‘Clear two-party contest’: Ontario NDP candidate withdraws in Eglinton-Lawrence, citing close PC-Liberal race

The candidate nominated by the Ontario NDP for Toronto riding Eglinton-Lawrence has pulled out of the election and is throwing her support behind the Liberals. Voters line up to vote in the Ontario provincial election in Toronto on Thursday, June 7, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Donovan

The candidate nominated by the Ontario NDP for Toronto riding Eglinton-Lawrence has pulled out of the election and is throwing her support behind the Liberals in a likely tight race.

Natasha Doyle-Merrick wrote in a statement that Eglinton-Lawrence is a “clear two-party contest” and she is stepping aside in the hopes of preventing another Progressive Conservative win.

“I got into politics for the people, and it would be a disservice for me to keep my name on the ballot knowing that the race in Eglinton-Lawrence is pivotal,” Doyle-Merrick wrote.

“Many residents cannot afford another four years of an Ontario Conservative government.”

The Tories have held the riding provincially since 2018, with the Liberals representing it before that since 1999, and the Liberals came within about 500 votes of Progressive Conservative candidate Robin Martin, who is not running this time.

Doyle-Merrick ran for the NDP in the riding in 2022, and received about 3,800 votes, compared to more than 16,000 for the Liberal and PC candidates.

The Liberals also lost a candidate Thursday, the day of Elections Ontario’s deadline for candidate nominations, and now have no candidate in Windsor West, which is expected to be a fight between the NDP and Progressive Conservatives.

The Liberals did not explain candidate Moe Chehab’s withdrawal, simply saying it was “too bad” and that the party has a strong slate of candidates across the province.

Meanwhile, the Liberals are standing by their candidate for Thunder Bay-Superior North after the Progressive Conservatives unearthed some of his social media posts that they said minimized sexual violence.

One of the posts expressed admiration for former CBC host Jian Ghomeshi, who at the time was facing four counts of sexual assault and one count of overcoming resistance by choking.

“I miss #JianGhomeshi,” Brian Hamilton wrote in December 2014. “Even if he is an ass slapping lady choker. His peculiarities don’t neutralize his genius.”

Ghomeshi was acquitted in 2016.

Hamilton apologized in a statement Friday.

“A decade ago, I made comments online that do not reflect my current views,” he wrote. “That doesn’t excuse them, but I have learned and grown over that time. I apologize and would not make those same comments today.”

Liberal press secretary Bahoz Dara Aziz suggested the party has accepted the apology and gave no indication they would be dropping him as a candidate.

“These are tweets from over a decade ago, and the candidate has apologized,” she wrote in a statement. “Brian Hamilton is running to get the basics right for the people of Thunder Bay.”

The Progressive Conservatives, with dozens of incumbents, announced their full slate of 124 candidates in late January, and the Green Party of Ontario has also nominated a full slate.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2025.