Simcoe-Grey’s Liberal candidate is standing for election this Oct. 21, to make his own stand for Canadian values.
Lorne Kenney has already run in the Simcoe-Grey riding in a provincial election in 2014, but he’s switched to federal after hearing current MP Kellie Leitch campaign for leadership of the Canadian Conservative party - a race she did not win.
“I think we have not been well served,” said Kenney. “That’s not reflective, in my view, of the values of the people that I know in Simcoe County … We are, in my view, pretty good people … our values are well-expressed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Kenney and his wife are Collingwood business owners. He has spent much of his career in public service for Labour Canada and as a senior official on the Ontario Premier’s Council. Kenney also worked in education as a professor of economics and Canadian studies at Seneca College.
As a public servant, he said he was proud to be “working in the interests” of his country.
Now, he’s vying for a seat in Canada’s government.
“I have one single political ambition and that’s to be a really good, riding-focused Member of Parliament,” said Kenney.
For him, one of the biggest local and federal issues this election is the environment.
“Whatever government takes office has to do all it can and all Canada can to address the issues of climate change,” said Kenney. “If we don’t come to common ground that takes us where we have to go, and the science is basically telling us where it is we have to go, if we don’t get there, shame on us all.”
Kenney said climate change “is our war” and it will require an “effective consensus” to come up with a solution.
“Those are two very, very hard conditions - effective and consensus, and getting to that requires a lot of good faith,” said Kenney.
The Liberal candidate also said the issue of housing is big not only for Canada but especially for Simcoe-Grey.
“The fact that we have homeless teenagers in this town, in Simcoe-Grey in 2019 is unacceptable,” he said. “We shouldn’t have that. That’s wrong. The power of government should be able to deal with that … We have the means to deal with those kinds of things. It’s not rocket science, it’s a social science.”
Kenney said the issue of homelessness and affordable housing is not exclusively the federal government’s to solve, suggesting it requires action at all levels of jurisdiction.
“It takes leadership to deal with them,” said Kenney. “And I don’t think we’ve had that leadership. I think it’s needed and I think I can provide it ... it's about using the power of government to resolve issues that affect everyday people."
The leadership of the Liberal Party – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – has been challenged by rulings by the ethics commissioner suggesting Trudeau breached the code of ethics when it comes to his conduct in the SNC Lavalain affair.
The rulings didn’t give Kenney pause.
“I don’t think what occurred was a breach of ethics,” said Kenney.
He said he’s heard some concern from voters, but hasn’t come across anyone who now “outright rejects” Trudeau and is changing their vote from the Liberal Party to another candidate. Kenney supports the leader.
“It’s very clear he has a vision of where the country should go and how to get there,” said Kenney.
It’s a vision, Kenney thinks, will resonate with voters.
Though Simcoe-Grey has been a Conservative riding federally since 2004, and longer provincially, Kenney said it’s not really a Conservative riding.
“There’s a tremendous misapprehension about how blue it is,” said Kenney, adding an influx of new residents to the area can have a significant impact on votes. He also said Liberals have been able to win certain areas of the riding in past federal and provincial elections.
“The first four years of the Trudeau government have been laying the groundwork for a bunch of things that are only partially started or partially corrected,” said Kenney. “There’s a whole lot of works in progress.”
Kenney wants to see another Liberal majority, only this time with an MP from Simcoe-Grey in the House.
Kenney is running for the Simcoe-Grey MP seat against Conservative candidate Terry Dowdall, Green candidate Sherri Jackson, and NDP candidate Ilona Matthews. The federal election takes place Oct. 21, 2019.
