Oakville News N.M.
Double-vision may be the sentiment of the day when Oakville voters head to the polls to vote in the June 2 provincial election.
At this point, six candidates are slated to be on the ballot, with two of them named Stephen Crawford.
The first one -- Oakville’s current MPP -- is seeking re-election as a member of Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative party.
The second, a part-time radio host and producer, is running for the None of the Above Direct Democracy party.
The lesser-known Crawford lives in the Niagara area but says he’s been to Oakville many times and is looking to move to the area for a fresh start.
“I love Oakville -- I think it’s a beautiful place.”
He said he was recruited to run as a None of the Above (NOTA) candidate by Greg Vezina, the party’s Mississauga-based leader and president.
Crawford says he is in favour of political accountability, defunding the CBC and eliminating pensions for “politicians who accomplish nothing.”
“I also believe in prison terms for politicians who act in their own best interests,” he said.
Currently surviving on Ontario Disability payments, the None of the Above Crawford said he is concerned with reforms of public housing and health.
“I’m not one of the rich politicians; I’m one of the people,” he said.
Stephen Crawford
“There’s a lot of people like me who believe that the Liberals have some good ideas, the Conservatives have some good ideas, but they all insist on adding their crappy ideas that are only great for themselves into the process.”
He said he hopes to make it to Oakville to participate in meet and greet activities.
Speaking on behalf of the Progressive Conservative Crawford, campaign manager Tim Porter said, "There may be two Stephen Crawfords on the ballot but only one will get it done."
In addition to the two Stephen Crawfords, the Oakville ballot will also include Alison Gohel (Liberal), Bruno Sousa (Green), Maeve McNaughton (NDP) and Mark Platt (New Blue Party of Ontario).
NOTA party calls for change from “partisan, party-based system of politicking"
NOTA party leader Vezina defended the decision to double down on Crawfords in Oakville.
“I don’t know that there’s any law in Canada that says you cannot run in a riding if there’s a sitting MPP with the same name,” he said. “As far as some Tory whining because some candidate happens to have the same name as his, he can change his name.”
The NOTA website says the party wants referendum and recall laws to hold candidates and party accountable to voters. As of today, it has 68 candidates nominated across Ontario’s 124 ridings, including a candidate in the Oakville-North Burlington riding.
Tony Ledsham is a Burlington resident whose LinkedIn page describes him as a pilot with Air Canada and a retired military and freelance fighter pilot. We were unable to reach him for comment.
The other candidates running in Oakville-North Burlington are Effie Triantafilopoulos (PC), Kaniz Mouli (Liberal), Rhyan Vincent-Smith (NDP), Ali Hosny (Green) and Doru Gordan (New Blue Party of Ontario).
“Minor impact” expected
Peter Graefe, a McMaster University political science professor, said he expects the doubling down on Crawford will have a “pretty minor impact” on election results.
“Most Canadians -- most Ontarians -- vote for the party rather than the politicians,” he said. “There won’t be many people who will be fooled and vote for the wrong person by accident.”
He says voters typically decide their vote based on their impression of the party leader or brand, then scan the ballot to find the appropriate candidate to vote for.
“The local candidate is usually a pretty minor influence in who they’re going to vote for.”
