A 19-year-old teen who supports the pro-life movement has won the Niagara by-election and became the youngest member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario.
Sam Oosterhoff, a Progressive Conservative homeschool graduate, won the Niagara West-Glanbrook by a landslide, taking 54 percent of the votes, according to LifeSite News.
Oosterhoff said the election victory is “a humbling experience.” His party enjoyed a greater portion of the votes, which put it at the top position followed by NDP. The Liberals have fallen to third place.
“It’s a great responsibility that’s been placed on me,” he said, according to The Star.
Oosterhoff’s campaign promises were widely popular. He assured the people that he would serve as a “voice for common sense, pro-family policies and concerns.”
Being a homeschool graduate, he also expressed support for the idea that parents should be the children's primary educators, and he vowed that he would make sure that “parental rights are respected in education.”
He packaged himself as pro-life and pro-family, earning him the party’s highest vote percentage for the past five elections.
Campaign Life Coalition spokesperson Jack Fonseca said Oosterhoff won the election despite mainstream media and the Liberal Party conducting a “relentless smear campaign” against him.
Fonseca further said the pro-lifer’s victory should serve as a lesson to party leader Patrick Brown, who praised Oosterhoff for an “overwhelming victory.”
“What this teaches us is that socially conservative politicians can win elections by being unapologetic about their pro-life and pro-family beliefs,” Fonseca said, according to LifeSite News.
“It also shows that opposing Kathleen Wynne’s radical sex curriculum was a winning strategy for Niagara West-Glanbrook. And believe me, the people of Niagara West-Glanbrook cast their ballots for the socially-conservative Sam, not for the liberal Patrick Brown,” he continued.
Fonseca noted that Brown appeared to be flip-flopping regarding the controversial Liberal sex-ed curriculum. The Progressive Conservatives had circulated a letter, signed by Brown, saying it should be scrapped, but Brown distanced himself from it and endorsed the said sex-ed curriculum.
However, in Scarborough-Rouge River, he said he would repeal the curriculum, a statement that contradicted his stand in Ottawa-Vanier, where he supported the curriculum.
“Too many Conservative politicians don’t understand the importance of standing on principle. Instead, they turn tail and run as soon as they feel the slightest pressure from liberals, and as a result, end up being seen as lacking integrity,” Fonseca said.
There have also been uncertainties in Oosterhoff’s stand on whether homosexuality is a sin, as he generally evaded questions regarding the topic. It’s also not clear if he will support Bill 28, which allows homosexual parents to have children.
