Naomi Sayers says she is not surprised by her fourth-place result in Sault Ste. Marie for the provincial election and promises in the future to support women who choose to put their names on the ballot instead of running herself.
The lawyer from Garden River initially applied to be a candidate under the Liberal banner for the provincial election, but in late April was stopped from running as a Liberal by the party.
The Liberals instead acclaimed 18-year-old Aidan Kallioinen, who was rejected by the party the same day he was announced.
Sayers decided to run as an independent candidate regardless. On Thursday she finished fourth in the Sault, 530 votes behind eventual Liberal candidate Liam Hancock and more than 11,500 behind winner and incumbent Ontario PC candidate Ross Romano.
Sayers finished ahead of the New Blue and Green Party of Ontario candidates.
As an independent candidate, Sayers said she went into the contest not expecting anything to be handed to her.
“There are some people who will vote for parties only and that is just the way they vote or they are just hardcore Liberal voters or they are new to voting and like the idea of the Liberal party and the values it stands for, like myself at one point,” she said by phone Wednesday evening.
Sayers' platform had three pillars: listening and learning, health and well-being, as well as accountability and justice.
Without the benefit of party support behind her, Sayers said it was more difficult to get her message across to voters but it is important for people to remember that anybody can put their name up to run in an election.
“Nobody can take that right away,” said Sayers. “I think it’s important to have conversations about what it takes to run and to start supporting people who are in the community and supporting more young people and people with lived experiences instead of just talking about it.”
There have been many examples of independent candidates who who have made a difference in Canadian politics, said Sayers and noted the Northwest Territories operates on a consensus government and doesn’t recognize political parties.
“But their decisions get passed the same way — everybody makes their votes and decisions get passed,” she said.
Sayers put that into practice by helping an Indigenous woman in the riding of Kenora—Rainy River to be added to the ballot under her traditional name, Mi'Azhikwan.
Sayers said she will continue to support people, especially women, who seek to run for office but after her experiences in this election will not be joining them on future ballots.
“No. I won’t be running ever again,” said Sayers. “Some of the messages I have been hearing is that some people were inspired and at the end of the day that’s all I can do.”
Looking at the overall results of a return to majority government status for the Ontario PC party, Sayers sees a parallel to last fall’s federal election when there was very little difference in the number of seats held before and after the contest.
“We are at the tail end of a pandemic and perhaps similar things happened as the federal election,” said Sayers. “Perhaps it reflects voters, not just in Sault Ste. Marie but in Ontario more broadly, that maybe they just want some stability right now — I am not saying Doug Ford and his party provide stability, but maybe the risk of change may have dissuaded some individuals.”
