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FORUM: What did the election teach us? (Mar. 2025)

April 14th, 2025 · No Comments

University-Rosedale is clearly not on side with Premier Ford

By Jessica Bell

Thank you, University-Rosedale residents, for putting your trust in me to represent you at Queen’s Park as the MPP for University-Rosedale for a third term.

Representing our riding is a privilege, a responsibility, and an honour. I will do my very best to serve all of us well; it doesn’t matter who you voted for. 

This election is memorable for me for many reasons. 

It’s the first time we’ve had a candidate for premier who is under an active criminal RCMP investigation.  What is taking the RCMP so long to release its findings? 

It was the first winter election in over one hundred years. We canvassed though knee-deep snow drifts to reach a porch. We drilled into frozen lawns to install signs. We used pencils to take notes as we canvassed because pens don’t work in this cold weather. We missed some signs because they were frozen into the ground or buried in snowbanks. 

We have a policy of staying at the door and declining invitations to go into people’s homes for a chat, but given the extreme cold, we accepted many invitations to come inside to have real and honest conversations about what mattered to you.  

This is what I learned from residents this election. 

We’re feeling a lot of fear and uncertainty about our future.  We’re worried about the terrifying spectre of a chaotic and vindictive President Trump threatening Canada’s economy with tariffs and our sovereignty with calls for Canada to become the 51st state.   

Many of us understand what the province is responsible for, and we know the government is falling short. 

We are educated voters. Health-care workers told me their working conditions were the toughest they’ve experienced in their careers, and they were deciding who to vote for based on each party’s health care platform.  

There was real anger toward Ford and his disrespect for Toronto—meddling with our official plan and taking away our bike lanes, yet failing to put forward real solutions to crime and homelessness. 

A few tech workers urged us to develop a response to the AI tsunami and its impact on the economy. Many of you called for us to co-ordinate with the Liberals and the Greens and spoke of your deep aspirations for stability and homeownership. The crisis in the Middle East, and the prevalence of anti-Semitism and anti-Palestinian racism in our city was also front and centre for many. 

The results are in, and the Conservatives have another majority. At a time when life for many is already difficult, I understand why people tune politics out or vote from a profound sense of fear. 

The Ontario NDP returns as the official opposition, and I’m proud of that. We will hold the Conservative government to account and put forward progressive solutions, from ensuring everyone has a family doctor, to improving the quality of our schools, to making housing affordable to rent or own. 

Elections involve hundreds of people undertaking a huge amount of work. They are about building power, the power of people working together for a common cause to protect humanity and work to have government be a force for good.

We will need to exercise this power again and again in the months and years ahead, from having tough conversations with people who don’t see eye to eye with us, to writing petitions and letters, to introducing legislation, to holding press conferences, to organizing and attending rallies, events, and townhalls.  

My experience as an organizer and politician has taught me that social change comes in waves and troughs. As progressives, we’re in a trough provincially. We’re working hard to move inches and defend what we have, while positioning ourselves to catch that next wave. 

That wave is coming. We are organizing now to be ready for it. I am up for the challenge, and I have faith that you are too. 

Jessica Bell is the MPP-Elect for University-Rosedale. You can reach her office at jbell-co@ndp.on.ca or 416 535 7206.

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Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion