How NOT to Win an Election

Look around Ontario and you'll see the traditional parties pulling out all the usual election tricks. The Liberals are promising hundreds of billions in new spending (despite our province being in record debt); the PCs are using the politics of division and scare tactics (taking a page out of the Trump playbook); and the NDP are…well, they're just desperate to stay relevant.

Those tired electoral ploys have worked for them in the past, so it's no wonder the parties are clinging to the same old hackneyed techniques.

We at the Northern Ontario Party are doing something different. No big spending promises. No attacks on our rivals or their supporters. Instead we're offering a new election option—one based on hope and growth. Unfortunately all that anyone wants to talk about is our founding principle.

The whole "separation" part of our platform scares some voters off. Thanks to our opponents far-too-many people think we're promising nothing but sunshine and roses in some impossible dreamland. But the truth is an independent Northern Ontario wouldn't be some imaginary utopia.

Should the North ever form its own province there would still be problems—but they would be our problems.

And that is the key difference. Northerners wouldn't have to beg, hat in hand, from Queen's Park. We could set our own agenda, rank our own priorities, and govern as the people of the North demand.

Self-government means: No more being outvoted by Toronto-area politicians; No more of our taxes going to fund bloated southern Ontario infrastructure; No more urban values being shoved down our throats.

Unfortunately our core tenant is easily dismissed/perverted by our rivals. They appeal to the cynical and the greedy part of the electorate's nature. Using Ontario's fears is an effective way to win an election…and it's one we refuse.

The NOP is a long shot in 2018. We know it and still we're running. Why? Because we believe Northerners deserve an option. Our party is offering a choice—a real choice—to voters. Give our platform a read, contact our Riding Associations and ask some questions. Don't buy what our opponents are selling. Politics can be different. The North deserves better than same old, same old.

Thank you kindly.