In the News May 4
Ontario Election
Election Called for June 2
Workers Voice Their Demands – May Day March, Queen’s Park, Toronto.
The Ontario Provincial Election has been called for June 2, 2022. It was called based on the song and dance procedure Canada inherited from the British parliamentary system. At 2:00 pm on Tuesday, May 3, Ontario Premier Doug Ford met with the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, and requested that the Legislature be dissolved. The Lieutenant Governor accepted the Premier’s advice and signed a Proclamation dissolving the 42nd Parliament of the Province of Ontario as of 4:00 pm the same day, signalling the start of the election period.
Consequently, on Wednesday, May 4, the Lieutenant Governor met with Ontario’s Chief Electoral Officer to sign the writs for the general election, and officially set Thursday, June 2 as the date of the election.
In the opinion ofOntario Political Forum, an election should be called by the Legislature and the post of Lieutenant Governor should be abolished as a legacy of Canada’s racist colonial past. It is not only wasteful but an anachronism enforcing a rule which is against empowering the people.
In this regard, it is a reminder that the structure of governance in Ontario is based on a contract brought into being in England in the 1600s. The contract covenanted the people to entrust governing to rulers whose allegiance is to the monarch. There is a myth that the post of Lieutenant Governor is purely ceremonial but the song and dance is to deliberately draw attention away from the essence of the matter, which is that it is not the people who select and elect those who represent themselves and answer to them.
There is a cartel party system in which, despite what are called nomination contests and notwithstanding permission for independent candidates to run, some interests hidden behind a screen select candidates on the basis of criteria nobody knows. Those who are elected are in the hands of party handlers who make sure they behave as is required of them to serve the interests which pull the strings.
It is a rotten system which makes sure the people are disempowered, starting with how elections themselves are conducted. It puts the need for democratic political renewal at the centre of political discourse during this election, while the people of Ontario are called on to speak out in their own voices to lay the claims to what belongs to them by right.
Timeline for Prospective Candidates to Submit Their Nominations
Prospective candidates have until May 12 at 2:00 pm to submit their nomination forms and the required supporting documentation to their local Returning Officer.
Information regarding voter registration, candidate nomination and registration, voting and other matters pertinent to the conduct of the election can be found on the Elections Ontario website.
Ontario Political Forum, posted May 4, 2022.
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