An air of excitement could be felt at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex Wednesday evening, as the New Democratic Party nomination meeting for local member of provincial parliament (MPP) candidates was held. Since the defeat of the Liberals by the NDP federally this spring, pushing the Liberals into third place for the first time in years, NDPers everywhere seem a little more excited about the future.
Cameron Dearlove was nominated as candidate for Kitchener Centre and Isabel Cisterna was nominated to represent the NDP for the riding of Kitchener-Waterloo in the looming provincial election Oct. 6 โ both in support of Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath who spoke at the meeting.
โItโs such an exciting time,โ Horwath said to the audience. โThis election is going to change the lives of the people in this province.โ
โDo you want the status quo?โ she demanded. โOr do you want to put change first?โ Horwath emphasized the hardships of working class people in Ontario and what her platform will focus on to, in her words, โMake this province a better province, a fair province and to create real change.โ Such items on her agenda include senior health care, post-graduate study, bringing back better jobs and focusing on a more green energy initiatives.
โDid you know,โ Horwath said, โ[That] though wages have gone up, people havenโt seen an actual increase in their wages in over 20 years because of tax cuts? How is that fair? Most people are having to get by with less.โ
โBut I say most people,โ Horwath continued. โI donโt mean CEOs. Theyโre doing better than anyone. By the time you start work and have your first coffee break, the CEO of that company has made half your yearโs salary in one morning.โ She laughed, โWe need some serious change in this province.โ
After she had finished speaking and the applause and cheers had died down Dearlove and Cisterna accepted their nominations and made their respective speeches.
Dearlove made his quick and to the point, describing a different version of the working class life, putting the audience in the place of the hypothetical working Canadian. โYou want to go to school,โ Dearlove said, โbut you canโt afford it and you canโt even imagine paying off a loan. You work full time but at a minimum wage job. The words youโre most familiar with are โforeclosureโ, โloansโ, โbillsโ and โcost of livingโ.โ
โThe NDP doesnโt promise to make life simple,โ Dearlove said, โbut they do plan on making life a little easier.โ
Kitchener-Waterloo nominee Isabel Cisterna gave a slightly longer speech which seemed to resonate with the crowd. โI have passion, I have enthusiasm, I am so ready for this job,โ she declared.
โSomeone once came up to me and said that the NDP were just dreamers,โ she continued. โAs if that was a bad thing. But Iโm proud to be a part of a party that can dream a better future for us.โ
Editor’s note: This article has been changed since its original publishing date.