Politicians, candidates reflect on busy election year

In 2025 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians went to the polls three times, for the federal election in April, the municipal elections in early October, and the provincial election on Oct. 14. Among the hundreds of candidates who put their names forward, some—perhaps many—were new to the world of politics.

Last week a few of those candidates gathered in St. John’s to talk about their experiences. Moderated by Memorial University Political Science Professor Amanda Bittner, the panel featured first-time candidates from all three elections, including: Lynette Powell, federal Liberal candidate for Central, Otis Crandell, federal Green Party candidate in St. John’s East, and Laurabel Mba, who ran provincially for the NDP in Mount Scio. Kate Cadigan and Nikita Ryall, who ran for St. John’s city council, also joined.  

Bittner, who researches women in politics, said she is interested in understanding why people choose to—or more importantly, decide not to—run in elections.

“It’s systemic, so not everybody runs in equal amounts,” she said, explaining why it’s important for people to hear from first-time candidates about their experiences. Bittner also brought people together to celebrate those first-time candidates. “I wanted to say, ‘Good job’ — like, this is actually awesome, and democracy needs this,” she said.

“Politics is a hard job [and] voters don’t even realize how hard it is. It’s a kind of work where you’re on all the time.”

Making politics more accessible 

If Canadians want to see more women and gender-diverse candidates run in elections, those candidates will need more support, said Mba, who was believed to be the first Black person to run for provincial office this fall. Mba pointed to those in caregiver roles as an example of people who may want to put themselves forward but are held back by their responsibilities. 

“If they’re going to step out of their caretaker roles to show up for community, you need babysitters,” she said, adding daycares, for example, typically close at 5 p.m. If parties are unable to remove barriers for people, she added, it limits those who want to run.

Cadigan, who won a Councillor-at-Large seat on St. John’s City Council, became the city’s youngest councillor in October. As a 22-year-old fresh out of university who was able to work part-time during her six months’ of campaigning, Cadigan said she didn’t have the responsibilities others carry, which gave her an “unfair advantage.” 

“We know there’s so many capable people who could run and do a really excellent job, but the system’s not necessarily designed for them to want to,” she said.

Ryall, who also successfully ran in the St. John’s municipal election, agreed. “When I decided to run, I honestly had no idea—not a clue—what I was getting myself into,” she said, adding “a lot of it was very hard to understand.”

Crandell said it is difficult for the average person to run for public office because it requires financial stability, adding many candidates have to leave their jobs to focus on campaigning.

Crandell would like to see laws that allow candidates to temporarily take a leave of absence from work during campaigns. “If you’re running in any level of government, you [would be allowed to] take time off from work and your employer [would be] obligated to take you back.”

Cadigan wishes there were more resources available to newcomers in learning about election processes and relevant laws or bylaws. “We are running independently, our fundraising is completely up to us, understanding all the rules — all up to us,” she said. 

She received a booklet summarizing some of the how-tos of municipal politics, but “it’s not easy to understand as a first-timer,” she said. 

More multi-partisan spaces needed

Bittner told The Independent she was aiming for a multi-partisan dialogue event to which all parties were invited so that, “we can have these kinds of cross-pollinations of ideas in a world that is increasingly polarized,” when it comes to parties and their messaging.

Crandell said the media tends to focus on “trends” in their coverage of elections. He noted most candidate forums this year were held in St. John’s-area ridings, which meant those running in rural ridings had fewer chances to get their priorities or platforms to voters.

News coverage also focused on the three main parties running in the federal elections—the Liberals, Conservatives and New Democrats—leaving smaller parties like the Green Party, Communist Party and the Animal Protection Party with limited-to-no visibility.

Crandell’s advice to future candidates? Reach out to news outlets directly, especially when a town hall or other election-related events are happening in their communities.

“I didn’t get an invite, but I would like to be up there,” he said, describing his efforts to be included. “If they said, ‘Well, we’re just going to focus on the main ones that people want to hear about,’” Crandell said he replied: “‘Oh, well, do you support democracy and our multi-party system?” 

The panel discussion and the conversations that followed were filled with jokes and laughter. Even questions about relationships with candidates from opposing parties were answered with smiles and kind words.

Sarah Stoodley, a former Liberal cabinet minister who has represented the St. John’s Mount Scio riding since 2020 and was re-elected in last month’s election, attended the event. Asked to comment on her relationship with Mba post-election, Stoodley called Mba “lovely,” adding “it makes it easy [to say things] whenever [they’re] lovely like Laurabel; not everyone is lovely.”

Mba responded: “I respect Sarah, and if we’re running in different ridings, it probably would have been way more fun to do.”

Correction: A previous version of this story stated Kate Cadigan was the youngest municipal politician in the province. It has been updated to note she is the youngest member of St. John’s City Council.