Why are you running to represent the riding of L-K-M?
I am running because the old parties are not balancing the budget. They are not listening to the people of their district, and they are bringing in policies that the people do not want. They listen to their party leader instead of the people.
I would like to cut the pay of MPP’s salaries and make their salaries with a base salary and then have incentives such that they could only increase their salary if for instance they balance the budget. Then this would tie them to being responsible with the taxpayers’ money.
What are the biggest issues facing the riding?
Homelessness is now a problem in our district with people living in tents in small towns.
The provincial government needs to look into temporary shelter for these people in the winter.
The Dresden dump is a problem and any dump from Toronto should not be with in a close vicinity to our towns. Petrolia, Watford and other dumps should have never happened. They now vent the methane gas and there is no way these should even be allowed to be close to a population base.
Toronto needs to recycle and deal with their problem, not dump it on rural Ontario.
There are many more issues that need addressing like the lack of grain mills in our area, forcing farmers to drive greater distances to get their grain to a mill.
Do you feel rural Ontario is getting overlooked? If elected, what if any steps will you take to remedy that?
Recently, Doug Ford said he would have a referendum on the Carbon Tax. Six Conservative MPPs have left their positions. This would have been a perfect time to have a referendum on the Carbon Tax as people go to the polls to vote. Yet they have let us down again.
If I cannot get referendums to take place, I would have random polls in the district so that I would be representing individuals and not a party.
In 2022, the whole agriculture and agri-food system employed 2.3 million people. It provided one-in-nine jobs in Canada. The Ontario government is overlooking a key industry that could be doing so much more if the Ontario government would only invest in their own people.
You would think since the rural people have the majority vote with the PC party, they would actually help the people that voted in this government.
What are your goals as a Member of Provincial Parliament?
Since I am with the None of the Above Party, I am an independent representative and I would like to see more referendums on issues that currently divide people. The SOGI Curriculum, the Carbon Tax, Farm Land Protection, etc. My goals are to listen to the people of LKM, and take our concerns of LKM to Queen’s Park and not be tied by party politics. Being in the None of the Above Party I can do that.
Please share some personal details about yourself.
I grew up on a farm in North Ekfrid. I played fastball in Melbourne and hockey in Strathroy and Glencoe.
I graduated from Fanshawe College with a Business Diploma and an Information Systems Diploma and also have my CANSail Level 1 and 2 from the Fanshawe Yacht Club and Sailing School.
Currently, I help with the South Middlesex Men’s Fastball League and run a men’s fastball team out of Delaware.
I am on the Melbourne Agricultural Societies board as a vice president. Also, I run an event called the Melbourne Tractor Fest that runs on the Melbourne Fair weekend.
