What does Goldie Ghamari’s expulsion from the PC’s cabinet mean for Ottawa?

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Goldie Ghamari’s expulsion from Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives leaves the Ottawa region with even less provincial representation, with one political scientist and former MPP calling it “a lose-lose situation.”

When Queen’s Park reconvenes on Oct. 21, Ghamari will be sitting with the Independents, and “she’s not going to have the same immediate access to colleagues, the premier, or the premier’s staff. She won’t be able to advocate for constituents in a broader way, the whole Ottawa community,” said John Milloy, a political science professor at Wilfrid Laurier University.

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“Certainly, once you’ve been in cabinet you understand, even at an informal level, you’re able to bring your concerns of your community to your colleagues, the cabinet table, look at certain issues through the lens of the region you represent,” said Milloy, who served as a cabinet minister in the Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne governments, and also spent time in the back benches.

In a statement released several days after her expulsion was announced, Ghamari, who represents the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton, said she was “disappointed” with the premier’s decision.

“To the people of Carleton, my office is still open as usual, and my team and I will continue to assist you with all your requests,” she said on social media. “I am still your MPP and I will continue to be your voice in Queen’s Park, as I have been doing for the last 6 years.”

Ford kicked Ghamari out of the Progressive Conservative caucus in late June, after what he called repeated and serious lapses in judgment.

Ghamari recently took a virtual meeting with Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the far-right English Defence League. After Ghamari posted on social media about the meeting, the National Council of Canadian Muslims called Robinson an Islamophobe and urged Ford to remove Ghamari from his caucus.

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Ford’s office initially said in a written statement that the premier was “extremely disappointed” in Ghamari’s decision to give a platform to someone whose behaviour and beliefs are at odds with those of the government.

Ghamari rebutted that she condemns all forms of Islamophobia and antisemitism, and that she was not aware of Robinson’s history prior to their meeting.

With Ghamari’s expulsion, the Ottawa region has just one Progressive Conservative MPP, and none in cabinet, something Milloy called “unfortunate” for Ontario’s second-largest city centre.

“I think it’s bad for Ottawa to be losing another voice in the government caucus, and as an independent, she won’t have the type of influence or ability to raise issues in caucus,” he said. “It’s a lose-lose for everyone.”

He said the city can suffer from its “federal nature” and sometimes fly under the radar of provincial politics.

“I think it can get forgotten,” he said, though he noted that hasn’t always been the case: Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty hailed from Ottawa, and at the time, “Ottawa had a huge influence around the cabinet cable and caucus room,” Milloy said.

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Geneviève Tellier, a political science professor at the University of Ottawa, noted Ottawa-area MPPs remained shut out of cabinet after a spring cabinet shuffle before Queen’s Park took a 19-week break.

“That was kind of a surprise,” she said, noting since 2018, Ottawa has not been a stronghold for Ford’s Progressive Conservatives.

However, Ottawa’s relationship with Queen’s Park seems to be changing since Mark Sutcliffe took the reins as mayor in 2022, Tellier added.

“He has become the new spokesperson to represent Ottawa,” she said. “But we don’t have anyone in cabinet. Should the area of Ottawa have one? I would say yes.”

Ford visited Ottawa several times earlier in the spring, once to announce a provincial bureau opening in downtown Ottawa, staffed by a failed Progressive Conservative candidate.

Tellier characterized the bureau as a stand-in for having an Ottawa-area MPP in cabinet at Queen’s Park, something Ford denied when he announced its opening in March, saying there was an “all-star team” of MPPs in the Ottawa region. Ghamari, as well as other eastern Ontario Progressive Conservative MPPs, attended the announcement.

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“I represented Waterloo region. If they sent a special representative to Waterloo, I’d be pretty insulted,” Milloy said. “The fact is, local MPPs should be a voice. You don’t need a special representative.”

With 79 of the legislature’s 124 seats belonging to Progressive Conservative MPPs, Ford has the luxury of a large caucus, Tellier said, meaning those who step out of line can face swift consequences.

In 2019, MPP Randy Hillier was kicked out of the Progressive Conservative caucus days after he alleged he was being penalized for butting heads with people in the premier’s inner circle.

In the Ottawa area, Progressive Conservative MPPs have had a rocky time during Ford’s tenure, with Merrilee Fullerton, a longtime cabinet minister in Doug Ford’s government and MPP for Kanata-Carleton, abruptly resigning in spring 2023, forcing the premier to name a new minister to the children, community and social services post. In a book published after her departure, Fullerton wrote she resigned after being “sidelined and silenced” on the province’s health care priorities.

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Nepean MPP Lisa MacLeod lost her position as minister of heritage, sport, tourism and culture industries in 2022, and subsequently announced she was taking a personal leave of absence for her mental health. She remains the only Progressive Conservative MPP in Ottawa.

With files from Postmedia and the Canadian Press

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