Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound NDP candidate James Harris is running in this election to stop the damage he believes the Ford government has been doing to the province.
Harris is running in his first provincial election for the NDP and he said he is excited about the opportunity to meet with voters and residents and hear their concerns.
“The last seven years with Doug Ford, things just haven’t gotten any better than they were under the Liberals before him and you feel powerless and you feel like there is nothing you can do,” Harris said.
When Ford called the early, snap election, Harris said he had friends ask him to consider carrying the NDP banner for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound in the campaign.
“I realized if I didn’t jump at this opportunity to help stop Doug Ford from making things worse, I would never be able to live it down,” he said. “Being able to run on the NDP ticket is very exciting to me. I feel like we have a lot to offer the people of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound."
Harris said that making sure residents of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound have a real voice at Queen’s Park is his ultimate goal.
“That’s what gets me up in the morning. I am absolutely somebody who has a heart for people,” he said, adding that voters can expect him to do everything he can for the riding. “They can expect me to put my best foot forward.”
With roots in the area going back several generations, Harris’ grandparents were born on Manitoulin Island, with his grandfather eventually working for the Canadian National Railroad in Owen Sound. As a youth, James attended Keppel-Sarawak public school, eventually graduating from West Hill Secondary. After a brief stint in the GTA, he married in 2010 and returned to Owen Sound to build his family home in 2011.
Harris said the NDP is the one party that is committed to ending the “underfunding” of Ontario’s education system that he said has been going on for years.
“The Ontario NDP is committed to reversing education cuts and investing in the future of our children,” he said.
He is the father of two children who he now co-parents with his former partner. After working at a bowling alley and then in the manufacturing sector prior to the pandemic, James has spent the past few years working as a camera operator with ChevalierThurling Productions and is often featured in local venues and open-mic-nights as a singer/songwriter.
Harris said he represents the one party in Ontario that offers a true opportunity for change in the province.
“What (the voters of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound) get with me is an alternative to the status quo,” he said. “We’ve had seven years of Doug Ford trying to undo the damage that 15 years of the Liberals have left them with and we’re seeing the direction he’s taking the province in.”
Harris said it would be a true honour to be selected as the new provincial representative for the residents of the riding.
“I would love the opportunity to be able to wander around Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound as my job and be able to hear what the constituents want. That’s my dream,” he said.