On Sunday the Guelph NDP Riding Association unveiled the three candidates seeking the local nomination in June's provincial election.
Agnieszka 'Aggie' Mlynarz, Mike Foley and Andrew Bascombe were at the Delta Hotel event, giving a brief talk about what they stand for and why they are seeking the local nomination.
Roughly 30 people attended the event. Former NDP cabinet minister Mike Farnam also spoke.
The date of the local nomination meeting has not yet been set, said riding association president Andrew Johnson.
Guelph hasn't elected an NDP politician since 1990 when Derek Fletcher won the local riding.
Foley has had a long career in corrections, as a corrections officer, trainer and instructor at Sheridan College.
"I've done my best to change things through social activism the past three decades," Foley told the gathering of around 30 people.
"One of the things that's closest to my heart is what's going on in the area in regards to water," said Foley, sporting a 'Boycott Nestle' button.
"I want to emphatically say, to corporations that have a free ride draining our resources, 'keep your hands off our water' ... it's time to stop the corporate greed, time to take action on behalf of tomorrow's generation," he said.
Bascombe works at Con Cast Pipe in Guelph, where he is active in union activities.
"I'm the quiet guy in the room that listens," Bascombe said. "I'm the leader of my union, I've worked to make my workplace one of cooperation and positivity."
"Education should be a right and it should be free," Bascombe said. "Why should it not be free? An educated society is a safer society and a more productive society. We already pay enough taxes."
Mlynarz is a recent masters graduate from the University of Guelph in theatre studies and works in the independent film industry.
"I can pinpoint a number of times that I have felt a throbbing in my heart or an aching in my throat or chest - physical reactions to feeling overwhelmed or overlooked by the system," Mlynarz said.
"That I live in a country, a province, that could do so much better to provide for its citizens, who prioritizes its own private interests, allowing public services to crumble or suffer deep cuts, is unacceptable to myself," she said.
"All the while spreading a message of scarcity, exhausting tax payers in all directions."
Farnan said "there is a wind in the air," a wind of change, that he could feel when he was canvassing recently for the NDP candidate in Cambridge.
"Maybe it's time for the New Democrats," Farnan said.
Two parties have elected their candidates for the June 7 election.
The Guelph Green Party candidate is Mike Schreiner.
The Guelph Liberal candidate is Sly Castaldi.
The Guelph Conservative party will choose between Ray Ferraro and Pat Meyers.
