Rob Rainer Campaign Office Opening

Jemma Dooreleyers | Feb 05, 2025

Rob Rainer, Ontario Liberal Party’s MPP candidate for Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston, hosted the grand opening for his campaign office on Sunday, February 2nd, 2025, in downtown Perth.

Rainer, who has been campaigning since July, first became an elected politician in 2018 and was elected as Reeve of Tay Valley township in 2022. As Reeve, he co-represents Tay Valley Township on Lanark County Council. Before becoming an elected politician, in 2012, Rainer was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal by the federal government, for his work on poverty issues across Canada between 2006 and 2012. In 2013, he co-founded and became chair of the Lanark Basic Income Commission, a group for research for universal basic income in the county and province.

 With just three and a half weeks until the Ontario Provincial election, Rainer and his team are feeling the time crunch and he is feeling relieved that he was able to find a headquarters for his campaign.

“We just acquired the space three days ago and it’s been a whirlwind, I am so grateful for the volunteers that have been working around the clock to get the space set up,” he said.

While Perth ON was an ideal location for Rainer due to his councilship in Tay Valley and his involvement in other parts of the community, his challenge remains in getting his voice across the county, in such a short amount of time.

“From here we are able to radiate out the campaign efforts but the challenge of course is that it is a very big riding with many remote areas, it will be difficult to reach them with so little time left in the campaign,” he said.

Throughout the crowd of people who attended, the general feeling was of annoyance at the Ford government for calling a snap election during the winter and at such a politically contentious time for the province and the rest of Canada.

According to Rainer, he believes that the call for an election during such a time (when Canadians are unsure about the future of the economy and of the country), is voter suppression and an insult.

“I think it is an insult to democracy for us to have a system by which the premier gets to call an election whenever he wants,” said Rainer. “This is a very difficult thing to do for candidates and for their volunteers. People’s lives are upended and it is not what a healthy democracy should be doing and to be doing it in the heart of winter on top of that, making it more difficult for candidates, campaign volunteers and voters to actually turn out and vote.”

Rainer also said he is worried that the threat of tariffs being imposed on Canada by Donald Trump will not only create hard times for Canadians and Ontarians but will also overshadow the key issues he wants to address in this election such as housing, healthcare, senior care and education.

“We knew that Trump was threatening (the tariffs) but now it’s very real and it has the potential to overshadow the big issues that we should be talking about which is healthcare, education, elder care, and housing affordability,” he said. “It’s going to be difficult to get much attention on some of those things when people, for a good reason, are feeling pretty scared about the tariffs.”

Despite the rushed timing and the looming uncertainty, there was also a feeling of hope in the office.

“This is a place where energy is going to build and we can try to leverage that in what is a very short time,” he said.

April Smith, a lifelong supporter of the NDP, has switched her tune in support of Rainer and has volunteered to manage the campaign office and hold the position of the volunteer coordinator because she “really thinks he has a chance.”

“I know Rob is very genuine and that’s what’s missing in a lot of things. He has walked the walk and he has such good experience,” said Smith. “If I thought he didn’t have a chance I wouldn’t be here.”

Smith, who has been politically active her entire life, has noticed a shift within the Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston riding and believes that with the shift, the Liberal Party has more of a chance in the riding.

“After 50 years of being a conservative riding, I think a lot of people are ready for fresh ideas. A lot of people have moved here from Toronto and Ottawa in the last few years and we have a lot of fresh people and fresh thoughts and that is why I think he has a chance.”

Smith, has worked as an educational assistant, at museums and as a customer service person at the Table in Perth and believes that her working life has informed where she wants to put her vote and energy.

“In almost every job I’ve worked in, I’ve seen where things are falling apart and it’s a shame that instead of spending money on education and health care (Ford) will spend billions of dollars on spas and an underground tunnel. We have to stop him.”

Rainer’s office is located at 38 Gore Street, Perth ON. For more information, visit the office or Rob Rainer’s website. For more information on other candidates, follow these pages.