Returning to the Simcoe-Grey ballot again is David Ghobrial, who is running his campaign with a focus on being right.
Right on the political spectrum, that is. Ghobrial is the candidate for the New Blue Party, a party without any seats that formed in 2020.
“We don’t feel that there is anything on the political spectrum anymore that represents right of centre politics,” said Ghobrial in a phone interview with CollingwoodToday. “All four major parties [Green, NDP, Liberal and PC] are left of centre, far left of centre, actually.”
Ghobrial, like most of the New Blue Party, was a card-carrying member of the provincial and federal conservative parties prior to 2020.
The New Blue Party formed around 2020 when Progressive Conservative MPP Belinda Karahalios, was ousted from caucus for opposing the COVID-19 emergency measures. She and husband, Jim, formed the New Blue Party soon after.
“The situation was getting from bad to worse … after the Kathleen Wynne leadership,” said Ghobrial. “We were very optimistic when Doug Ford won the election … but it seemed to be that all our dreams were flushed down the toilet with [Ford being] more far left than Kathleen Wynne was.”
He criticized the conservatives for not having transparent candidate elections and a lack of internal party governing laws, calling it the “heart of the corruption.”
Beyond conservative politics, however, Ghobrial said Ontario is “unrecognizable,” and referred to Doug Ford as a “Liberal in disguise.”
“Our housing market is completely broken …most families are struggling to even get basic groceries … we have fentanyl flowing into our country … and massive, reckless immigration without proper vetting,” he said.
Ghobrial is an immigrant himeslf, coming to Ontario in 1997 at the age of 10 with his mother, a healthcare worker from Egypt.
He said she spent two years on her immigration process to Canada and referred to that as a proper process.
Ghobrial trained as a physician internationally and says he is licensed to practice medicine in Egypt. He has not yet achieved a licence to be a physician in Canada and is not registered with the College of Phyisicans and Surgeons of Ontario. He said he is an unregistered practitioner and practices under the supervision of an Ontario registered medical doctor.
Ghobrial lists himself as the CEO of Beeton Walk-in Clinic, and says he assesses patients and discusses treatments with an attending physician.
He leans on his experience in healthcare to find, what he says, is the solution to Ontario's doctor shortage.
“No country can get what they cannot afford,” said Ghobrial. “Wasteful spending and the elephant that’s breaking the back of the economy - mass immigration without the infrastructure to support it, is the main problem and those are the main problems that need to be addressed.”
Ghobrial argued the New Blue Party is “not far-right.” Instead, he said it’s part of a “healthy political spectrum” to offer voters an option on either side of centre.
“To label a party as far right of centre, you need evidence that they are extreme fanatics,” he said. “We’re against violence … we’re pro-freedom of speech, or pro-expression. We’re pro autonomy.”
Specifically, Ghobrial said he’s against government-mandated vaccines (specifically COVID vaccines), against elective abortions, and “MAID being used on the vulnerable.”
Ontario’s problems, he said, can be traced to a few key pieces of the puzzle, including migration, and government spending.
He said the provincial government doesn’t “stand up” to the federal government enough on issues like opioids (Ghobrial is against government funding of supervised consumption sites), carbon tax, and immigration “without proper vetting,” to Ontario.
“The country does not function by bringing in people by the masses, without proper vetting,” said Ghobrial. “We can all hold hands and sing Kumbaya, but the reality of it is, a country cannot function like that.”
The solution, he says is “fiscal responsibility,” by matching immigration to the infrastructure available to support new residents.
Part of the fiscal changes proposed by the New Blue Party is taking down wind turbines, a move they say will reduce electricity prices because of the government subsidies involved in wind energy.
The New Blue Party also claims it will “stop woke activism” by removing “critical race theory and gender identity theory from Ontario schools.”
But the party plans to add education on the “dangers and evils of communism” to the curriculum.
Voting day is Feb. 27. If you didn’t receive a voting card, you will be able to cast your ballot in-person with identification that includes your name and address.
To find your voting location, click here.
For more Simcoe-Grey provincial election stories, visit CollingwoodToday’s election page.