First Nation citizen running as Liberal candidate in Peterborough-Kawartha riding
By Sam Laskaris
PETERBOROUGH – Adam Hopkins comes from a politically active family, so it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that he has jumped into the political arena.
Hopkins, a member of Delaware Nation at Moraviantown, is hoping to become an MPP following Thursday’s provincial election.
He’s the Liberal Party candidate for the Peterborough-Kawartha riding.
Hopkins had been working as a vice-president at the First Nations Technical Institute since 2016. He took a leave from that position to try his luck in the current snap provincial election.
“I’ve always thought that politics would be an interesting career choice,” Hopkins said. “But I hadn’t given it serious, serious thought until the Liberal Party reached out to me in late October or early November.”
It wasn’t until late January, however, that the current Progressive Conservative premier Doug Ford called for an early election, a year-and-a-half before one was required. Ford primarily cited the desire to get a strong mandate from Ontario residents to deal with American president Donald Trump and his desire to impose tariffs on numerous Canadian products.
“Things are going well,” Hopkins said of his limited time on the campaign trail. “I was only the official nominated candidate two weeks before the election was called. So, things happened pretty quickly. But there are a ton of really dedicated volunteers that have been giving the campaign some real momentum.”
Hopkins is one of six candidates on the ballot for Peterborough-Kawartha. The incumbent is Dave Smith, a Conservative.
“We’re feeling good,” Hopkins said. “It’s an uphill battle as it is pretty well in every riding. I’m sure you’re well aware that the Progressive Conservatives are well ahead in the polls. But I think in this particular riding that the Liberal Party generally polls a couple of points higher and this particular (Conservative) candidate polls a little bit lower. So, we have a good chance. We’re feeling good and I think we have some momentum going in the last few days here.”
Hopkins’ late father Leighton had made his mark in politics. During the late 1960s, the Chief and Council of Walpole Island First Nation decided they didn’t want an Indian agent anymore so he was hired as the band administrator, becoming the first person in the country to hold that title.
Leighton Hopkins was also the first president of the Association of Iroquois Allied Indians.
As for Hopkins, his campaign is centred on a few different issues.
“For me, healthcare, education, affordability – those are the big pieces,” he said. “One of the things I would like to take forward that is kind of not officially or laid out in detail in the party platform is supporting all of the publicly assisted ecosystem, like universities, colleges, and Indigenous institutes. So, that will be a big component, especially with Indigenous institutes. “Should we get fair and equitable funding, there’s just so much we can do with that. And we’ve got Indigenous institutes all across the province that are focused on community-building initiatives, specifically around language and culture. For me, if I’m successful and become elected, that’s obviously one area of focus that I will be pushing.”
Hopkins added that while he’s been campaigning the main issue, what he’s been hearing about from residents is the sub-par state of the healthcare system.
“In this community in particular, potentially there will be 60,000 people that will be without a family healthcare provider next year,” he said. “So, we’ve got a plan to get everyone a doctor. But that’s not going to be the end-all be-all. We’ve got to get nurse practitioners into the system, specifically and actually nurse practitioner-led clinics.”
Despite the campaign happening so quickly, Hopkins has been “…enjoying pretty well every part of the full campaign.”
And he’s thankful for the support he’s been receiving.
“I know every aspiring politician says this, but the volunteers have really been making it what it is,” he said. “Obviously, there’s people out there that support me. But there’s people that have been supporting the Liberal Party for 50 years that are walking on the streets and handing out my cards and folks who are volunteering because they are sick of Doug Ford. So, for all those reasons, we have a really awesome crew of volunteers who have been making this thing work and lending all their time and energy to it.”