Ready for Better.
That is the slogan of the NDP party as they prepare for a federal election. And although the exact date of when Canadians will go to the polls is unknown, the local candidate is getting ready.
Amherstburg resident Lori Wightman is the NDP’s candidate for the riding of Essex.
“I look at Canada and I look at my neighbours and our kids and people are struggling more and more each day. I can’t sit back and complain if I can do something about it,” Wightman told the RTT in an interview at Flow Café & Bikes last Sunday afternoon.
Wightman is hoping to take back the Essex seat in Ottawa that was held by fellow NDP Tracey Ramsey who was the MP from 2015 to 2019. Ramsey ran unsuccessfully in the last two elections, coming in second to Conservative Chris Lewis.
“Tracey did an outstanding job, she was awesome,” said Wightman.
Although Wightman has no political experience, she has sought a seat on the Amherstburg town council twice. In 2022, she came up short 450 votes and four years earlier, just missed getting a seat at the table by 33 votes.
Wightman said growing up in the River Canard area, at the age of 17 she got her first taste of politics when former Essex NDP MP Steven Langdon knocked on the door.
“My mom was a bit of a political junkie. He came to our door and my mom invited him in. We just finished supper and I listened to him,” recalls Wightman.
While she has not held a political office, she has a lot of leadership experience including being the president of the Amherstburg Community Foundation and the sub-unit chair for a CUPE local. In 2016, Wightman was on the picket line for eight months and helped negotiate a new contract for her fellow Essex County Library workers.
“Union leadership is a lot like political leadership, you’re representing people. You are figuring out what is good for the most amount of people without doing harm to the least amount of people,” she said.
Wightman, who is a proud grandmother, says she is confident in making things better for the residents of Essex County. She has a strong labour upbringing as both her parents worked in the auto industry.
“We are obviously a big labour riding and tariffs are going to affect our labour force. It is time for the parties to keep that in mind,” said Wightman.
Jagmeet Singh has been the leader of the NDP since 2017 which currently has 24 seats in the House of Commons. Wightman is hoping to join them.
“The people in this country, your neighbours, are like the people in your family You wouldn’t leave your child out in the cold so don’t leave your neighbours out either,” she said.
By Fred Groves
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