Marit Stiles to remain leader of Ontario NDP after review

Ontario New Democrats voted 68 per cent in favour of keeping Marit Stiles on as leader of the party.

Marit Stiles will lead the Ontario New Democrats in the next election after surviving her leadership review during this weekend’s party convention in Niagara Falls.

Stiles received 68 per cent support from delegates on Saturday. In her speech, the NDP leader vowed to make changes to how she would run the next election campaign.

“We’re going to make the change that we need to make in this movement and in this party, and we are going to make the change that we need to be able to organize in the communities where we need to win in the next election, because, my God, the people of Ontario, they can’t handle one more moment of Doug Ford in the Conservatives,” Stiles said.

The leadership review came months after the Ontario NDP maintained its Official Opposition status despite coming in third in the popular vote during the February snap election.

Ford won his third majority government with 80 seats. The NDP are a distant second with 27 seats at the Ontario legislature.

“You have my commitment that I will work harder, that I will continue to build, that I will be out there all across this province, listening to each and every one of you, so we can do this together,” Stiles said.

Her leadership review came a week after the Ontario Liberal Party held its convention, in which 57 per cent of delegates voted to support Bonnie Crombie.

While she initially vowed to stay on as leader, Crombie announced later that she would be resigning as leader of the Ontario Liberals as soon as a successor is chosen.

The fixed date for the next Ontario election is June 7, 2029.