Following a series of meetings with all four leadership candidates vying to succeed Howard Hampton as leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (ONDP), UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley and officers from UFCW Canada’s party-affiliated local unions have decided to back Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Gilles Bisson (Timmins—James Bay) for the post.

Pictured recently at UFCW Canada Local 12R24 offices in Rexdale, Ont., Bisson met with the presidents of UFCW Canada’s four largest local unions in Ontario (Kevin Corporon,
Local 1000A; Rob Edwards, Local 12R24; Shawn Haggerty, Local 175; and Scott Penner, Local 1977) as well as other local union officers and National Office staff.

“Gilles’s leadership and experience working with labour made him our first choice,” says President Hanley. “His commitment to work on behalf of working families, especially in these difficult economic times, is the type of leadership that will restore confidence in our party as it rebuilds.

“We would like to thank all the leadership candidates for taking the time to meet with us,” President Hanley adds. “They all made positive and articulate presentations, and underscored the strength of the NDP caucus at Queen’s Park.” The other candidates are MPPs Andrea Horwath (Hamilton Centre), Michael Prue (Beaches—East York), and Peter Tabuns (Toronto—Danforth).

Ontario NDP members will be receiving a ballot in the mail in early February for the vote to be held at convention or by mail March 7. The ballot, explains UFCW Canada National
Representative Andrew Mackenzie, will be a “preferential ballot”, allowing voters to rank the candidates in their order of preference.

“For that reason, our local unions have endorsed Gilles Bisson as our first choice, and have endorsed Andrea Horwath as our second choice,” Mackenzie says. “Members with ballots are encouraged to mark Gilles as their first choice, and Andrea second – but all ballots must be marked with at least one candidate, or else they will be rejected as spoiled.”

Any questions regarding the ONDP leadership race and convention should be directed to Andrew Mackenzie at the National Office.