By Queenie Yu

Dear Supporter,

The Scarborough-Guildwood by-election was held this past week, on Thursday, July 27, and the results were excellent: we brought attention to many of the issues plaguing Ontario’s education system as they relate to parental rights; we placed the blame where it belongs, with Doug Ford; and we helped to stop Ford’s local PC candidate from winning, sending a message to Ford and his party.

Well done, Tony Walton!

A few weeks ago, we suspected that none of the other “minor parties” would run the sort of  “parental rights awareness campaign” that is so badly needed everywhere these days, and we were right. None did. We decided to run our own candidate and it is a good thing that we did!

Were it not for Tony Walton and STOP THE NEW SEX ED AGENDA, there would have been virtually no mention about issues such as Doug Ford’s  failure to repeal the Kathleen Wynne sex ed curriculum and Ford’s authorization of the teaching of “gender identity theory” and “critical race theory” in Ontario schools. [To see what Walton's campaign was all about, read this letter]

Bringing attention to these points was the entire focus of our campaign in Scarborough-Guildwood. Tony’s local team, with help from volunteers from across the Toronto area, managed to distribute 20,000 flyers throughout the riding. They managed to raise awareness of what is going on in our schools, and how Doug Ford is to blame.

Here are the results:

It is also very crucial to note that, according to Elections Ontario, the voter turnout was only 21.84%! That means a stunning 78.16% of those eligible to vote DID NOT VOTE.  We suspect that many of those not voting were former PC supporters disillusioned with Doug Ford and his record.

Teresa Pierre of PAFE will have more to say about the numerical results, but, for now, I would like to make three important points:

1. If you recall, I first ran for the Ontario legislature in the summer of 2016 as an “independent” candidate in the now famous Scarborough – Rouge River by-election. I did this to expose then PC leader Patrick Brown. Before that 2016 by-election, Brown was refusing to either repeat or provide details to his leadership campaign promise to repeal the Wynne sex ed curriculum. Then, over the course of that by-election, Brown’s team shamelessly promoted their local candidate as an opponent of the Wynne sex ed curriculum while, at the very same time, Brown was preparing a public flip-flop on the issue. Hours before voting closed, under pressure from the provincial media and social liberal extremists in the PC Party, Brown came out in support of the Wynne sex ed! This was enough to please the Wynne sex ed crowd and others, but too late for the voters to figure out what was happening. My campaign played a significant role in bringing all of this to light. Exposing the lies of Patrick Brown to the world was a major accomplishment for PAFE and for Ontario parents.
   
   
2. In this week’s Scarborough-Guildwood by-election, Tony Walton’s campaign succeeded where my personal effort in 2016 did not: Tony actually managed to contribute to the defeat of a PC party candidate whose leader (Doug Ford) is an unscrupulous, promise-breaking liar - a liar who simply does not care about the parents or the children of the province. We didn’t quite beat Patrick Brown’s candidate in 2016, but we did help to defeat Doug Ford’s hand-picked person. Bravo, Tony Walton! The only hope that we can ever have with Ford and his PC party is one that appeals to their lust for power and their fear of losing votes – we need parents to know what Ford is actually doing with education, and then we need to get parents to stop voting for Ford’s PC Party as punishment. Inflicting defeat after defeat in by-elections is a terrific way to send that message.
   
   
3. How did Tony Walton’s campaign help to defeat the Ford PC candidate? Through a vigorous information campaign in Scarborough-Guildwood, Tony Walton and his team managed to inform, or remind, tens of thousands of voters in a single riding of Doug Ford’s abysmal education policies. I am convinced that many of Ford’s former supporters simply chose not to vote as a form of protest, thus costing Ford’s local PC candidate his chance at getting elected.

As a bonus, we managed to convince 508 voters to actually cast a ballot for a candidate who represented a completely unknown and very small party. This number – 508 – actually represents over half of the PC candidate’s eventual margin of defeat.

My 2016 effort in the Scarborough-Rouge River by-election contributed to exposing Patrick Brown and helped to weaken Brown’s support among social conservatives. This past week, Tony Walton’s Scarborough by-election effort did the same thing but on a more local level, and the PC Party quite appropriately paid the price – Ford’s candidate lost.

What next? In my view, we need to continue to work to educate the voters in the rest of the province as to Ford’s failings in all things related to education and parental rights.

The voters sent a message in Scarborough-Guildwood and this was a great start.

We cannot let up, however, until Doug Ford either repeals the Wynne sex ed curriculum, as he promised to do, and bans the teaching of gender identity and critical race theory in Ontario schools, or, alternatively, is replaced by a new PC leader and premier who will.

Again, thank you Tony Walton and team!

Sincerely,

Queenie Yu
Leader, Stop the New Sex Ed Agenda.