It was -3 Celsius as I stood across the road from Queen’s Park on Saturday. Chilly, yes, but balmy compared to what Stephanie Smyth has become accustomed to. Ah, the joys of Ontario’s first winter election in 44 years.
Smyth, a first-time candidate, finds her spot in front of the cameras and launches into a three-minute spiel: if elected, she says, the Liberals would appoint a special investigator to look into what she calls the government’s “shady backroom deals” on the Greenbelt.
Smyth (pronounced Smythe) is a pro at this, thanks to nearly 15 years anchoring the breaking news desk on CP24. She delivers her speech enthusiastically, without notes or stumbles. No wonder the Liberal campaign has asked the political rookie to front this news conference.
There aren’t too many 61-year-old first-time candidates in politics, so in that respect, Smyth is different. But she’s hardly a newbie to this line of work, having “held politicians to account for 35 years” at various television and radio outlets, she says.
She left journalism and crossed the bridge to politics in 2023 when she volunteered for Toronto city councillor Brad Bradford’s mayoral run. She then signed up for Bonnie Crombie’s successful campaign to become Ontario Liberal leader. (She’d also done some media training for Stephanie Bowman, who was elected as MPP for Don Valley West in 2022 and is running again this year.) Smyth had no intention of running for a seat in the legislature — until Doug Ford called a snap election 17 months early. The Liberals courted her to run in Toronto-St. Paul’s and suddenly the timing was right for her to put her name on a ballot.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity,” she says. “It’s thrilling to go to the other side and see how this works. It’s a lot like the news because it’s invigorating and everything’s on the move all the time.”
Running for office isn’t simple — and in Smyth’s case, it really isn’t simple. Her husband is Paul Cook, managing editor and morning anchor on 680 News Radio. As soon as Smyth’s campaign began, Cook took himself out of all provincial election coverage.
“Nothing comes out of his mouth [about the election],” Smyth says. “He doesn’t write any content. No editorial whatsoever. We don’t want any conflict of interest or question marks.”
Smyth will challenge two-time former MPP Jill Andrew. The boundaries of Toronto-St. Paul’s were set seven elections ago, and the seat used to be one of the most reliable for the Liberals anywhere in the province. They won every election (and one by-election) between 1999 and 2014.
But cratering Liberal fortunes saw the New Democrats steal the seat away in 2018 by 1,345 votes (out of nearly 53,000 cast). Liberals may have thought it a one-time fluke, but Andrew held the seat in 2022 by an almost identical margin.
After so many years of having to play it straight in journalism, how did Smyth know she was a Liberal? “Ultimately, your heart and your soul guide you,” she says. “What feels right.”
Working with a party leader who is another woman of almost the same age mattered (Crombie turned 65 last week). “Her commitment to the party invigorated me,” Smyth says. “And there’s a lot of strong women around her.”
Smyth has been surprised by the willingness of people to open their front doors and talk to her, despite bitterly cold temperatures. “It’s shocking in wintertime that they’ll open up,” she says. (Mind you, more than half of residents in the riding are in multi-unit buildings, where opening the front door doesn’t risk frostbite.)
One of the tricks of transitioning from journalist to candidate is being prepared to criticize the premier out loud — particularly since Smyth has known Ford since his brother Rob was mayor of Toronto. “It is very odd,” she admits. “I won’t say it’s difficult, but it is different.”
Smyth says she strives for the balance of being critical of the government on issues while being personally kind to Ford.
The Progressive Conservatives have never won St. Paul’s on these boundaries, and in almost every election, have captured about a quarter of the votes. Riley Braunstein, a self-described “leader in stakeholder relations and government operations” is the party’s candidate. Toronto Metropolitan University planning student and public transit advocate Chloe Tangpongprush is the Green Party’s candidate.
In the lead-up to election day on February 27, Smyth seems to be enjoying the career change. “I love the experience,” she continues. “I love meeting people. It’s like doing hundreds and hundreds of interviews every day at the door.”
This is one of a series of candidate profiles from key ridings that will be published throughout the writ period.
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