The Ottawa West-Nepean NDP held our first ever virtual AGM on Wednesday, November 25. Many members from the riding as well as several guests were in (virtual) attendance.
Guests were greeted by Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who provided a video update on the work the Official Opposition are doing in the Legislature. Party President Mary Rita Holland was our special guest. She shared the work that the party is doing to build towards the 2022 elections.
OWN President Chandra Pasma provided a report on a successful year, despite the challenges of the pandemic. Provincial CFO (Jim Patterson) and Federal CFO (Dan O'Hagan) updated members on the finances of the riding association. While elections are not scheduled until 2022 (Provincial) and 2023 (Federal), the reality is an election could be called at any time. The Federal government is in a minority position, and the Provincial party in power has been dropping hints for some time that they might want to extend their mandate through a snap election. The riding association is working hard to build up our financial position so as to run strong campaigns whenever the elections take place.
The final order of official business was to elect an executive for the upcoming year. Provincial Treasurer Oliver Kent served as balloting chair. Chandra Pasma is to continue on as president, with Christina Doyle as Vice President. The Provincial and Federal CFO roles also continue as before. Debra Mair will be continuing on as Secretary. We want to welcome our new Membership Organizer, Tarnjit Kaur Johal, along with our new disability rep and LGBTQ rep. A number of new members-at-large were also elected.