Brunch boasts all-mom NDP lineup
Local candidates gather with party leader Horwath for backyard Mother’s Day event
As campaign photo ops go, it was inspired.
Six women, all running as NDP candidates in the June 2 provincial election, all mothers, gathered at the home of a campaign volunteer, also a mother, for a backyard brunch on Mother’s Day.
“It’s pretty unique,” noted Andrea Horwath, after descending from her touring bus Sunday outside the bucolic Ayr residence of NDP supporter Andrea Evans Smith to present bouquets of tulips to each of the five candidates in Waterloo Region.
“We have moms running as candidates in all the ridings. I think it’s the first time in this area. I’m excited about these wonderful women that have done so much in their communities.”
An all-female roster wasn’t necessarily a political calculation, but when the question arose, the bluntspeaking NDP leader was quick to trump its virtues.
“Voters want people who get them, who understand how tough it’s been for families the last couple of years, who know what’s broken in Ontario,” she insisted.
“Because often it’s women that are the glue that hold things together when tough times come.
“Having these fantastic women as our candidates is a really great opportunity to elect folks that know how to get things done and how to take care of people.”
That was about it for policy talk as Horwath, in sensible slacks and sneakers, conferred with candidates privately before scrunching down to trade chalk drawings with two year old J.J. Moore, who engaged briefly before tearing across the lawn to be with her grandmother, Cambridge candidate Marjorie Knight.
But Horwath’s reassuring presence on this sunny May afternoon was clearly a boost for the two incumbents and three newcomers angling for electoral success on June 2: Karen Meissner (Kitchener-Conestoga) and Joanne Weston (Kitchener South-Hespeler) — both Waterloo Region District School Board trustees — Marjorie Knight (Cambridge) and sitting MPPs Catherine Fife (Waterloo) and Laura Mae Lindo (Kitchener Centre).
“So many moms had to leave their jobs and stay home during the pandemic,” pointed out Knight, who works as a community outreach worker with low-income families.
“They had to look after their kids. There was no way they could work and many don’t have a pathway back to work even now.”
Most of the issues that affect moms, it became clear, affect everyone: affordable housing, health care, seniors care, public transportation, mental-health supports, cost of living.
“I think the pandemic has changed people’s perceptions of public service,” said Fife, noting that having an all-woman lineup “didn’t happen by accident.”
“We’re mothers — we can do it all!”
Horwath, for whom gender equity didn’t exist at the start of her political career, said its benefits are incalculable.
“It’s been my experience, and research shows, that having women at the table really does change the conversation,” noted the Hamilton native dubbed “The Steeltown Scrapper.”
“It broadens our priorities in giving voice to concerns that women and families have.”