The cracks in Michael Mantha's facade
And L'affaire Greenbelt thickens
ABOVE THE FOLD
Q+A — MICHAEL MANTHA doesn’t want to talk about the elephant in the room.
That is: He was just booted, permanently, from the NDP benches — his legislative home since he was first elected in 2011. The longtime MPP for Algoma-Manitoulin was under investigation for alleged workplace misconduct related to an inappropriate relationship with a staffer in his constit office. The allegations were enough for then-rookie NDP Leader MARIT STILES to kick him out of caucus pending the results, and now that those allegations have been “substantiated” by a third-party investigator, Mantha’s on the Independent bench for good. New Democrats aren’t sharing details to protect the complainant.
Neither is Mantha, glossing over the investigation and putting up a cheery disposition during our one-on-one in his Queen’s Park office. “I’ve tried to be available and cooperative with the process,” he says (the NDP disputes that). “I’ve put it in my rearview mirror at this time. I’m focused on serving the people that I represent.”
Mantha, like many, puts up the same front on his social media — prolifically posting happy photos of himself out and about in the riding and meeting with constituents.
But underneath it all, cracks are starting to form in the facade. “It was tough, and it is tough. However, you quickly learn that asking for help is not a sign of weakness — it’s actually a sign of strength. And I’ve learned that I needed help.”
Here, Mantha and I talk about how he’s coping with the damaging investigation, navigating legislative life as an Independent, and battling his former NDP caucus mates in 2026.
Let’s start at the end. How are you navigating life as an Independent? It’s, uh, it’s a work in progress. It provides me with a lot more opportunities to really focus on Algoma-Manitoulin. Certainly my responsibilities have significantly changed, so I’m able to put my energies into things that are my riding and Northern Ontario-focused.
There’s a lot less resources in terms of staff, research abilities, legislative time — how’s the day-to-day been? This is stuff that I’ve always done on my own — like, you’re your own resource. You as an MPP, you’re the critic of everything. I’ve built up some really great relationships here. I always have some colleagues that I can go to to discuss issues which maybe I don’t have the background on, individuals from the Opposition and even government. After 12 or 13 years of being here, you’ve built your network, you’ve done your job, and you’ve developed your craft.
Has your relationship with your former caucus mates changed? Is it awkward? Nothing really has significantly changed for me. The engagement has remained the same, the friendships are still there, the networking is still there. So I just continue doing the job.
Do you miss being part of the party side of things? Well, you miss that camaraderie, of course you do. You know, things change, relationships change — but the friendships don’t go away. I can walk into any office, whether they’re Independent members, NDP members, or even government members. I choose to believe the way that I’ve conducted myself here, which was in a respectful way, a non-confrontational way, that that’s what I get back.
Obviously not everyone sees it that way. What can you tell me about the investigation into the allegations of workplace misconduct? There’s really nothing I can say because the investigation was launched by the NDP caucus. So the independent investigator was initiated by them, and they will decide what they will do with that report.
Do you believe you’ve acted appropriately as a boss? Is there anything you want to explain? I’ve provided my response to it, and some of my team has also provided their responses. That process is independent. Again, I’m trying to be available and cooperative with the process. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve put it in my rearview mirror and I’m focused on serving the people that I represent.
Has this investigation changed anything for you on a personal level? It’s tough. However, you quickly learn that asking for help is not a sign of weakness — it’s actually a sign of strength. And I’ve learned that I needed help. I’ve reached out for some counselling myself in dealing with this process. This really put things into focus, as far as challenging issues that you need to deal with. This whole process that I’m going through, actually, and through the counselling that I’ve done, it has highlighted other issues that I needed to deal with.
Can you tell me more about that? How has this changed you and how you see things? What are you doing differently? By doing some counselling, they provide you with new coping tools. Sometimes you’re challenged with some very difficult emotional decisions or some very difficult challenges. And those tools you’re provided with help you cope, it makes you recognize the challenging signs that, maybe you need to step back for a moment and reevaluate or reach out for some help or to get some guidance. Those tools have been provided to me and it just makes me much more effective in my personal life — as far as, how do I communicate with my sons, how do I communicate with my family — but also how I communicate with my staff and how we communicate with constituents. It was…an enriching challenge, is what I’m going to say, that has made me a better person.
All politics is personal, right? Absolutely. Being an MPP from Northern Ontario — people really want to get to know you. It’s a lot more personal, they want to sit down, they want to know who you are, they want to know what you’re doing. They know who my kids are. They know what I do in my day-to-day activities. So it is very personal.
Will you be running again in 2026? This is my passion. I love what I do, I love the people. I hold the pen to determine what the next chapter is for me — nobody else has that ability to write my story. I’m in charge of that. And the people of Algoma-Manitoulin are going to make the decision in 2026 if they want to have Michael Mantha as their MPP.
You’d be running as an Independent then? I’m preparing myself to run as an Independent. I’m registering myself with Elections Ontario, I’m reaching out to my supporters and potential volunteers that might be there, I’m setting up my database to collect new information. The caucus obviously has made their decision to push me out of the party, but I’ve built my networks, I’ve developed my craft. I would say that for a new MPP, if they were in the same challenging position that I am in right now, it might be difficult for them, but I’ve done my work, I know my job. And that decision is going to be left to the people.
You’ve held on to the riding for the NDP for more than a decade. Any words for your NDP challenger? Put your heart and soul into it, because that’s what I’m doing. Whoever it is, you’ve got to be ready for a good fight, because I love what I do. And I want to continue doing what I’m doing for a very long time. I still have a lot of fire in my belly and the fire isn’t going out anytime soon.
HAPPENING TODAY
10 a.m.: Labour Minister MONTE McNAUGHTON is in Dresden for an announcement.
FUNDRAISING WATCH — 3 p.m.: The PCs are fundraising in cottage country for $1,000-a-pop. The ministerial lineup isn’t disclosed, which tends to mean the Premier will make a cameo. Invite.
HAPPENING SUNDAY — Politicians of all stripes will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Reena, a non-profit that supports folks with developmental disabilities and mental health challenges, as part of its fun day at Promenade Mall in Thornhill. On hand from the province: Social Services Minister MICHAEL PARSA, PCs DAISY WAI and ROBIN MARTIN and Liberal TED HSU.
CLIPPINGS
— PILING ON: Oppo critics are not letting up on the Greenbelt drama. The latest: Green Leader MIKE SCHREINER is formally calling for a public inquiry, interim Liberal captain JOHN FRASER wants the Ford government to commit that “no government money will be used to pay the legal fees of anyone that falls into the crosshairs of the RCMP or any investigation,” and NDP Municipal Affairs critic JEFF BURCH is coming for the head of the second staffer, Minister STEVE CLARK’s deputy chief of staff, who was implicated in the Auditor General’s bombshell report.
“The fact that a second Clark staff member was selecting Greenbelt sites to hand over to developers makes it even more incredulous that the Minister was unaware of what was going on in his own office,” Burch said.
Swift justice: Oppo Leader MARIT STILES, meanwhile, invoked TAYLOR SWIFT’s Karma and called on Premier DOUG FORD to “come out of hiding and face the music.”
— POLL WATCH: Ford is also losing cool points over the Greenbelt controversy. “In the first major publicly available poll since auditor general Bonnie Lysyk’s damning Aug. 9 report into Ford’s Greenbelt changes, Abacus found 59 per cent of respondents think the premier’s ‘decisions have been primarily about what’s in the best interest of his friends and supporters.’ That’s up from 54 per cent in last month’s survey.” The Star has the numbers.
— SAVE THE WHALES: “At Marineland, the Ontario theme park subject to a long running animal welfare investigation, 14 whales and one dolphin have died since 2019, The Canadian Press has learned.”
— ANTE UP: Ontarians can now wager on professional pickleball — which had a moment during the pandemic.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
First in Observer — STAFFING UP — DAVID UVEGES has signed on to Social Services Minister MICHAEL PARSA’s office as a senior policy adviser. Uveges previously worked policy for Parsa on the Associate Housing file, and before that, was a top researcher in the PC Caucus Services Bureau.
Also in Parsa’s camp: SHAIDA MALEKI is now manager of stakeholder relations, SHAUNA BUTTIVANT is senior operations manager, NICCO CARDARELLI goes from stakeholders manager to comms adviser.
Over in Mines Minister GEORGE PIRIE’s office: DYLAN MOORE tacks on issues and Leg affairs to his title as D-Comms.
ON THE CIVIL SERVICE SIDE — KATERYNA SAHAN is the newest policy adviser to the Deputy Minister of Indigenous Affairs.
LOBBYING DISPATCH
Here are the new, renewed and amended registrations over the past 24 hours:
Lindsay Maskell, Lindsay Maskell: Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario, Construction Employers Coordinating Council of Ontario
Mitch Heimpel, Enterprise Canada: Build Urban
Scott Munnoch, Temple Scott Associates: Moose Hide Campaign Development Society
Ryan Cole, Policy Concepts: Curbo Inc. operating as Roam
Bob Chant, Ed Sajecki, Aidan Grove-White, Alexander Glista, Christopher Loreto, Jordon Daniels and Gabriel Sekaly, StrategyCorp: Choice Properties Limited Partnership
Marco Bianchi, Aidan Grove-White, Tahereh Granpayehvaghei and Alexander Glista, StrategyCorp: Hullmark Asset Management
Kyle Sholes, StrategyCorp: Reliance Comfort Limited Partnership dba Reliance Home Comfort
🥳 HAPPY BIRTHDAY: PC ARIS BABIKIAN (Scarborough—Agincourt).
⌛COUNTDOWN: T-minus 31 days until the House reconvenes…12 days to sign up for the Liberal leadership race…100 days until the Liberal leadership contest…142 days until the Premier has to call a byelection in Kitchener Centre.