Name recognition lacking in Ontario Liberal leadership race: candidate

Candidates in the Ontario Liberal leadership race have some work to do to gain name recognition in the province, one says.

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“Across the province very few people know any of us,” said Nate Erskine-Smith.

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The Liberal MP for Beaches-East York in Toronto was, along with fellow candidates Yasir Naqvi, Liberal MP for Ottawa Centre, and Ted Hsu, Liberal MPP for Kingston and the Islands, at the Sarnia Golf and Curling Club Saturday for an informal leadership debate .

All three — Mississauga mayor and leadership candidate Bonnie Crombie was absent — said it was important to engage people across the province in the party’s contest, noting rule changes giving each of Ontario’s 124 ridings 100 points in the ranked-ballot voting system.

Voting is set for November with the new leader scheduled to be announced Dec. 2.

The next provincial election is tentatively scheduled for June 4, 2026.

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“I was just in Chatham-Kent-Leamington, where I know there’s 150 members,” said Hsu. “Each voter there has the same weight as 10 voters maybe in Toronto Centre.

“So the voters in Southwestern Ontario count for a lot.”

Many though see the party as Toronto-centric, Erskine-Smith said, including his father-in-law “who has spent his entire life in Camlachie here (and) does not feel as represented by this Ontario Liberal Party as he should,” he said.

“It’s incumbent on all of us and it’s important to have a process that pushes candidates to rebuild this party absolutely everywhere,” he said about the party with nine seats and no official party status at Queen’s Park.

The party’s decade and a half in power was ended in 2018, when Progressive Conservatives formed government and Liberals were reduced to seven seats in the legislature.

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Naqvi said candidates also need to inspire hope in a province where many young people he said he’s spoken with over the campaign at colleges or universities are talking about leaving Ontario.

“I know it seems like a hokey sort of answer, but I really think it goes to the genesis of things we have to do, is by establishing that there is something better,” he said.

That includes looking at economic opportunities in addressing climate change, he said.

“Looking at the economic opportunities that come with it, that we can start creating that hope again for young people in our province of Ontario,” he said.

About two-dozen people turned out on the Thanksgiving long weekend to hear the candidates talk about provincial transit and connectivity, support for families with children with autism, strategies for job creation and youth employment, and how to address housing supply and affordability.

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Ending exclusionary zoning and increasing density near transit and education institutions is important for housing generally, Erskine-Smith said; as is building greater transit across the province so Ontario’s growing population extends beyond places like Toronto, Naqvi said, adding his dream is for the GO (Government of Ontario) transit service to extend province-wide.

Hsu said creating more value to agricultural products and making it easier for young farmers to start out by preserving farmland, helping them get loans for equipment or land, and pursuing mentorship opportunities could be helpful for youth job creation in the agri-food sector that he said is the largest economy in the province.

All tended to agree with one another, adding nuances in their answers. Questions were prepared in consultation with people in the Sarnia-Lambton community, said Lois Nantais, president of the Sarnia-Lambton Provincial Liberal Association and a former federal party candidate.

She had the idea for an informal debate after speaking with and being impressed by the candidates when they visited Sarnia-Lambton over the summer, she said.

“It’s very rare to have leaders all in one location and I think it was a wonderful opportunity,” she said, adding she’s grateful they came.

Official leadership debates are scheduled Oct. 24 in Toronto, Nov. 8 in Ottawa, and in Brampton either Nov. 18 or 19.

Official debates were also held in Thunder Bay Sept. 14, and Stratford Oct. 1

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