There will be at least six names on the ballot when local voters head to the polls for the 2022 Ontario general election, to be held on or before June 2.
Don McBey is the most recent candidate to be approved for the Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock (HKLB) riding, acclaimed as the Liberal nominee during a virtual nomination meeting April 19.
McBey is a lawyer with a background in medical and community advocacy, and was most recently the vice-chair of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal. His other previous roles include minister with the United Church of Canada, pastoral and community worker with the Methodist Church of Great Britain and executive director of the Hamilton Halton Counselling and Mediation Centre.
While this will be McBey’s first run for office, he has experience volunteering on election campaigns. During the 2014 and 2018 provincial elections, he supported Granville Anderson, a former Liberal MPP from the neighbouring Durham riding.
Speaking at last week’s nomination meeting, McBey criticized the way premier Doug Ford has governed the province over the past four years. He believes people are ready for change after what he described as a term of turmoil.
“I think we have a number of things going in our favour. One of those is that we can be, I think, the rational party of empowerment, empowering people to take back some control over their lives,”
McBey said. “We want to restore some predictability, not only to politics but to people’s lives.”
He said getting a handle on Ontario’s housing and inflation crisis would be priorities for him should he be elected.
Judi Forbes, who served as the Liberal candidate in HKLB during last year’s federal election, has been brought on as McBey’s campaign manager.
Elsewhere on the ballot, incumbent Laurie Scott has already been acclaimed as the Progressive Conservative candidate as she seeks a sixth term in office. During her current stint, Scott spent considerable time as one of Ford’s inner-circle, serving in cabinet positions as minister of labour and minister of infrastructure. She was relegated to the backbenches in June 2021.
Barbara Doyle, manager of the Olde Gaol Museum in Lindsay and co-founder of the Kawartha Lakes Health Coalition, will represent the NDP in the summer election. She previously served as the NDP candidate during the 2019 federal election.
Tom Regina, a retired schoolteacher, has been acclaimed as the Green Party candidate, retired veterinarian Kerstin Kelly will stand for the Ontario Party and retired farmer Grant Dewar is running for the None of the Above party.
Scott secured 56.7 per cent of the local vote during the 2018 election, comfortably defeating Zac Miller (NDP), Brooklynne Cramp-Waldinsperger (Liberal), Lynn Therien (Green), Thomas Rhyno (None Of The Above), Gene Balfour (Libertarian) and Chuck MacMillan (Consensus Ontario
