The MPP for Chatham-Kent-Leamington has announced his intention to seek reelection, albeit with a different political party.
MPP Rick Nicholls posted a video on social media on Tuesday, announcing his plan to seek a fourth term as a member of the Ontario Party.
“Normally the only time an incumbent makes an election announcement is when they announce they are not running. Well, after thoughtful discussion with my wife, I am officially announcing that I will seek reelection,” Nicholls said in the video.
Nicholls became an independent in August after being removed from the Progressive Conservative caucus for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19. He later joined the Ontario Party in December, becoming its first sitting member in the Legislature.
Founded in 2018, the Ontario Party is billed as a social conservative, fiscal conservative, and right-wing populist political party, earning 0.04% of the overall vote in the last provincial election.
The MPP has been openly critical of COVID-19 vaccines, despite scientific evidence that they are effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death. Nicholls has also compared vaccine mandates at workplaces and social venues to practices that were seen in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia.
