Ruby Toor will be acclaimed as the provincial Liberal candidate in Brantford-Brant at a nomination meeting this week.
The notice for the meeting sent by the Ontario Liberal Party to riding members says Toor was the only prospective nominee to meet “all filing requirements and deadlines.”
Members were told that, due to ongoing pandemic restrictions for large in-person gatherings, the nomination meeting will take place virtually, via webcast, at 7 pm on March 23
It will be the second election bid for Toor.
In June 22, 2018, provincial election, she hoped to succeed Liberal Dave Levac, who retired ahead of the election after 19 years as MPP.
But she finished third, gathering less than 10 per cent of the ballots cast. First-time Progressive Conservative candidate Will Bouma, a former Brant County councilor, won with 42 per cent of the ballots cast. In second was NDP candidate Alex Felsky, a public school trustee, with just under 41 per cent of the vote.
The next provincial election will be held on June 2.
Bouma has said that he will seek a second term.
Running for the NDP this time is Harvey Bischof, the immediate past president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, who was introduced as the party’s local candidate last August in a news conference attended by leader Andrea Horwath.
Also in the race is Rob Ferguson, who is the Libertarian candidate.
Ferguson served as interim party leader in 2019 after the resignation of Allen Small. He has been a candidate municipally, provincially and federally.
In 2019, he withdrew from both the federal election and the leadership race for the Ontario Libertarian Party due to health reasons.
Ferguson, who runs a marketing and advertising business, said he recently met with doctors, who cleared his return to politics.
“Over the last few years of leave, I’ve had a few other political parties reach out to me to consider joining them or carrying their banner here in Brantford-Brant,” said Ferguson. “I am a former leader of the Ontario Libertarian Party and cannot see me carrying any other banner in Brantford-Brant than the Libertarian banner.”