Riding associations in Sault Ste. Marie are in the process of vetting people interested in running in the upcoming provincial election.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has confirmed he's calling an early election that will begin on Wednesday, bringing to an end months of speculation.
Ford currently holds a strong majority in the legislature, and the next scheduled vote is not until June 2026 — but the premier said he needs a strong mandate to fight against U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs.
The president of the local riding association for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario says there have been “plenty of folks” who have expressed interest in running since last month’s announcement that incumbent MPP Ross Romano will not seek re-election.
“Everyone is being evaluated,” Jason Naccarato told SooToday on Friday. “We’re hoping to be in a position where the candidate can announce themselves shortly, but we’re not quite there yet.”
The provincial NDP riding association for the Sault has “several candidates” ready for a nomination meeting, says president Celia Ross, but the association is currently waiting for the vetting process to wrap up.
Although there’s been good fundraising locally, Ross acknowledges that it will be difficult to get the party’s message out under the conditions of a “very fast and short election campaign.”
“We’re all feeling quite a bit of pressure — there’s no need for an election now. It’s a whole year early,” said Ross, who spoke with SooToday Friday morning. “An election is a large expenditure. It’s going to cost the Ontario taxpayers money to have this early election.”
The local NDP provincial riding association president says there are a number of provincial issues that people in the Sault are concerned about, including healthcare — accessibility to healthcare and the privatization of healthcare in particular — and a lack of affordable housing.
“These are issues that are felt across the province, so we are going to run a strong campaign, and we are going to speak very strongly to those issues that are of concern to all of us,” Ross said.
Attempts to contact the provincial riding association for the Liberals in Sault Ste. Marie were unsuccessful.
Romano won the 2022 riding election with 12,606 votes, representing a 46.9 per cent share of the ballots.
NDP candidate Michele McCleave-Kennedy came in second with 10,029 votes, representing a 37.3 per cent share of ballots.
Ford annoucned this morning plans to visit Lt.-Gov. Edith Dumont on Tuesday, kicking off a campaign that will begin the following day. Election day will be Feb. 27.
- with files from The Trillium