The fledgling New Blue Party of Ontario has candidates in 122 of 124 ridings for the June 2nd provincial election, including Garry Andrade in Timiskaming-Cochrane.
Andrade and his wife own the Rock Pine Motel in Marten River – the one with the big fish beside Highway 11.
He says he decided to run for New Blue, because he believes that if you don’t vote, you can’t complain.
“I’ve been complaining a lot lately, so I figured I better step up my game a bit and get involved,” he remarks.
Andrade says the party’s blueprint attracted him, with its promise to allow MPPs to vote based on what constituents want; its pledge to lower electricity prices; and reduce the HST by three percentage points to ten percent.
He adds that says if elected, he’ll put his riding first. What’s right for Timiskaming-Cochrane, he says, must be voiced in the legislature.
“We need to support the North. For too many years, the North has just been the ugly stepsister at Queen’s Park, and we’ve been told to bow down to what Toronto needs. You know what? – We’re people too in Ontario and we deserve a voice.”
New Blue Ontario was formed two years ago, when a Conservative MPP was kicked out of the party for speaking out against Doug Ford’s Emergencies Act.
