In the midst of the fourth wave of the pandemic, it was an election that wasn't needed, and only Justin Trudeau and his Liberals wanted. Though it was a snap election, Ottawa West-Nepean found a great candidate, Ottawa-based human rights lawyer Yavar Hameed, and was able to run a strong campaign.
It was an unusual campaign due to Covid restrictions. Our candidate, Yavar Hameed, did an admirable job of connecting with voters while adhering to Covid protocols to keep our volunteers and the public safe. That meant open air events or virtual Zoom contacts, and avoiding enclosed apartment buildings, which restricted our canvassing choices immensely.
Yavar Hameed participated in a number of online debates and made contributions to a number of public forums. This was all while he continued his professional obligations full-time within his legal practice.
In the end, we received 19.4% of the votes in this riding, which was our best result since Jack Layton's Orange Wave a decade ago, and exceeded the NDP’s national vote percentage. Not only did we increase our vote share, we attracted new volunteers and new sign locations and learned more about the concerns of our neighbours in Ottawa West-Nepean. We emerged from the election in an even better position to run a successful campaign in the upcoming provincial election of 2022.
Our thanks to everyone who volunteered, who took a sign, who donated to the campaign or who gave Yavar their vote on election day.