Peggy Revell
Kenora-Rainy River voters have spoken—and Sarah Campbell will be following in the footsteps of Howard Hampton as their MPP.
“It’s going to be sad to see [Hampton] go, there’s no doubt about that at all,” Campbell said after keeping the riding NDP orange in Thursday’s provincial election.
“But I’m looking forward to this very exciting chapter.”
Campbell garnered 49.2 percent of the popular vote, with an unofficial tally of 10,752.
Progressive Conservative candidate Rod McKay was second with 8,314 votes (38.1 percent), followed by Liberal candidate Anthony Leek a distant third, capturing 2,173 votes (9.9 percent).
Green Party candidate Jo Jo Holiday was fourth with 385 votes (1.8 percent) while Charmaine Romaniuk of the new Northern Ontario Heritage Party came fifth with 219 votes (one percent).
Provincially, the Liberals won the election overall but failed to secure a third-straight majority government—falling one seat short with 53 of the 107-seat legislature.
The PCs were next with 37 while the NDP captured 17.
“I think that there’s a real opportunity to come to some common ground and to move forward on issues,” Campbell said about the minority government Ontario now has.
“Regardless, whether it’s a minority and the NDP is looking at the balance of power, or whether we are the opposition, I’m going to work really hard for the people of Kenora-Rainy River,” she pledged, citing a clear mandate from voters to work to make life more affordable and bring jobs back to the region.
Campbell and McKay were neck-and-neck when the local results first began streaming into the returning office in Fort Frances, up or down by 100 or so votes.
But Campbell eventually broke away and built up a 2,000-plus lead.
Campbell admitted she was cautious when the vote count began to turn in her favour, and those surrounding her last Thursday night were getting excited. Instead, she wanted to wait until the all the polling stations were in before celebrating.
“I was very excited, and surprised, because honestly we didn’t really have an indication of how things were going,” she noted.
“Things were feeling good when we were talking to people, but it’s always a smaller sample and there’s a lot of volatility and things can really change in the last couple of days.”
There are a few reasons Campbell thinks her message—and that of the NDP—resonated with area voters.
“Here in Northwestern Ontario, we have been hit very hard by the recession,” she remarked. “Long before the recession hit anywhere else, it hit us.”
With people struggling, job losses, “tax after tax put upon us,” and rising hydro rates, Campbell said she thinks people were feeling frustrated yet hopeful that something could be done.
“The other thing is, I think that I’ve been able to establish myself as somebody who has really tried to work hard for people and really advocate on their behalf,” she said about her experience as an assistant in Hampton’s constituency office in Dryden.
“And I think that I’m able to communicate that I’m sincere and I really do want to see Northwestern Ontario to prosper.”
Heading off to Queen’s Park, Campbell said one of her first aims is to continue addressing the issue of energy retailers.
“I would like to change the legislation to put some tighter restrictions on how they’re able to do business, and what exactly they’re able to do,” she remarked about these for-profit energy companies and the tactics they use with customers.
At 29 years of age, Campbell also will be one of the younger MPPs heading to Toronto.
“Something that we’ve heard, what I’ve heard for the last number of years, is that we need to get more young people involved and I don’t know if I’m exactly a young person,” she said.
But she thinks it’s important to have this kind of perspective, alongside an MPP who is hopeful, optimistic, and not cynical.
“I think we need to restore some positivity and I think [having more younger MPPs] will help,” she reasoned.
“That being said, I think it means that I also have to work that much harder as a young person and as a woman,” Campbell conceded.
“I need to really show people that I am capable, and that I sincerely appreciate their support and I won’t let them down.”
Meanwhile, voter turnout was down in the riding this election.
Some 23,560 people voted in the 2007 election while only 21,843 votes were this time around.
At this point, the unofficial results don’t include two polls located in two remote northern communities.
They were among 39 remote northern locations that lost communications capabilities due to Telesat’s Anik F2 satellite suddenly ceasing to operate last Thursday.
As such, they were unable to send in their results.
These votes will be included when local election workers complete the official count, although there aren’t enough to alter the election’s outcome.
