If you’ve turned on the news lately, you mostly likely have been hearing about elections, elections and more elections. One second the headlines are screaming about Ford and the next they’re screaming about Wynne.
If you’re confused about who is running for what, when and where, we’ve put together a simple guide for you to follow.
In short, there are three elections coming up in the next five months – a provincial election on June 12, a byelection on June 30 and a municipal election on October 27. Below we will explain each to you briefly with some of the issues that are important to voters.
Provincial (June 12)
This election was triggered just a couple of weeks ago when Ontario’s Liberal government put forward a budget proposal that ultimately didn’t have the support of the NDP or Progressive Conservative parties.
On June 12, you’ll have an opportunity to vote for which government you think best represents your interests. On the ballot, you’ll be asked to vote for a Member of Provincial Parliament – the person representing your neighbourhood. The party with the most votes will become the next government of Ontario and that party’s leader will become the premier of Ontario.
Candidates have officially launched their respective campaigns and you may have already caught a glimpse of Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne, PC Leader Tim Hudak, or NDP Leader Andrea Horwath soliciting votes in your neighbourhood.
One of the top issue on the minds of many Ontarians is the health of the province’s workforce and the number people who remain unemployed or underemployed.
For more information on the issues, check out our Provincial Election section here.
Federal byelection (June 30)
Following the provincial election, many Torontonians will be able to kick back and wait until the fall before rushing back to the voting booth… unless, of course, you live in the ridings of Trinity-Spadina or Scarborough-Agincourt. For those residents, it is back to the polls you go.
In this byelection, voters will be picking candidates to represent them in Ottawa as part of the federal government. These candidates are filling the holes left by Members of Parliament who vacated their seats.
In the populous riding of Trinity-Spadina, NDP candidate Joe Cressy will take on Toronto city councillor/Liberal candidate Adam Vaughan and Conservative candidate Benjamin Sharma.
In Scarborough-Agincourt, the candidates are Arnold Chan (Liberal), Trevor Ellis (Conservative) and Elizabeth Long (NDP).
MPs take the local concerns of their constituents to the House of Commons, helping to solve problems on a wide array of issues with various government departments.
Municipal (Oct. 27)
This time on the ballot, because council doesn’t run on a party system, voters will have to pick a person (councillor) to represent their neighbourhood (ward) as well as their top pick for mayor.
Council is made up of 44 wards and one mayor.
In March, Olivia Chow, former NDP MP for Trinity-Spadina, announced her plan to take on Rob Ford in the fight for mayor. John Tory, Coun. Karen Stintz and former city councillor David Soknacki have also thrown their hats into the ring to become the city’s next mayor.
Torontonians have cited transportation and congestion on public transit as a major issue in the upcoming municipal election.
For more stories on this fall’s municipal election, check out our 2014 Municipal Election page here.
