Queen’s alumnus Ted Hsu hung up his lab coat in hopes of becoming the next leader of the Ontario Liberal Party.
Ontario Liberal Party leader candidate, Ted Hsu, ArtSci ’84, is preparing for election results on Dec. 2. Hsu, the current Kingston and the Islands MPP, cast his vote in the provincial leadership race on Nov. 26.
Hsu approaches politics like a scientific experiment; he starts by listening to Ontarians, then asks them questions without making assumptions before drawing his conclusions. He believes the chemistry of a scientific and human-based approach will bring humility to Ontario’s Liberal Party.
According to Hsu, Kingstonians have this approach down pat, describing the community as politically savvy, and always keeping him on his toes. He praised the Kington community’s civic engagement.
“That Kingston way of doing politics is how I want to do things for the rest of the province,” Hsu said in an interview with The Journal.
Hsu’s wife, Tara, plays a big role in Hsu’s political campaign, creating the tagline for Hsu’s Ontario Liberal Party leadership campaign: “for Leader, for Premier, for a fresh start.” With Hsu’s scientific background, he focuses on the numbers while Tara s the campaign’s branding.
“My wife played a big part in everything cause we’ve always done politics together. She sees things I don’t,” Hsu said in an interview with The Journal.
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Hsu wasn’t always a political powerhouse. Other than a brief stint as part of the Queen’s Debating Union and a few columns in the newspaper The Laker, Hsu stuck to studying physics and math as an undergraduate student. He spent his summers in Queen’s research labs before pursuing a physics PhD at Princeton University.
It was only when his wife went to graduate school and he became a stay-at-home dad that Hsu took an interest in politics, considering issues such as climate change. As he uncovered the underlying issues of climate change, Hsu was inspired to become the treasurer of the Kingston and the Islands Federal Liberal Association in 2007.
He then served as Kingston and the Island’s Member of Parliament for four and a half years, beginning in 2011.
“That election was the worst ever election for the Federal Liberal Party. We just got killed in that election, but I managed to win in Kingston and even increased the liberal vote,” Hsu said.
Over the course of this campaign, Hsu traversed across Ontario. From nearly running out of gas between Sudbury and Timmins, to conquering snowy highways, Hsu gained insight into voters’ concerns across the province.
“We’re all struggling with housing, we’re all struggling with cost of living, we’re all struggling with addictions, we’re all struggling with the healthcare capacity,” Hsu said. “These commonalities were very striking.”
Hsu stopped in towns like Wawa, where he learned there were supposed to be seven doctors, but the town only has two.
The narratives from his travels are what ultimately shaped Hsu’s campaign. For him, the Liberal party is one of change and reform for the better. He’s excited to see how his values will resonate with voters come the weekend.
“I’m very excited to see how all this work turns out and how the that has been coming out of the woodwork,” Hsu said.
Regardless of the election outcome on Saturday, Hsu reaffirmed his lasting commitment to the Liberal party. If elected, he promises to bring humility, with a touch of scientific precision, of course.
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