Rev. Alexa Gilmour, a United Church minister since May 2011, won the riding of Parkdale-High Park in Toronto for the New Democratic Party in Ontario’s election in February. She talks about her journey from the pulpit to politics with Rev. Christopher White.

Christopher White: Can you tell me about your journey from ministry in The United Church of Canada to running for election?

Alexa Gilmour: For me, it’s just a new form of ministry, really a continuation of God’s call. I have always known that I was being called to difficult and risky ministry right on the edge. I’ve been an activist minister and for me the edges of faith and politics grind together. I fully recognize that the charity part of the church is important, but we are experiencing incredible suffering because of bad public policy. Poverty kills, addictions kill, we have seen no rise in Ontario Works (welfare) or the Ontario Disability Support payment rates [editor’s note: the Ontario government began tying Ontario Disability Support Program payments to inflation in 2023] in years, and they only pay enough for people to afford to live in tents. Our social services are completely inadequate for the challenges that people are facing and all of this had me ask the question: “What would Jesus do now?” And that is what has led me to Queen’s Park [Ontario’s legislature].

CW: How has your faith supported you through all of this?

AG: People asked me for years to run and I always refused. I felt useful in my work and felt that my gifts were being well used in my ministry. But a year ago something shifted in my prayer life and I felt that God was calling me to a new ministry, which to be honest I was not thrilled about. We are living in a time of regressive roll-backs and I felt that God was calling me to stand in the breach and say that there is another way, that housing and food are human rights and that gender rights are human rights and that we are called to hold the beacon of what we can be. Parkdale-High Park has been my home for many years and I am following in the tradition of Rev. Cheri DiNovo who also has a vision of compassion. We live in tumultuous times and we have to hold onto loving our neighbour as ourselves.

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CW: You won an impressive victory in the election with about 45 percent of the votes. But your party had a tough night. While the NDP held on to its status as the official opposition, it lost seats and dropped in the popular vote, now resting at just under 19 percent. Why has the NDP not connected to more voters given our current crises? Why do you think that so many working class and blue-collar votes went to Premier Doug Ford and the Progressive Conservatives?

AG: In times of great uncertainty, people are afraid and right now there is a great deal of fear. U.S. President Donald Trump absolutely played a part in the election results; people turned to what was familiar and comfortable. It is very hard in times of fear to engage people’s empathy and explain how their lives are inextricably linked to the common good. When people feel under threat it’s easy to lose sight of that. We have to speak to people’s very real fears and come alongside folks. When Jesus sat at the table with others, he didn’t tell them; he showed them how to be with one another. That’s what I hope to do in our riding and to move people from a sense of scarcity to one of abundance. We live with an extreme scarcity mindset now and we need to speak to that fear and show another way.

 We also need to be very clear about an alternative economic structure. The current capitalist system gives power and wealth to the one percent and has eroded the middle class. We need fundamental change to limit corporate power and to support workers through unions and a focus on the common good. We are proposing a policy in the face of Trump’s tariffs in which the government employs laid-off workers to build homes using Canadian steel, wood and aluminum. That’s how we strengthen the Canadian economy.

More on Broadview:

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CW: What are your hopes and dreams for the next four years?

AG: I have two. The first is to effect policy that supports what I value most – especially for the most vulnerable among us – and to safeguard people’s rights. The second is to do politics differently, I won’t participate in the polarization that is degrading and eroding our democracy. I know I may be asked to compromise in politics, but I also need to know that there is a line in the sand that I cannot cross. A mentor told me to write myself a letter about who I am and what I would never compromise on and take it out from time to time to see if I am still that person.

CW: What message do you have for all Canadians as we face tariffs and a very real threat to our sovereignty from Donald Trump?

AG: It is very important that we don’t lose sight of who we are. There is a lot of hate out there, but we can embody our values and live them out. It’s more important than ever that we don’t lose hope in the midst of all of this.

***

Rev. Christopher White is a United Church minister in Toronto.

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