After three years of Doug Ford and the Ontario PC Party blatantly betraying every conservative promise they have made, we know we can't believe anything they have to say.

This month, it took just three weeks of political pressure for Ford and the PCs to reverse their prior public position in favour of COVID-19 vaccine mandates for employment.

In early October, the PCs opposed Roman Baber's private member's bill that attempted to stop COVID-19 vaccine mandates for employment - the same position that the New Blue Party had been advocating for over the summer. Sadly, Belinda was the only MPP in the legislature to support Roman when he called for his bill to receive unanimous consent.

In October, during legislative proceedings, PC MPPs were boasting about their government encouraging employers to implement COVID-19 vaccine mandates on employees.

But by October 21st, 2021 - when Bill 12 ("An Act to enact the Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations in the Education and Healthcare Sectors Act") was up for a vote - PC MPPs were pressured into reversing course and opposing the very same position they had been promoting for months.

It is not a coincidence that the day after Bill 12 was defeated, Doug Ford hastily called a news conference to announce that he had decided all COVID-19 restrictions were only temporary and he wanted to end them all by March 2022.

And this week, the PCs found themselves forced to publicly announce that they would not be mandating COVID-19 vaccination for employment in healthcare.

Your efforts in pressuring PC MPPs, coupled with Belinda leading the charge in the legislature, forced the Ford PC government to publicly reverse their position.

These announcements haven't stopped employers across Ontario who have been emboldened by the Ford PC government and their continued use of emergency measures, to terminate the employment of thousands of Ontarians. We have a lot of work ahead to solve the problems facing Ontarians.

But the defeat of Bill 12 and the resulting public statements by the Ford PCs were substantive and important victories. They show that grassroots activism as we have seen over the last year, coupled with a united and organized political option in the form of the New Blue Party of Ontario, can help to shift the political narrative.

Tomorrow, I will be in Ottawa speaking at the United Veterans Freedom Rally at Parliament Hill, taking place from 10am to 12pm. If you or anyone you know is in the Greater Ottawa Region and free on Saturday, I hope to see you there!

With your continued support we will hold PCs, Liberals, and NDP to account for their aggressive leftward drift.

And we will continue to change the political discourse and the narrative.

The best is yet to come!
Jim Karahalios

Leader, New Blue Party of Ontario

P.S. Unlike the establishment political parties, we do not receive the per-vote taxpayer subsidy. Our marketing is entirely funded by voluntary contributions from our supporters.