Conservative MP Alex Nuttall held a news conference Friday to squash any rumours of running provincially while also announcing that he will be accepting the federal candidacy in the Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte riding.
At a packed Mom’s Restaurant on Bell Farm Road in Barrie, Nuttall said he'll continue the political path he is on and made clear that it was not an easy call, particularly while balancing family and work.
“You try to figure out where you best fit amongst the teams and it became more and more clear over the past couple of weeks that the best job I can do is to help (Conservative leader) Andrew Scheer to become prime minister and to work hard with all of our volunteers to deliver this riding in 2019,” said Nuttall.
“Folks should know this was not an easy decision to say that I’m going to stay in Ottawa and not be only an hour away from my family and to come home to them at night," he added. "It is a very difficult decision.”
With the local federal position in place, the attention turns to the provincial election on June 7 and the heated battle that is happening between Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals and the Doug Ford-run Progressive Conservatives.
Nuttall said he is happy with his decision to remain in federal politics, but also thinks that something needs to happen as soon as possible for the conservatives in the region to prepare for a provincial battle.
“Locally, it provides some stability as I will continue as the Member of Parliament and I’m proud to remain as a representative to the great people in our region,” said Nuttall. “On another note, it means that the provincial party and the local board need to come up with a process to pick a candidate to run in the Doug Ford slate when he is going to win a majority government on June 7.”
Picking a candidate to represent the Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte riding is going to be a bit of a challenge in the eyes of many who were on hand Friday. With former PC Party leader Patrick Brown announcing in March that he would not be running in the riding, while the party also declined his nomination, the door is open for someone to step in and join the race.
The problem, according to former Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop, is that he believes the provincial higher-ups in the PC Party don’t want someone local and may end up parachuting in someone else.
“There are a lot of good, local people who are ready and able to serve this area and I feel the constituents deserve a nominated candidate,” Dunlop said. “However, I think someone at the party doesn’t want Patrick Brown supporters to be part of this process and they want to handpick and parachute someone in and try to win without those supporters.
"I think that’s a horrible mistake," he added. "I personally put my papers in and was anxious to see what kind of response I would get back. I did it properly and perfectly and I’ve heard nothing back at all.
"I have won five elections and raised $2 million for the party, I feel that’s worthy of a response back at the very least.”
Brown was on hand Friday to show support for his friend and colleague Nuttall and had a few words to say about longtime local political friend Dunlop and the provincial conservatives.
“The party would have been tremendously lucky to have individuals of the calibre of Alex Nuttall or Garfield Dunlop to represent them,” Brown said. “I think the party would be crazy not to have Garfield jump at the opportunity to have you as the candidate because that’s your work ethic and not many people know this region better than him.”
With the election only 48 days away, the local riding needs to find a candidate soon before the writ drops, which seems to be around April 26.
Bruce MacGregor, president of the Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte Constituency Association, said he believes that if party doesn’t go with one of the strong local candidates available, the region may not be conservative blue come the evening of June 7.
“We have three definite and up to six others that are standing around wondering the heck is going on,” MacGregor said. “Party headquarters will not communicate with me or our association and I’ve couriered packages to the president, managing director and the chair of the Nominations Committee and have heard zero back.
"If they parachute someone in, it’s over," he added. "This is a very unique riding as you’ve got Oro and Springwater as very rural areas, which are unlike Barrie that is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. It is a very diverse riding. One minute you’re walking door-to-door, the next you’re driving from one house to another in the farm areas.
"And all they need to do is look back at the John Tory situation in Kawartha where folks would rather not vote than put in someone they don’t know," MacGregor said. "We’re nearing the finish line and we need to get some runners.”
