Ontario First Party
Ontario First Party | |
|---|---|
| Unregistered provincial party | |
| File:Ontario First logo.png | |
| Abbreviation | OFP |
| Leader | Randy Hillier |
| Founded | December 4, 2021 (announced) |
| Split from | Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| National affiliation | People's Party of Canada |
| Colours | Purple |
| Seats in Legislature | 0 / 124 |
| Website | |
| www | |
The Ontario First Party (OFP) is an unregistered provincial political party in Ontario, Canada. The formation of the party was announced in December 2021 by Randy Hillier, the MPP for Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston who had been ejected from the Progressive Conservative Party caucus. It plans to run candidates in the 2022 Ontario general election.
On March 3, 2022 Randy Hillier announced by a video on Facebook that he had decided not to run for re-election in the 2022 provincial election, saying “there is not a political solution to what ails our society.” This would have been his first attempt at running against a Progressive Conservative, instead of running as a PC candidate. It is unknown whether the nascent Ontario First Partyhas a future without Mr Hillier as a candidate.
History[edit]
Pre-formation and background[edit]
The "Ontario First Party" name was reserved with Elections Ontario in January 2021; as of December 7, 2021[update], the party was not officially registered.[1] The formation of the party was announced on December 4, 2021, by Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Randy Hillier who has represented Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 2007.[2] Hillier, a former Progressive Conservative MPP, was ejected from the PC caucus by Premier Doug Ford in 2019 after making "disrespectful comments to parents of children with autism".[3][4]
Name dispute[edit]
Initially, there were attempts by the federal People's Party of Canada (PPC) to register the name "People's Party of Ontario" with Elections Ontario. The elections agency rejected the name five times due to its similarity to the existing Peoples Political Party, which has been registered since 2011 by perennial candidate Kevin Clarke. In March 2021, the PPC and Clarke discussed Clarke relinquishing his rights to the name in exchange for running under the PPC banner. The discussions, while initially productive, later broke down after Clarke posted about the matter on social media and added other people to his email conversations with the PPC.[5]
COVID-19 pandemic and party launch[edit]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hiller was a vocal critic against the enforcement of face masks, vaccines, and lockdowns, as he did not believe that they were effective public health measures.[6][7][8] He helped found the group No More Lockdowns Canada.[2] Hillier appeared several times alongside fellow critics Maxime Bernier, the leader of the People's Party of Canada during the 2021 federal election.[9]
Following the election, Hillier maintained close ties with the People's Party and in November 2021, he announced his intention to run for Premier of Ontario under the PPC banner.[10] In his constituency email on December 4, 2021, Hillier announced the foundation of the OFP, which the Toronto Star claims is "essentially the provincial wing of the [PPC];" Hillier says the PPC "supports" his party.[2]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Reserved Party Names". Elections Ontario. December 7, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Devoy, Desmond (December 3, 2021). "MPP Randy Hillier to head new, Ontario First Party". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
- ↑ "Hillier suspended from Ontario PC caucus after autism debate". CBC News. February 20, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
- ↑ "Randy Hillier expelled from Ontario PC caucus | CBC News".
- ↑ Lou, Ethan (January 13, 2022). "Emails reveal why Maxime Bernier's People's Party can't use its name in Ontario's next election". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
- ↑ Pinsent, Andrew (October 15, 2020). "Health officials raise disinformation concerns with MPP Randy Hillier". 580 CFRA News Talk Radio. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
- ↑ Mazur, Alexandra (May 5, 2021). "MPP Randy Hillier among 2 charged following anti-COVID-19-lockdown rally in Belleville". Global News. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
- ↑ Jones, Allison (October 28, 2021). "Ontario legislature condemns member Randy Hillier's COVID-19 posts, calls for apology". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
- ↑ "UPDATED: Maxime Bernier, Randy Hillier to attend Peterborough rally". thepeterboroughexaminer.com. April 22, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
- ↑ Risdon, Melanie (November 8, 2021). "WATCH: Hillier announces bid for Ontario premiership under PPC banner". The Western Standard. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
| Legislative Assembly |
|
|---|---|
| Other recognized parties | |
| Historical parties represented in the legislature | |
| Pre-confederation parties | |
This article "Ontario First Party" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Ontario First Party. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
