I’ve recently returned from my two week “circumnavigation bicycle tour” of the Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound riding, and what a trip it was! My trip began in Owen Sound on Aug 4th and wrapped up Aug.17th. 633 km and 35 communities later I can honestly say I’ll never be the same again.
A huge thank you to all who talked about your concerns and the issues affecting your communities at meetings and at your doors. The issues are many and varied. Here are some of the major ones you mentioned:

• The unjust expropriation of land in Southgate/West Grey for the completely unnecessary hydro line expansion.
• The need for more provincial funding to reinforce the Saugeen riverbank near the lagoon in Neustadt.
• The continued destruction of historic sites such as the Paisley Inn.
• The need for orderly and sustainable development on the Bruce Peninsula to protect resources for the future.
• The First Nations legal right of consultation on development within traditional territories.
• The disenfranchisement of women in the political system.
• Labour and skills shortages in trades and small business.
• The rapid disappearance of the family farm.
• Bulk water taking without proper compensation to the communities affected.
• The need for electoral reform to create more accountable and productive government.
• The lack of authority in the Environment Commissioner’s office over the practices of government ministries including the MTO, MNR, and MOE.
• The continued downloading of responsibilities to municipalities without the funding to accompany those responsibilities.
• The need for further investment in public health care, and an expanded emphasis on holistic health and disease prevention.
• The struggle of Beaver Valley apple growers against cheap imports and unpredictable weather patterns.
• The need for sustainable economic development in the Dundalk/Southgate area, specifically the need to restore train service.
• The need for effective incentives to establish a robust system of distributed renewable energy (as opposed to our current expensive, centralized system).

While each community on the tour had unique issues specific to local constituents, one theme was dominant everywhere I visited. This was the sense that our urban-centred provincial government does not understand or care about rural Ontario or rural issues. I agree most emphatically with all of you who brought this up. Is it just that we don’t represent enough votes to be heard, or is there more to it? I would suggest that there is more to it.

One thing that I witnessed while traveling around Grey/Bruce was that we have our own distinct culture and heritage in this region, and I have never felt more strongly that this culture is worth preserving and building upon for the future. It should be no surprise that our Toronto-centred governments don’t understand the culture here, which underlines the importance of strong and effective representation in the Ontario legislature. It is this type of representation that I intend to offer if elected.

I was also impacted by the incredible resilience in the face of challenge, of the people and communities of this region. It is for this reason that we should not allow our community to be just another “cog” in the machine of global economics. Globalization has undermined our agricultural and manufacturing capacity and resulted in poor quality jobs. More than ever, I believe that we as a region can and must lead the province, and pioneer the future of sustainability.

We must become leaders in “green” industry, thereby creating quality jobs for our young people. We must support entrepreneurial spirit, and small business, and aggressively pursue the establishment of local food marketing to ensure the future of local agriculture and a healthy food supply. We must also view health and education spending as investments in the future, as we know that a healthy, well educated population results in quality of life and future wealth. We must put development on a more sustainable path through better transportation infrastructure, building codes targeted at energy efficiency, higher density urban planning, and fairer taxation.

This is undoubtedly an uphill battle, but there is much that can be done locally and regionally through strong regional cooperation between municipalities, something I believe is essential for the future viability of our region.

As individuals we can move forward by rejecting the status quo of the old parties and vote for the only party that understands rural Ontario. Not only does the Green Party of Ontario understand rural issues, but much of the policy platform of the GPO is built around the future of this region. Bruce/Grey has the ear of the GPO because our region is recognized as having the potential to be a model of sustainable community for the rest of Ontario.
Never since Agnes MacPhail’s United Farmers of Ontario, has a political party been so attuned to the needs of this region.

I must say that I am honoured to be a part of such a significant shift in regional and provincial politics. I invite you to be a part of it also.
The revolution starts here.