Latest news with #CatherineFife
CBC
28-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Voting ends in Waterloo where NDP's Catherine Fife is projected to win again
Social Sharing NDP candidate Catherine Fife is projected to win another term as MPP for Waterloo. Currently the longest-serving MPP in the region, Fife won the seat in a Sept. 2012 byelection and has held it ever since. With 42 out of 61 polls reporting, Fife has 22,220 votes. PC's Peter Turkington is in second with 12,482 votes. Fife even earned the support of a fellow candidate. Earlier this week, Green candidate Shefaza Esmail said to avoid splitting the vote, people should vote for Fife in the election. The candidates in Waterloo were (in alphabetical order by last name): Suja Biber, New Blue. Shefaza Esmail, Green. Catherine Fife, NDP (incumbent). Peter House, Electoral Reform Party. Chris Martin, Ontario Party. Clayton Moore, Liberal. James Schulz, Libertarian. Peter Turkington, Progressive Conservatives. Suja Biber, the New Blue candidate, is a registered massage therapist in Waterloo. Shefaza Esmail, the Green candidate, works at Mohawk College in Hamilton where she manages the low carbon readiness program. She has also worked as a lecturer in the school of environment, resources and sustainability at the University of Waterloo. Esmail was the Green candidate in this riding in 2022. Catherine Fife is the the incumbent and the NDP candidate. She has held the seat since winning a byelection in Sept. 2012. Prior to being elected, she worked at the Toronto District School Board as an educational assistant, community advisor and settlement worker. Peter House is a candidate for the Electoral Reform Party, a party he formed. Chris Martin is the Ontario Party candidate. The party's motto is "freedom, family and faith." Clayton Moore, the Liberal candidate, works for software company BioRender as a senior scientific sales executive. His work focuses on startups and scientific communications. James Schulz, the Libertarian candidate, has run in previous elections for the same party. Peter Turkington, the PC candidate, is the director of communications for the Progressive Conservatives. He also started Turkington Public Relations Consulting in 2004. Riding history The Waterloo riding, as it exists in this election, was formed in 2018. It was created from the riding of Kitchener-Waterloo, which existed from 1999 to 2018. Before 1999, the riding was known as Waterloo North and was established in 1867. The first Member of Provincial Parliament in Waterloo North was Liberal Moses Springer. In the last 50 years, Liberal Edward Good held the seat from 1967 to 1977. He was followed by Liberal Herb Epp, who held the seat from 1977 until he retired in 1990. In 1990, Progressive Conservative Elizabeth Witmer won the seat and held it until 2012, when she stepped down from politics.
CBC
25-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
'Do the right thing': Pressure to avoid vote-splitting intensifies in Waterloo region
Social Sharing A second Green candidate in Waterloo region has endorsed their NDP rival, while a Liberal candidate says he won't step back from his campaign after his car was defaced at a debate Monday night. During the Kitchener-Conestoga debate hosted by the New Hamburg Board of Trade Monday night, Green candidate Brayden Wagenaar started the night criticizing the job done by Progressive Conservative candidate and incumbent Mike Harris Jr. and then offered his support to NDP candidate Jodi Szimanski. "We need a candidate that cares, and we need a candidate that's going to put in the time and energy and work to take care of you guys. And the only way that's going to happen in our current, not great democratic voting system, is to create a candidate that we can all get behind," he said. " And that's why tonight, I'm proud to say that I'm supporting Jodi as the candidate for this riding." It was the second local Green candidate to throw their support behind an NDP rival on Monday. Earlier that day, after a candidate panel on CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition, Green candidate Shefaza Esmail told CBC K-W reporter Karis Mapp she was telling her supporters to consider voting for NDP candidate and incumbent Catherine Fife. Esmail said she was concerned people splitting their votes between the other candidates could mean Progressive Conservative candidate Peter Turkington could win the riding, "and that is a real concern for me." "If you really like the Green movement, send me a message, tell me I'm doing great, tell me I can earn your vote for next time, but this time, vote Catherine Fife, vote NDP," Esmail said. Waterloo's Green candidate endorses NDP 1 day ago Duration 1:11 Following a panel discussion on CBC K-W's The Morning Edition, the Ontario Green Party's Waterloo candidate, Shefaza Esmail, shared that she wants voters within her riding to vote for the NDP incumbent Catherine Fife. Esmail said the decision is because of concerns about vote splitting, which could lead to a win for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario candidate, Peter Turkington. In an interview on CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning Tuesday, Green Party of Ontario Leader Mike Schreiner said the endorsements by the two Green candidates were "news to me." "I have always said that when you elect Greens, I'm not their boss. The people of the riding are their boss. And if these two candidates decided that's what the people of their riding want ... I respect their decision. But I can guarantee you we are running strong candidates across this province," Schreiner said. Graffiti on Liberal candidate's car After the Kitchener-Conestoga debate in New Hamburg, Liberal candidate Joe Gowing returned to his car to find a message asking him to step down. Someone had written the results of the 2018 election on the window of his car with the words: "Step aside now. Do the right thing." Gowing, who ran for the Liberals in 2018, came in third in that race. He told CBC News he has no intention of stepping down. "The 2018 results, the Ontario Liberal Party lost around Ontario, so we cannot use the 2018. This is a different climate for an election," Gowing said. "I'm not gonna pursue it with police. I'm just gonna focus on my campaign, keep pushing, keep talking to people ... get as many votes as I can and show them that I am the person that should be elected," Gowing said. "My message is clear I show up. I'm not a one-issue candidate and I have support from all parts of the riding. I will not step aside." Strategic voting rarely works: Prof Andrea Perrella, a political science professor at Wilfrid Laurier University whose main research areas are political behaviour and participation, says asking candidates to step aside or candidates supporting rivals isn't new, although it's uncommon. "I don't know the context that is perfect for strategic voting because it requires a lot of voter engagement and most voters are not that engaged to calculate their votes in that precise detail," Perrella told CBC K-W's Craig Norris, host of The Morning Edition. He noted it can be particularly difficult to know how well candidates are doing on a local level. "Yes, there are polls that do sample voters in particular districts, but polling these days is a bit difficult and it's hard to tell whether the polls are accurate or not in terms of the local races," he said. "There's not a whole lot you can do if you want to be a strategic voter. That's why most people, the most comfortable choice is to ... vote for the party that they prefer. Sometimes they vote for their second choice if they know that their first choice does not have a chance." Perrella says rather than trying to vote strategically, people should focus more on learning about their candidates and doing their homework before casting a ballot. "I've always believed that voters should pay close attention to the candidates and to ask who's likely to function as an effective professional manager of the province as opposed to these other issues that come up in a campaign." he said.
CBC
24-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Green candidate in Waterloo endorses NDP, cites vote-splitting as a concern
Shefaza Esmail, the Green candidate in Waterloo, says she's endorsing NDP candidate and incumbent Catherine Fife in that riding. Esmail made the comment Monday morning following a candidate panel on CBC K-W's The Morning Edition with host Craig Norris. Esmail was answering a reporter's question about funding to universities and colleges when she offered the endorsement, saying she's concerned about vote splitting in the riding. "If you are inclined toward voting Green, I think that you should, but also consider this: You like the Green movement, that's amazing. If you're in Kitchener Centre, you should vote for [Green candidate] Aislinn Clancy because she has the best chance of winning, but when you're in Waterloo riding right now, there is a worry that by taking votes away from the NDP, the PC government might come back in Waterloo. And that is a real concern for me as well," she said. "If you really like the Green movement, send me a message, tell me I'm doing great, tell me I can earn your vote for next time, but this time, vote Catherine Fife, vote NDP." Esmail is running for the Green party for a second time. Fife has been MPP for the riding since 2012 when she won a byelection. There are eight people on the ballot in Waterloo: Suja Biber, New Blue. Shefaza Esmail, Green. Catherine Fife, NDP (incumbent). Peter House, Electoral Reform Party. Chris Martin, Ontario Party. Clayton Moore, Liberal. James Schulz, Libertarian. Peter Turkington, Progressive Conservatives. Esmail's not alone in throwing support behind a rival during this Ontario election campaign. Natasha Doyle-Merrick, the NDP candidate in the Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence, pulled out of the election earlier this month and threw her support behind the Liberals. In that riding, Doyle-Merrick said it was a "clear two-party contest" between the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives.
