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Taylor Russell of North Bay is representing the New Blue Party of Ontario in the Nipissing riding and is officially on the ballot for the June 2 provincial election.
"Join me and I will carry your vote and your voice to Queens Park," declares Russell.
The candidate's bio lists him as a father, an EMT and an army vet. Russell is one of a full slate of 124 New Blue candidates.
"Like many people across this country I became concerned that while Canadians were busy working and raising our children, our leaders had taken their hands off the wheel. Our Province has been careening off course for some time now. SARS Cov-2 made this clear to everyone. We are headed in the wrong direction. After two years of destructive policies and broken promises, I have decided to stand up for my community and take the wheel back," writes Russell on his website.
Russell has been active in organizing Freedom Convoy events in North Bay and serves as an administrator of the local group's Facebook page.
Married couple Jim Karahalios, the New Blue Party's leader and Cambridge MPP Belinda Karahalios formed the New Blue Party of Ontario in October 2020. The two are former members of the Ontario PC Party who split following legal wrangling over internal election procedures. MPP Karahalios was expelled from the Ontario PC caucus by Premier Doug Ford. In January 2021, the New Blue Party was officially registered by Elections Ontario.
In various media reports, party leaders said then "no party in the Ontario legislature is defending the taxpayer, defending small business, defending places of worship, promoting freedom, promoting democracy or fighting political corruption."
"No matter how bad things have been we still live in a democracy and we can still change our direction. And that is the one thing in Ontario that guarantees us all an equal stake in our future," says Russell via his website.
"From the billionaire to the assembly line worker we all have one equal vote at the ballot box," he adds. "This election lets us take our vote and our voice to Queens park and get our communities back on track."
