Michelle Ferreri to run for re-election

July 20, 2024 – By Joelle Kovach – The Peterborough Examiner

The next fixed federal election date in Canada is Oct. 20, 2025

Peterborough-Kawartha MP Michelle Ferreri has announced she’s running for re-election, for the Conservatives.

The next fixed federal election date in Canada is Oct. 20, 2025, meaning an election must happen by then.

But it could be called earlier, and Ferreri said that when the writ drops, she’ll be running in the renamed — and redrawn — Peterborough riding. Boundaries have been adjusted lately, with Asphodel-Norwood and Otonabee-South Monaghan townships returning to the riding of Peterborough, and Trent Lakes and North Kawartha Township returning to the renamed Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes as they had been, prior to a decade ago.

None of the other major political parties — the Liberals, NDP or Green Party — have announced any candidates for Peterborough, yet.

Ferreri, meanwhile, said she is keeping in touch with constituents.

“We’re doing a bunch of door-knocking this summer,” she said in an interview, adding she’s welcoming volunteers for that.

Ferreri also said she has concerns about a local program that offers a regulated supply of opioids. The program is designed to reduce potential harm to people who use drugs, because it breaks the dependance on a toxic street supply.

Peterborough’s 360 Degree Nurse Practionioner Led Clinic recently released data on its program. It reported a 79 per cent reduction in overdoses in the last six months, among people enrolled, compared to the six months prior to enrolment.

The same document states that 71 per cent of participants “reported a decrease in criminalized activities such as survival sex work, selling drugs and theft after 12 months in the program.”

Ferreri said people have been kept alive, and that “important relationships” were built from this local program.

“But giving people unsupervised drugs that are then diverted out into the street — that is creating a whole new generation of addicts,” she said. “This is a big, big problem.”

Ferreri was elected for a first term as Peterborough-Kawartha MP in the federal election in September 2021.

She defeated women and gender equality Minister Maryam Monsef, who was running for re-election for the Liberals. Monsef was first elected MP for Peterborough-Kawartha in 2015.

Also running in the 2021 federal election in Peterborough-Kawartha riding was Joy Lachica for the NDP. Lachica went on to win a town ward seat on city council in the October 2022 municipal election.

Chanté White ran for the Green Party locally in 2021.

The People’s Party of Canada also had a local candidate in the last election, Paul Lawton.

Lauren Hunter, chairperson of the Peterborough Federal Liberal Association, said in an email this week the Liberals are currently “reaching out to folks from across the riding, as we seek a candidate who wants to make a positive difference for everyone in Peterborough riding.”

Hunter said in her email a formal nomination process will be launched soon, and that anyone interested in seeking the nomination is invited to email her hello@ptbofla.ca.

Natalie Stephenson, president of the Peterborough-Kawartha NDP Riding Association, said in a message to The Examiner via Facebook that the NDP is looking for its candidate, too.

She said there’s been some interest from people, but no official candidate yet.

“Still open to new activists who might be interested in either federal or provincial,” she wrote.

“The Green Party is well on its way to nominating a candidate too,” wrote Dara Kennedy, president of the Peterborough Constituency Association for the Greens.

She said the party has a new nomination committee. Earlier this week, the Greens issued a call for prospective candidates — both through their email list and on Facebook.

“At the same time, we are maintaining a list of people who might be interested in running and we expect to be approaching these people very soon,” Kennedy wrote.

“We have put together a timeline that would have us arrive at a nomination meeting in the late fall.”

With files from Brendan Burke, Examiner