Chandra Pasma 'not taking anything for granted' in latest bid to represent Ottawa West-Nepean

The weather outside may be frightful, but Chandra Pasma is using that to her advantage when knocking on doors in the provincial riding of Ottawa West-Nepean. 

"You have to be brief because people don't want their door open long, but that's also not bad for us because we need to keep moving in order to keep the blood circulating," the incumbent candidate says. 

Pasma won the seat for the Ontario New Democratic Party in the 2022 general election, but only by about 900 votes over the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario candidate.

Now she's seeking a second term in a tight winter campaign window against a slate of first-time rivals, and the clock is ticking. 

"We are not taking anything for granted," she said last Tuesday. "We have 17 days to keep making that case to people."

Pasma, who introduced Marit Stiles to the stage when the NDP leader visited Ottawa early in the campaign, cited health care and affordability as the top issues she's hearing about. 

"People are really concerned about the fact that they can't access a family doctor or that they're going to the Queensway Carleton Hospital and they're waiting 14, 16 hours to see a doctor," she said. 

"We have an aging population. People need access to health care when they need it."

State of health care 'unacceptable' 

Brett Szmul, a teaching assistant at Carleton University, has never run for office and is doing so in this election for the Liberal Party of Ontario.

He got his first glimpse at his newly printed campaign material last Tuesday during a round of door-knocking near Fisher Heights Park, where he filmed a promotional video.

On one doorstep, he modestly left a leaflet featuring his face tucked underneath the resident's Amazon parcel. 

Szmul also cited the state of the health-care system as a major concern — and one of the reasons he decided to take a run at provincial politics.

"Right now [it's] unacceptable," he said. Later, he described a memorable exchange with a woman who told him through tears about how her grandmother waited for care in an emergency room for about 18 hours. 

"This is an elderly woman we're talking about who is in pain," he said. 

'We need strong leadership'

Like Szmul, Husien Abu-Rayash has not run for MPP before, and like Pasma, the PC candidate appears to be keeping a close eye on the clock. 

Last Tuesday, when CBC caught up with Abu-Rayash in the Carlingwood area and asked if he rang at a door a second time after not getting an initial response, he said with a chuckle: "We have a 20-second policy," before moving on to another address.  

Husein originally intended to run in Nepean and faced backlash from that area's outgoing MPP that some criticized as being Islamaphobic. 

"My background is to serve this country," the former Canadian Armed Forces member told CBC last week. 

Like PC Party Leader Doug Ford, Husein was sporting "Canada Is Not For Sale" headwear on top of a "Protect Ontario" hoodie. 

"A lot of people are concerned [about] protecting their jobs, and we need strong leadership," he said when asked if people have brought up the threat of U.S. tariffs. 

Asked about whether issues like health care, affordability and education have also come up during his travels, Husein returned straight to the topic of leadership. 

"A lot of people's main concern is they wanted someone who's able to protect their jobs," he said. "There is ... a gap in the federal level."

The Green Party of Ontario declined to make its candidate for the riding, Sophia Andrew-Joiner, available for an interview. According to her campaign bio, Andrew-Joiner has worked on Parliament Hill as a volunteer for federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and as a parliamentary assistant. 

Her priorities in Ottawa include good public transit, affordable housing and increased supports for halfway homes and emergency shelters, according to the bio.