MEDIA RELEASE – July 30, 2024
Toronto, ON – Cooperate for Canada (C4C) is launching new content and resources in preparation for the next Ontario election.
Cooperate for Canada was established late last year to prevent vote-splitting in electoral ridings where there is a possibility to defeat the Conservatives federally, noting that the policies of Conservative Parties at both the federal and provincial levels fail to address the concerns of the majority of Canadians.
“Because of persistent, credible rumours that Premier Doug Ford might call an extremely early election, we are expanding our campaign focus to Ontario,” said Barbara Schumacher, chair, Cooperate for Canada. “This province can’t afford a repeat of the last election where vote-splitting handed the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PCs) an unjustified majority.”
In the 2022 election, vote-splitting between the Liberal Party of Ontario (Liberals), Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP), and Green Party of Ontario (Greens) resulted in 83 of the 124 seats won by the PCs. The PCs gained a majority with only 17.76% of eligible votes.
Cooperate for Canada has identified 30 provincial ridings where cooperation within the Liberals, NDP, and Greens could unseat PCs – whereas in ‘business as usual’ competition mode, the progressive votes would be split, allowing the PCs to win those seats in the legislature. “It worked in France: let’s do it here,” said Schumacher.
“The first-past-the-post electoral system distorts the vote to such an extent that the values and needs of the majority of citizens are ignored while our Commons are laid waste for the profit of private interests,” said Marilyn Hay, Cooperate for Canada. “If Ford calls an early election, we could potentially stop and reverse the dangerous and destructive policies of the current PC government in Queen’s Park. We must not waste this opportunity with divisive and totally ineffective competition between the non-Conservative parties.
Cooperate for Canada has added a new Ontario section to its website: https://cooperateforcanada.ca/
We invite Ontario citizens to sign on and to share the Ontario Public letter which asks the Liberal Party of Ontario, the New Democratic Party of Ontario, and the Green Party of Ontario to cooperate during the next provincial election and select the strongest candidate among them in swing ridings who could defeat the Progressive Conservatives.
For more information and/or to request an interview, please contact:
Barbara Schumacher – 226-753-9861, bschumac@uwaterloo.ca
Marilyn Hay – 226 972 3699, haymarilyn7@gmail.com (English, French)