Patricia Johnson-Castle New Democratic Candidate

03/27/2021

Congratulations to Lela! Very shocking voter turnout. I hope reform for Elections Act is the first thing on the menu in the House of Assembly.

03/27/2021

I made this video to say thank you to my supporters (here and around the world) and to everyone on the North Coast 🥰. I've had a lot of fun during this campaign it's been wonderful to speak with people and it's been amazing how welcoming everyone was even people who weren't planning on voting for me.

I really believe anyone from the North Coast could make a great politician! You all know the issues, you live them everyday! We face big issues but organizing, coming together as a community can help us overcome them.

We need to make the Govt of NL understand their obligations to Indigenous people in this province. We have so much knowledge passed down generation to generation that could help inform policy in this province. The Provincial Govt also benefits from the royalties of the Voisey's Bay mine and the income tax of people employed at the mine.

Making sure everyone is taken care of is an Inuit value I have seen many times since moving to Nain. I really believe the NDP is the political party who exhibits that value the most. When politicians make promises or say certain things, it's important to consider if the political party they represent shares that value. Otherwise it might be an empty promise.

Thanks so much to everyone who I have spoken with and learned from during this campaign. I promise to bring your observations and opinions with me to the House of Assembly or back to NG 🦭🔥🧡

03/24/2021

Everyone is disappointed by this election but only one political party is committed to modernizing the Election Act 👀👀👀 and that's the NDP! 🍊🧡 Do you want to elect an MHA who talks a big talk? Or do you want to vote for a political party that works for working people?

This election should have never been called in February, during a pandemic. The lack of clarity from Elections NL ("received by" or postmarked? Votes by phone? Drive in voting? Changing deadline?) stems from the fact that the laws in this province that govern our elections are out of date! They don't even mention social media in the Act at all. 🤔 The Elections Act is straight out of date!

A vote for me is a vote for a political party that stands up for working people, the NDP is , not companies that are already wealthy and keep money from tax cuts in their own pockets.
https://www.nl.ndp.ca/improve-the-elections-act?fbclid=IwAR0LxfHUBJYSpFZmQ_I08I5zGRNhpNYVrNyf0lGotuCZ9NOQr10wlhCBxc4

It didn't have to be this way. Andrew Furey called the election to benefit the Liberal Party. Now look where we are. The NL NDP is the only party who committed election after election to the modernizations of the Elections Act.

03/21/2021

A qaggiq (immense igloo) was built in Iqaluit for the Qaggiq 2021 festival, which features artists from across Nunavut. Our ancestors built qagguit (plural of qaggiq) to be together and celebrate. We've always just been wanting to live our best lives, colonialism keeps harsh the vibes. I have been loving seeing how we Inuit are creatively keeping connected during the pandemic from the Iqaluit Qaggiq to our gathering in Nain last week ❤

03/18/2021

So amazing!! I love living in a community with go getters like Jenny to help us organize to feel close to each other even when we have to social distance 🎉🥳❤

03/16/2021

"I don't understand why this government has rushed this project so much." - Lorraine Michael (former leader of NL NDP) on Muskrat Falls in 2012

The NDP stood up to the PC Government trying to rush the Muskrat Falls project. The NDP have a history of holding governments to account. Every elected NDP official is another MHA

"So when I look at a project of this size, 9 billion dollars, and with these "ifs" that are out there, these hopes that are out there, I find it really hard to understand how they're not terrified. I am! It's not that I want it to fail, I hope for the sake of the people in this province, I hope for the sake of our being able to have programs that people need in this province, I hope for the sake of the people who are going to be paying much higher prices for electricity... I hope beyond hope that I'm going to be proven absolutely wrong. And that by 2020 please goodness somebody's going to be able to stay while Lorraine it worked out okay but at this moment the questions that I have are not just mine, they're not just the questions of the five of us who are elected in this house they are the questions of thousands of people they are the questions of experts out there."

Unfortunately, Lorraine was right. Too bad we didn't have an NDP government in 2012. Could have avoided Muskrat Falls all together!

Lorraine Michael during the 2012 filibuster on Muskrat Falls expressed her great concerns about the project. She said she hoped she was wrong.

03/16/2021

All votes in the House of Assembly happen along party lines. You might trust someone as a person, but does their political party stand for the same values as you? There are no candidates in Torngat Mountains running as an independent, so consider the political party when you're casting your vote.

03/16/2021

No one should be working 40 hrs a week and not be able to afford to pay their bills! The NDP are to have a better quality of life through our support for $15 minimum wage, home heating rebate, cap on electricity prices, and much more!

In NL, MHAs have to vote along party lines. Even if you trust someone as a person, do you trust the party they are running for 🤔🤔

03/16/2021

I offered to share my translations with the other parties if they pitched in on the translation costs never heard back from any except the NL Alliance Party. Since my campaign donations paid for the translation I am instead using the money to purchase bilingual Inuttitut-English books for the Nain Daycare, and supplies for the Mushau Innu School in Natuashish.

03/15/2021

In case you missed my interview on Here and Now last week:
"I was very disappointed with this election being called in winter in any case, because especially being in Labrador, this is a period of the year where there are a lot of storms," Johnson-Castle said. "All last week we didn't have any flights in Nain."

The issue for Labrador voters, said Johnson-Castle, is that ballots now have to be received by Elections NL by the new March 25 deadline, rather than being postmarked by then. For Labrador's northern communities, Johnson-Castle said that means a lot of work for the possibility of not having your voice heard.

"It's likely that many voters from Labrador will be disenfranchised by this choice, because it's a 'received by' deadline, rather than a postmark deadline," she said.

"My heart sank, because many people here went through the process, the rigmarole, of signing up, spending hours on hold, being hung up on by Elections NL, and all of these are pieces that could have been worked out if the elections act had been amended before we went into this election."

Johnson-Castle, who is also on unpaid leave while she campaigns, has made the effort to translate her campaign materials into Indigenous languages herself, after Elections NL reneged on a previous commitment to do so.

With no firm end in sight to Newfoundland and Labrador's election, some candidates hoping to win a seat in the House of Assembly say the latest voting extension means personal and financial stress.

03/14/2021

MARCH 10TH
"No one who registered for their mail-in ballot should be denied their right to vote in this election, especially not due to delayed mail deliveries because of winter weather. During this campaign, we have already seen 2 weeks where flights within Labrador have been severely impacted by weather. We cannot not take this chance. We need a deadline decided by postmarking rather than being received in St. John’s."

During this elections, I have been ! The NDP Candidates for Labrador sent a letter to Elections NL advocating for fair treatment for Labradorians in this election. Every vote from Labrador should be counted!!

March 10, 2021 Bruce Chaulk, Chief Electoral Officer ElectionsNL 39 Hallett Crescent St. John's, NL A1B 4C4 Dear Mr. Chaulk, We are writing you as concerned candidates for the districts of Torngat Mountains, Lake Melville, and Labrador West. Ballots have begun to arrive to voters in our districts. W...