McCleave-Kennedy proud of campaign, says she would run again

Sault NDP candidate Michele McCleave-Kennedy, in a brief post-election speech given to supporters gathered at The Delta Thursday evening, was still upbeat despite a slim loss to incumbent Progressive Conservative candidate Ross Romano.

“We’ve had people who have come out and been excited about what we’re talking about, and in four years we’ll be there again to make sure there is change in Sault Ste. Marie,” she told a cheering audience.

After greeting the party faithful, McCleave-Kennedy, speaking to SooToday, said “I definitely would (run for office again).”

“I’m disappointed with the result, but it was close and I congratulate Mr. Romano on his win and we’ll see what happens next time.”

“This is the most amount of votes we’ve had in Sault Ste. Marie since Tony Martin (13,084 compared to Romano’s 13,498), and I’m quite proud of myself and the campaign we ran.”

McCleave-Kennedy, president of the Sault Ste. Marie Labour Council, said she and other New Democrats will continue to keep an eye on the newly-elected Progressive Conservative majority government of Doug Ford, adding “the health and safety of workers is certainly my concern...for 10 years now I’ve been an activist in Sault Ste. Marie and I’ll continue to do that.”

McCleave-Kennedy has also been an active member of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation and a vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Labour.

McCleave-Kennedy received one visit from NDP leader Andrea Horwath during the campaign, in which the leader said the Sault would rank high in a NDP government’s long term care bed plan.

McCleave-Kennedy spoke out over the last few weeks in favour of the party’s platform, highlights of which included drug and dental coverage for all Ontarians, cutting hydro rates by 30 per cent, addressing student debt by converting loans to grants and increasing taxes on corporations.