Ontario Election 2022

Nonprofits, let’s advocate!

The Ontario Election is taking place on June 2, 2022. 

The election period is an opportunity for nonprofits to connect with residents and work together on shared issues and opportunities for collective community impact. This is also a chance for the sector to share the profound impact of nonprofits and charities on our communities and the issues we as a sector are working on across Ontario.

Nonprofits play a vital role in fostering an inclusive democracy. As the bridge between our communities and government, nonprofits engage and amplify community voices, provide unique public policy insight, and hold governments and decision-makers accountable. 

Effective election advocacy does not follow a one-size-fits-all formula.

ONN encourages nonprofits to engage in election advocacy work, share the impact you are having, and talk about the issues your nonprofit and community care about, before, during and after the election. Let’s not be humble!

ONN will be advocating alongside the sector for the Ontario election. Stay tuned for party platform analysis, what party leaders are saying, insights on our election advocacy strategy, and more!

ONN’s Ontario Election Asks:

Communities must be front-and-centre in the upcoming provincial election. It is vital that all parties focus on ensuring the nonprofit sector thrives, so organizations can continue to feed, shelter, heal, inspire, educate and nurture communities across Ontario. 

This election, ONN is calling on all political party leaders to:

1. Support nonprofit workers and volunteers now, and invest in a resilient workforce for the future.
2. Take profit out of care by phasing out for-profit owners/operators in Ontario’s care systems, and creating an environment to expand nonprofit and public care.
3. Support inclusive local economies through community benefit agreements and by creating an enabling environment for social enterprises and co-operatives.
4. Create a “Home in Government” for the nonprofit sector.

A more detailed document with our election asks and solutions is available for download.

ONN’s Party Platform Analysis

The four major parties of Ontario have released their respective platforms to the public for review. In ONN’s 2022 platform analysis, we’ve broken down each party’s policies into sixteen sub sectors from housing and income-security to climate change and anti-racism. We have also analyzed these platforms to see how well they align with our election asks as well as our policy priorities. 

The NDP, Liberals, and Greens have all promised to raise the minimum wage to $16 an hour, along with other big promises like phasing out for-profit care, repealing Bill 124, and legislating 10 paid sick days for all. We’ve also seen promises from all four major parties to raise ODSP rates and build more long-term care beds. All of these policies will, if implemented, be huge wins for the sector and allow for nonprofit and healthcare workers as well as our communities to grow and strengthen over the next four years.

But there is still work to be done. The sector still needs a guarantee of a home in government, as well as assurances of affordable housing, and more supports for inclusive local economies. This analysis shows us what doors are open for sector advocacy and which doors we will need to continue to break down. 

Our full analysis is available for download below.

Election Podcast Mini-Series:

Episode 0 –  Ontario Election 2022: Nonprofits and collective advocacy

This first episode of our election mini-series gives a sneak peek of fascinating stories of how nonprofits are getting innovative as they work together to get the attention of parties and candidates on critical community issues and solutions for Ontarians.

Host: Sarah Matsushita, Director of Communications at ONN

Episode Transcript

Episode 1 –  Coalition building through Queer Vote Ontario

Queer Vote Ontario is an historic coalition of 2SLBTQI+ organizations with an action plan to ensure queer and trans issues and solutions are on the agenda this election. Join us as the coalition’s co-founder Fae Johnstone shares the behind-the-scenes of how one tweet got it all started, and why we speak better and louder when there’s more of us in the room.

Guest Biography: Fae Johnstone is executive director and co-owner of Wisdom2Action (W2A) and based on unceded, unsurrendered Algonquin territory in Ottawa, Ontario. She is an experienced community engagement expert, diversity and inclusion consultant, and project manager. Over her past two years working with W2A, Fae has led local, provincial, and national initiatives focused on 2SLGBTQ+ community health and wellness, youth mental health, meaningful community engagement, and gender-based violence. 

Resource: Queer Vote Ontario

Episode Transcript

Episode 2: Climate collectives harnessing the power of community

This episode jumps into the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss and how the climate movement in Ontario stays agile. Our guest Tim Gray of Environmental Defence shares why the election window is such an important time to advocate for policy, the message collectives are hoping to get across to politicians this cycle, and the work that comes after election day.

Guest biography: Tim grew up on the shores of Lake Huron and acquired his love of nature there. He has over 25 years of experience developing and implementing environmental policy change efforts. These have included major shifts in land conservation, forest practices and climate change. Starting out his career as a biologist and policy analyst, Tim has spent a lot of time learning skills that move complex environmental issues toward resolution.

Resources: Yours to Protect; Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign

Episode Transcript

Episode 3: Engaging Black communities during elections and beyond

The next provincial government is hopefully going to lead us to the other side of the pandemic. But are parties bringing an anti-Black racism lens to their policy commitments? Velma Morgan of Operation Black Vote Canada joins us to talk about why it matters to bring party hopefuls to Black communities to hear issues directly, and why all nonprofits need to get political.

Guest biography: Velma Morgan has experience in creating and implementing public policies and programs in the Ontario provincial government. For over 10 years she advised Cabinet Ministers in 5 Ministries. Her comprehensive knowledge of government and public policy processes allows her to quickly decipher and analyze complex issues and positively contributes to a solution. As an advocate for gender and cultural representation and inclusion in government, she ensured that the voices of marginalized communities were reflected in the government’s policies and communications.

Episode Transcript

Election advocacy resources:

• Election Toolkit (English and French)
• ONN hosted two election advocacy-related webinars – Election Advocacy: What nonprofits need to know (Rules) and The power is ours: Engaging communities in advocacy

• Election Advocacy Rules – Your Questions Answered
• Political Advertising Spending Chart
• Anatomy of Political Advertising Chart
• Infographic on Ontario’s nonprofit sector
• Election Ontario – Handbook for Third Parties
• Government Relations for Nonprofits 101 – Webinar
• Advocacy Spectrum

Blogs related to election advocacy: