GLENGARRY-PRESCOTT-RUSSELL, Ontario – Glengarry-Prescott-Russell MPP Amanda Simard has left the Progressive Conservative party to sit as an independent.
The rookie MPP was elected to the government in the provincial election in June, but recently split with her party over their stance on Francophone services.
Earlier in November, Premier Doug Ford announced the cancellation of a French language university in Toronto and also announced the abolishment of the office of Commissioner of Francophone Affairs. After backlash from the Francophone community, Ford backtracked and promised to fold the office of Francophone Commissioner into the office of the Ombudsman.
On the morning of Nov. 29, Simard sent a letter to Ted Arnott, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, to inform him of her decision to leave the Progressive Conservatives and sit as an independent MPP.
In a post made on Facebook last week, Simard explained her dissatisfaction with her party.
“The decisions made last week concerning the Office of the Commissioner and the Franco-Ontarienne University disappoint me greatly, and I share this disappointment and frustration today, having initially worked as much internally as possible to reverse these decisions,” Simard said in a post on Facebook, translated by Seaway News. “I asked the Premier to reconsider these measures.”
“I always have the reflex to use the diplomatic channels to resolve situations, and that’s what I did, before reacting publicly, as soon as I became aware of these decisions (which was just minutes before the official announcements),” she wrote. “By the way, I read somewhere that MPP Simard “might be upset”. False. I am “definitely upset.””
