On Jan. 11, the Perth-Wellington NDP riding association held its annual general meeting and elected a new executive.
Elections for both federal and provincial ridings were then held with the core executive positions as follows: Kathy Vassilakos – president; Dorothy Knight – vice president; Alex Quaglia – chief financial officer (federal); Paul MacPherson – CFO (provincial); and Beth Beech – Secretary.
The executive is rounded out by a fundraiser, women’s representative, membership representative, youth representative, and several members at large.
In conjunction with the meeting there was a potluck supper and speeches from newly re-elected Irene Mathyssen, MP for London-Fanshawe, and all candidates running for leadership of the Ontario NDP.
Gilles Bisson, Peter Tabuns, Michael Prue, and Andrea Horwath addressed the members and took questions.
All the candidates discussed a need for a plan to build support and work towards the next election. In particular, there was discussion around how to effectively communicate to voters that the NDP advocates for the issues that matter most to Ontarians. Policy discussion centred on the economy, how to re-invigorate Ontario’s ailing manufacturing sector, and the environment.
“The one-member, one-vote format for selection of the next leader has generated quite a bit of interest from members. It speaks to the quality of our MPPs that we have four very competent candidates vying for leadership of the Ontario NDP. One member pointed out to me that it is going to be a tough choice because they are all excellent,” said Vassilakos.
