Laura Mae Lindo resigns

Laura Mae Lindo

Laura Mae Lindo resigned last Thursday from the Ontario Legislature as MPP for Kitchener Centre.

Last January Lindo had announced that she was stepping down as MPP in July to take a position with the philosophy department of the University of Waterloo.

A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Lindo was first elected MPP for Kitchener Centre in 2018 and was re-elected last June.

Lindo served as the inaugural chair of the NDP Black Caucus which was formed in April 2019.

In her resignation letter, tabled last Thursday with the legislative assembly, she said that as a single mother working between Toronto and Kitchener her child-care situation was what led her to step down.

Lindo says her children were three, ten and 13 when she was elected in 2018 and while she paid for before- and after-care for them, overnight child-care while she was away working in Toronto was a challenge.

She said the NDP offered to assist, but it was a taxable benefit, leading to an additional $5,000 to $6,000 a year in costs for her, which became untenable.

In a news release, interim Ontario NDP leader Peter Tabuns thanked Lindo for her years of service and her work as chair of the Black Caucus.