Newmarket resident Shameela Shakeel said she wanted to keep up the fight for better education and health care, and remain engaged in the upcoming provincial election campaign, after getting ousted from the Liberal Party’s nomination process.
The education and social advocate was competing to be Newmarket-Aurora’s Liberal candidate against Dr. Sylvain Roy, but the party disqualified her in January for undisclosed reasons.
“This election, in particular, everything we’ve been through over the past four years, it’s a fight, and we all should be very concerned about what’s happening," she said. "So I want to make sure my community knows why it’s so important to keep fighting for public education and public health.”
Now, Shakeel is changing her colours, joining NDP Newmarket-Aurora candidate Denis Heng’s team as a co-campaign manager.
The ex-candidate has been part of several community initiatives, including York Communities for Public Education, an advocacy group that fought against school violence and hybrid learning. She said she could see herself aligning with parties across the political spectrum on different issues but found a home with the NDP.
“Certainly, everything I’m hearing from Denis aligns with my thoughts on what we need for our community going forward,” she said. “One of the main goals obviously is just to make sure we don’t have a majority Ford government."
The Liberal Party never disclosed why she was cut out during a vetting process, but she has said she believes it relates to her social media comments on the Israel government's treatment of Palestinians and support for embattled Toronto teacher Javier Dávila, which garnered some criticism.
“These are views I hold as an individual. This is, for me, family,” she said. “My friends who are NDP are supportive of Palestinian human rights. The values align. What I know of the NDP, they’re definitely always supportive of human rights around the world and here in Canada.”
When asked, fellow NDP campaign manager Kevin Shackleton said the matter could be something used against the party, but it is ultimately a federal-level issue.
“Anybody who's fair-minded would look at the situation and would not think it unreasonable to comment about violation of human rights in those situations,” he said.
Newmarket-Aurora Provincial Liberal Association president Cathy Gapp said she wishes Shakeel well in the new role.
“However, this reinforces for me how strong the Liberal vetting process is. We still share the same goal of building education, strengthening health care, taking strong steps to protect the environment, and address the devastating impact of climate change,” Gapp said. “We have a strong candidate in Dr. Sylvain Roy, who brings the added benefit of direct experience in the mental health sector."
Heng said he believes in Shakeel’s character.
“In a different universe, I could totally see myself supporting Shameela,” he said. “The Liberals made a mistake, and we’re benefiting from that mistake.”
Shakeel said they are energized about the campaign ahead. She said they hope they can get more people out to vote to improve turnout overall.
"Everyone is really charged up,” she said. “We all see the need for changes in our community.”
