Dear New Blue Party Supporter,

Last month, we emailed you about the Ontario NDP’s Bill 94.

Bill 94 would allow Ontario's Attorney General to fine someone $25,000 for protesting within 100-metres (the "bubble zone") of a location designated as a 2SLGBTQI+ "community safety zone" - such as venues hosting drag performances for children.

Last week, the Ontario NDP asked the Ford government if they would work towards passing Bill 94.

This was the Ford PCs' chance to take a stand against a blatantly draconian, authoritarian, and anti-democratic bill.

But instead, PC Government House Leader Paul Calandra refused to oppose the bill or criticize it.

This was another lost opportunity. 

And it was another example - on a growing list - of how the Ontario PC Party has betrayed the very principles they pretend to stand for.

We shouldn’t be surprised that the Ford PCs favour Bill 94.

The PCs have favoured all of the draconian social justice initiatives put forward by the NDP and the Liberals over the last several years - and even crafted some themselves.

Here are some examples.
 

• In 2017, not a single PC MPP voted against the Wynne Liberals' "bubble zone" legislation that banned peaceful activism and expression within 150 metres of abortion clinics.  In fact, many PC MPPs, even some who have claimed in private conversations to be pro-life, like Derek Sloan's co-conspirator Rick Nicholls, voted in favour of the bill!

• In July 2020, I was the only current or former PC MPP to vote against Doug Ford’s authoritarian Bill 195 - the legislation that enabled the longest lockdowns in North America.

• In March 2022, I was the only MPP to vote against Bill 67 that called for implementing Critical Race Theory in the Ontario education curriculum.  Every MPP present in the legislature - including all PC MPPs and then independent MPP, Rick Nicholls - voted in favour of the bill.  Bill 67 has now returned as Bill 16 and would see any person - including a student, parent or faculty member - fined for engaging in behaviour deemed "subconsciously" racist in Ontario’s school system.

• And by April 2022, in response to the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa, the Ford PCs wrote and passed Bill 100 into law.  Every single PC MPP supported the bill at second reading, while only two independent MPPs and the Green Party Leader stood with me against it.  This bill made permanent several of the emergency powers over protestors the Ontario PC government had given itself under a state of emergency.  For example, Bill 100 gave police new authority to arrest without warrant, and gave the Registrar of Motor Vehicles the power to suspend or cancel the plate portion of a protestor’s commercial motor vehicle permit or registration certificate without a hearing.

It is quite clear that the Ontario PC Party is no longer interested in protecting the rights to free expression or protest, if it ever was.

Thankfully, we have the New Blue Party - created to challenge the left, balance the narrative, and change the course in Ontario!

We will continue to hold the Ford PCs to account when they applaud and vote in favour of authoritarian left wing legislation - whether it is presented by the Ontario NDP, Liberals, or their own PC members.

If you would like to share this email with a friend or on social media you can do so by using this link found on our website:  https://www.newblueontario.com/no-pc-pushback-or-opposition-to-bubble-zone-bill

And please consider helping us to keep building the New Blue by clicking here to chip in with a donation.

Thank you for your support!

Belinda Karahalios
New Blue Party of Ontario