Every week during the election, we’ll post select info and articles featuring our work and the work of our clinic colleagues and community allies to help inform you about the issues at stake in the 2025 Provincial Election.
This week – week two of four of Ontario Election 2025 – we saw more advocacy campaigns pop up, some platform reveals, and all four leaders of the major parties speak in North Bay at the Northern Leaders Debate.
Improving social assistance is not debatable, but we still think they should’ve talked about it during the debate
Though the Premier’s recent unkind remarks about social assistance recipients set the stage for a conversation about social assistance, ODSP was mentioned only once or twice at the Northern Leaders debate this afternoon. All parties said very little about supporting the nearly 1 in 14 people receiving social assistance in the province, many of whom are children. Saving jobs, creating jobs, and arguing about jobs drove the conversation on employment, while any points made about tangible and immediate supports for people living below the poverty line were overshadowed by talks of a tunnel under a Toronto highway and the cost of the Ontario Place mega-spa.
On that note, Ontario For All (the community group against the spa) has released graphics and data about the cost that towns and cities across Ontario will bear in order to subsidize the cost of the spa. More details can be found on their website here.
The Ontario-wide costs are worrying, as municipalities across the province struggle to support residents with emergency housing support and other needs and have repeatedly asked the province to step in with support. Just this week, Food Banks Mississauga announced it would be ending programs and laying off staff in order to keep up with the demand for food. The Region of Peel is seeing a major increase in the number of new OW cases while community agencies are losing ground on being able to provide adequate support due to funding shortfalls. The Metamorphosis Network produced a report in mid-2024 that outlines just how underfunded services are for residents of Peel Region. Read it here.
It would be a lot easier to follow what each party has committed to with regard to municipal funding and social supports if they all released full platforms, but that’s no easy task to pull off when an election is called two years early. Even so, this week the Green Party of Ontario released a costed platform which you can read about here. It included a commitment to double ODSP and Ontario Works rates. The Toronto Star has been tracking commitments here, and they note that the Liberal Party and the NDP have also said they would “double social assistance rates”, though the Liberal Party did not commit to doubling OW.
ISAC has sent a questionnaire to all four major parties asking for detailed answers about what they plan to do about the issues we advocate on regularly. While we wait for answers, we’ve made the questions available for you to download so that you have something handy to leave by your door or save in your phone for the next opportunity you get to ask the candidates for their thoughts. Click here to download the questions.
Important Deadlines and Where to Find Voting Info
The deadline to register as a candidate was Thursday, February 13, so the Elections Ontario website is now up-to-date. To find information on a candidate in your riding, you can use Elections Ontario’s look-up tool here. You can find information for all of the candidates running in your area by choosing your riding name in the “Electoral District” drop-down list.
If you’re not sure which electoral district you live in, you can find that info on Elections Ontario’s website by typing in your postal code here. The website has now been updated to include your voting location on Election Day.
The deadline to request to vote by mail is 6 p.m. ET, Friday, February 21. More details on how to request this voting option can be found on Election Ontario’s website here, however, once your application has been reviewed and approved:
- You will be unable to choose another voting option – you can’t change your mind and just go on election day;
- You will receive a voting kit with a ballot at the mailing address provided. It can take up to four days for your application to be processed;
- You can use the prepaid envelope to return your voting kit or you can drop it off at your local election office. If you are outside Canada, you will be responsible for the international postage;
- Elections Ontario must receive your completed voting kit by 6 PM (Eastern Time) on February 27 for your vote to be counted.
If you think that you won’t be able to receive your ballot, fill it out, and mail it in by the deadline to be counted, there are still other ways for you to vote if you cannot leave your home. Check out the full list of ways to vote here.
More province-wide campaigns get underway
The End Austerity campaign was launched last week. It’s a community-created “living” platform which includes pointed commentary on a range of issues impacting disabled people in Ontario, including problems with social assistance, accessibility legislation, and more.
The Ontario Coalition for the Rights of Homeless People is running a letter-writing campaign and has released several social media slides that help cut through the noise. Here’s one of the slides you can download from their website:
Campaigns announced last week (Feed Ontario, AMO, Fair Rent Ontario, etc.) are in full swing: refresh your memory and find the links by checking out last week’s election round-up here.
And while it’s not a province-wide campaign, today is Valentine’s Day, so we would be remiss if we did not include Bruce Grey Poverty Task Force’s open letter to candidates: Nothing says “Love” Like Ending Poverty.
What’s happening across the province next week?
Social Planning Toronto has cultivated a Toronto-focused calendar of election events which they will continue to update.
Saturday, February 15:
Snow is likely to keep hammering regions all over the province, making it hard to do anything, much less anything election-related. Stay home, read up on the issues (our 2025 pre-budget submission is a good place to start,) and consider emailing your local news outlets with your thoughts about the election being called in the middle of winter.
Sunday, February 16:
Join Action Sandy Hill (Ottawa) for a meeting with the provincial candidates in the Ottawa-Vanier riding on February 16th, from 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. in the Main Hall at the Sandy Hill Community Centre (250 Somerset St. E.) More info can be found here.
Monday, February 17 (Family Day):
Many businesses and organizations will be closed on Family Day, but campaign offices will still be buzzing. If you have a question for the candidates in your area, give their offices a call. Check out our questions for candidates if you need inspiration on what to ask. And then take some well deserved time off! Or, watch the second leaders debate, which starts at 6:30 ET and which will be broadcast on the CBC and through other news outlets. Details here.
Tuesday, February 18:
Join the Candidates Forum for Scarborough South West (Toronto). This forum is hosted by SAWRO and SUN, and will take place on Tuesday February 18 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in-person and live-streamed online. The in-person event will take place at the West Scarborough Neighbourhood Community Centre (313 Pharmacy Ave.) Details on Facebook here.
Join the Thorncliffe Park All Candidates Forum (Toronto) and meet the Don Valley West Candidates on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 pm at the Thorncliffe Park Community Hub (45 Overlea Blvd.) More info and submit questions here.
The Peterborough and Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce is holding a debate with provincial candidates on February 18 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre Inc. (140 Charlotte St.) If you would like to submit a question ahead of time, please send it to emerson@pkchamber.ca.
Join a livestreamed All Candidates Debate for candidates running in the riding of Kanata Carlton (Ottawa). The livestream will be shared on YouTube at this link at 7:00 p.m., on February 18, and is hosted by the Kanata Beaverbrook Community Association.
Wednesday, February 19:
Social Planning Toronto is holding a virtual workshop on provincial election advocacy, on February 19 from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m, on Zoom. The Ontario Nonprofit Network will share resources and important information that will be helpful for nonprofits when engaging in advocacy during an election. Live captioning will be available. Register here.
A Candidates Debate on Disability Issues in the Ontario General Election is being held on Wednesday, February 19, from 7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., In-Person and Online. Register and submit questions here. This debate on disability issues for the Ontario Election will be hosted by Global News journalist Isaac Callan, and will be held at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto. The debate will also be streamed live on the internet. The event is being organized by a consortium of disability organizations. For more information, click here (ARCH Disability Law website).
Grey Bruce Region Health Coalition is hosting a public meeting at the Victoria Jubilee Hall in Walkerton, on February 19 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
The Decent Work & Health Network is hosting an online forum on “Winning Healthcare for All: Lessons from U.S. victories for inclusive healthcare policies, regardless of immigration status”, on February 19 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sign up here.
Thursday, February 20:
The 2025 Black Community Provincial Candidates Meet & Greet is taking place Thursday, February 20, from 8:00 p.m. to 10 p.m., in-person at the Jamaican Canadian Association (995 Arrow Rd., Toronto) and online. The Black Community Provincial Election Candidates Meet & Greet will be an intimate opportunity for community members to engage directly with a number of party leaders and Black Provincial Election candidates from Ontario. An opportunity to learn more about the various party platform highlights and their personal commitments and motivation for seeking office, working with, and serving the community. Moreover, it will create an opportunity for community members to learn how they can support their candidate(s) of choice. All candidates listed on the flyer have been invited and their attendance is not guaranteed. Current organizers include 1st Fridays, Black Women Aligned, CAFCAN, DCCBA, JCA, Legacy, Matrix Cares, ONABSE, Afroglobal Television, CBCC, Back 2 basics and Maximum Security. Register here.
The Ottawa Centre candidate’s debate is taking place on February 20 at 7:00 p.m. at the Glebe Community Centre (175 Third Avenue). The event is organized by Glebe Community Association, Centretown Community Association, Old Ottawa South Community Association and Old Ottawa East Community Association.
Renfrew Health Coalition will hold a public meeting at the Barry’s Bay Legion, Barry’s Bay, on February 20, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Friday, February 21:
Mississauga Health Coalition is hosting a public meeting at Clarke Memorial Hall, Port Credit, on February 21, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
And a very special save the date for Tuesday, February 25:
ISAC is hosting a Provincial Election Forum on Income Security on Tuesday, February 25, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Panelists include reps from the Green Party of Ontario, the Liberal Party of Ontario, and Ontario NDP. The panel will be hosted by ISAC and moderated by Kat Eschner, TVO. Stay tuned for more details and the registration link!