'I won't give up on you': Essex NDP candidate vows, launching campaign

Essex NDP candidate Lori Wightman kicked off her election campaign Friday with a virtual event positioning herself as a union fighter for the people of Essex. 

Wightman, born in River Canard and living in Amherstburg as a library worker, underscored her years of union involvement and leadership with CUPE during the Essex County Library workers strike in 2016.

"During that eight-month-long Essex County Library Workers strike, I didn't stay behind a desk," Wightman told supporters over Zoom. "I stood shoulder to shoulder with my fellow workers on the picket line every single day. I listened. I fought.

"I never gave up on them, and I won't give up on you."

She was joined in launching her campaign with former Essex NDP MP Tracey Ramsey and CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn. 

"I know Lori, I've stood beside her in the struggle. I've seen her fight for what's right, even when it was hard, especially when it was hard," Ramsey said. 

"She led one of the longest public sector strikes in the history in this region ... That kind of strength doesn't come from personal ambition. It comes from values. It comes from knowing what's at stake for working people, because she's one of them, because she's one of us."

Also running in the riding are Conservative candidate Chris Lewis, Liberal candidate Chris Sutton, People's Party candidate Jason Henry and Green candidate Mark Vercouteren. 

Wightman also highlighted key NDP policies, including national pharmacare and dental care. She pointed to her party's role in securing both programs and stressed the importance of defending them, drawing on her daughter's experience with cancer.

"When complication after complication set her back, it left her unable to work," she said. "I was lucky. I could step in and help pick up the financial slack, and I could take time off work here and there to take care of her.

"I wondered often how more vulnerable people could make it through a catastrophic illness like that. That's why national pharmacare matters. That's why we need to fight to keep it and expand it."

University of Guelph political scientist Julie Simmons has previously told CBC she expects NDP candidates to draw heavily on those key wins for the party in making their case for election.

Simmons also said she expects to see NDP candidates emphasizing their connection with unionized workers who will be hit hard by U.S President Donald Trump's tariffs, which are widely anticipated to be a defining issue of the campaign.