Ontario Liberals need to rebuild in Windsor-Essex, experts say

The Ontario Liberal Party still hasn't named a full slate of candidates in the four Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent ridings for the upcoming provincial election – and experts say the party has a lot of work to do to return to the days when Windsor was a Liberal stronghold.

"Historically, this was a Liberal stronghold, especially provincially," said Lydia Miljan, a professor of political science at the University of Windsor. 

"You know, we used to have Sandra Pupatello, Dwight Duncan — cabinet ministers … Obviously to me [it] seems like there's a generational change, like the old guard is no longer in play, and they haven't been able to build up a new party."

The demographics of the region have also changed dramatically over the past 50 or 60 years, said Lloyd Brown-John, a longtime local political columnist and professor emeritus in the University of Windsor political science department.

Windsor was once home to what he called an economic and social elite that voted Liberal, he said. 

Changing culture

But the Ford motor strike in 1944 and the growth of unions changed the relationship between people and politics – and the merger of the CCF and NDP created a new option for people who had typically only had a choice between Liberals and Conservatives.

That shift, combined with an influx of people with no ties to the traditional elite changed the culture of the region, he said.

"In 1971, I started a controversy at [an] all candidates [meeting] when I referred to having heard Windsor described as a lunch bucket town with a peanut butter culture," Brown-John said.

In rural Essex county, he said, the growth of the greenhouse industry has created a new economic elite that, along with the area's fundamentalist Christian population, has produced a solid base for the Conservatives. 

If the Liberals want to win back the region, leader Bonnie Crombie is going to need to get out of the Greater Toronto Area, Brown-John said: They need to rebuild their roots in Windsor-Essex and attract more volunteers. 

The Ontario Liberal Party confirmed over the weekend that lawyer Tamara Stomp, a longtime lawyer and former Kingsville city councillor, will be its candidate in Essex; it confirmed last week that 23-year-old Connor Logan will serve as its candidate in Windsor-Tecumseh.  

Logan, who previously worked with federal Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk, told CBC his priorities as a candidate are health care, education and housing.

Asked what he'd say to critics who have said he's too young and inexperienced to serve the riding, he said he has worked in government for four years and is committed to communicating with residents about their needs. 

"Obviously people my age are struggling to afford housing," he said.

"They want to start their families. They want to get going, but they can't afford housing. So one of our policies is to eliminate taxes that would save you $170,000 on a home." 

Miljan said the nomination of Logan, one of her former students, is a positive step forward for the party, and she expects him to be part of the rebuilding process.

The Liberals should have been more ready for the election, Miljan added, calling it the "worst kept secret in town."

"[Ford] had signaled, you know, way back in the fall, that this was something he was interested in doing," she said. "So it seems to me that they're having difficulty getting people to put their name on the ballot."

But, she said, it doesn't mean the party can't regain its footing: the Windsor region has at times been associated with all the major parties. 

"These things happen in cycles," she said. "No government stays in power forever."