for voter turnout.
Mid-winter general elections are a rare occurrence in Ontario.
In fact, Ontario has held only nine general elections between December and March. The last was held on March 19, 1981.
"I think from a volunteer perspective, getting people out there is going to be challenging," said Fyfe-Millar.
Western University political science professor Cameron Anderson said the tight timeline raises the difficulty level for both NDP Leader Marit Stiles and Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie, as both will be leading their parties in a general election for the first time.
"Both parties would have probably liked another year or so to build platforms, to nominate candidates, to build profiles," said Anderson. "Without that, they're thrust right to the starting line of the drag race."