New Interim NDP Provincial Riding President Has Some Big Goals For The Future

Friday, 28 August 2020 06:51

Mason Cox at the 2019 NDP Convention (submitted)

Mason Cox is the new interim President for the Oxford Provincial NDP Association.

OXFORD COUNTY - The NDP provincial riding Association of Oxford County has a new interim President.

Mason Cox has accepted the position after spending 2 years as the Vice President. In an interview with Heart FM, he explains why he got into politics in the first place.

"Back in 2015 and 2016, we saw that Oxford County had a youth suicide crisis, I personally lost people I knew to that and I saw what it did to my teachers and my friends. Frankly it was weird to me that a country and province like ours, that someone so young, who hasn't even started out yet could feel that is the only option. I started doing research on mental health and mental health policy and then I came across the NDP in that way. I also got involved with stopping the dump from coming to Oxford County and I started working with Bryan Smith and that certainly got me involved with the NDP, because I saw the support the NDP were offering was far better than what the Conservatives and Liberals were offering."

Cox admits it is not going to be easy to unseat the Conservatives in this area. MPP Ernie Hardeman has been in power since the mid 90's. However Cox thinks they can win over voters in a number of ways.

"A lot of young people are not happy with the current Ford Government and I don't blame them for that, so it's about encouraging them to take that anger and frustration and actually encouraging them to do something about it at the ballot box. So encouraging young people to vote, attracting them to our party with our solutions to the problems that either in their opinion Doug Ford has created or has not done enough to solve."

Cox also wants people to understand that the NDP is not just a party of Toronto folk.

"The NDP has a very comprehensive agriculture policy. John Vanthof, who is actually our MPP Ernie Hardeman's nephew is the NDP Agriculture critic and he has been fantastic. It is about pushing that policy that John has come up with, protecting farmers, especially in the face of COVID-19 and getting rural voters to understand that we are not a party of just Toronto folk or just suburbs."

Cox says the Premier and the Conservatives have made some mistakes during the pandemic and the case of Long Term Care homes is just one example. He also wants to see a comprehensive plan that is safe and straight forward for sending kids back to school and sending senior citizens into long term care homes.

You can listen to the complete interview with Mason below: