For the Simcoe-Grey NDP candidate, this election is about the 99 per cent.
Ilona Matthews was named the local candidate earlier this month, after serving as the president of the Simcoe-Grey NDP riding association since 2012.
Her husband, David Matthews, has run for the NDP in four past provincial and federal elections.
“I have always wanted to make a difference,” said Matthews. “I’m really worried about what’s happening in our country and in the world. Poverty is getting worse. The rich are getting richer … wages, housing, climate … I think every issue of our lives is at stake.”
Matthews was a stay-at-home mom for her and David’s two children. She also worked as a school bus driver, a transit bus driver, district manager for the Toronto Sun weekend delivery, and she cleaned houses. She now has a small cleaning business and a tutoring business focused on teaching literacy to kids and adults.
“My small way of making a difference is tutoring,” she said.
The Matthews have lived in Wasaga Beach since 1996. When her son was in the 1944 Army Cadet Core in Creemore she helped re-start the parent committee and they raised funds to buy the cadets combat uniforms.
And now, she’s turned her attention to running for a seat in the federal government as MP for Simcoe-Grey.
“All aspects of our lives are affected by the federal government,” she said. “I think we need to fight, we need to fight against all this nonsense. We have to stop subsidizing profitable industry.”
She said the NDP is proposing Universal Pharmacare which would be “head-to-toe” coverage for Canadians, including dental, hearing, and mental health care.
She said it’s common for people to hear the plan and ask how it’s possible to afford something like it.
“Let me ask this: how do we pay for all the subsidizing we do for the fossil fuel industry?” she asked. “People don’t ask those questions. How are we going to pay for it? We’re going to make the wealthy pay. We’ll have a wealth tax and we’ll close loopholes.”
The NDP of Canada has adopted the slogan “In it for you,” for this year’s election campaign.
For Matthews, that shows the party’s passion for people over corporations.
“It’s for you and I, the 99 per cent,” said Matthews. “We’re not in it for the corporations, the billionaires. They don’t need help ... The NDP is not against corporations, but we don’t kowtow to them either.”
The NDP haven’t made strides in Simcoe-Grey, which has been conservative since 2004 and was Liberal before that. In fact, Matthews, a life-long NDP supporter has never lived in an NDP riding.
She’s hoping a higher voter turnout will bring a change.
“People don’t vote because they’ve lost hope,” she said. “All we’ve had is Liberal and Conservative back-and-forth taking turns and nothing changes, nothing gets any better.”
But for Matthews, change doesn’t have to mean a landslide victory for the NDP.
“A minority government is pretty good in this society,” she said. “Because one party can balance out the other. And we’ve had better times when we’ve had minority governments … Any legislation that has been passed when the NDP has held the balance of power has been good for people.”
A minority government forces parties to work together to pass and change legislation, and that’s something Matthews wishes would happen more often.
“I think all issues that are for the interest of the people should cross party lines,” said Matthews.
To prove her own objectivity, Matthews said she thought Simcoe-Grey Conservative MP Helena Guergis was an impressive local MP because of her accessibility and because she was visible in the riding.
“I’ve never lived in an NDP district, but I think they would be there for you,” said Matthews.
She’s confident in the NDP leader and the federal plan - though she wished the party went a little more “radical” with the plan.
“I really like [Jagmeet Singh], said Matthews. “I like him because he says it like it is … It’s his whole world view that really resonates with me. He’s very much about the people.”
Matthews is vying for the Simcoe-Grey MP seat in the Oct. 21 federal election against Conservative candidate Terry Dowdall, Liberal candidate Lorne Kenney, and Green candidate Sherri Jackson.
