Former MP Derek Sloan to lead Ontario Party

Former Hastings, Lennox and Addington member of Parliament Derek Sloan has been appointed as leader of the Ontario Party.

According to a news release, the Ontario Party was formally registered prior to the 2018 provincial election and ran “a small number of candidates.”

“For the past several weeks, I have been in discussions with principled freedom fighters and pro-family advocates throughout the province,” Sloan said. “Finally, we are starting to come together in one place: the Ontario Party.”

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The party adds that Sloan and other party officials will release more details regarding “the direction that the Ontario Party will take as it prepares for the next Ontario election.

1:54 Kingston-area politicians react to Derek Sloan announcing that he is trying to launch his own political party

“There is a tremendous desire on the part of social conservatives, libertarians, and defenders of freedom in Ontario for there to be an alternative to the four left-wing parties,” Sloan said.

“The Ontario Party will be that alternative. I can only say a heartfelt ‘thank you’ for making me their leader.”

Sloan was ejected from the federal Conservative caucus in January 2021 while he was a sitting MP in the riding of Hastings, Lennox and Addington. But during the 2021 federal election, he ran as an independent in the riding of Banff-Airdrie, where he eventually lost.