Although they weren’t ultimately successful in the election race, the second and third place candidates in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound are concentrating on the positives.
Liberal candidate Selwyn “Buck” Hicks finished a solid second place with 29.44 per cent of the vote and Green candidate Joel Loughead was third with 12.47 per cent of the vote.
In interviews the day after the election, both Hicks and Loughead referenced the uphill climb they faced in a traditional Progressive Conservative riding combined with a snap election call in the middle of the winter.
“I’m really proud of what we were able to do,” said Hicks. “Despite the odds being set against, we had a small but mighty team. We increased our vote count by 50 per cent. That’s no small feat. We went from 20 per cent of the vote to 30 per cent. Did Mr. Vickers (the winning PC candidate) receive a mandate or did he receive a message? I think maybe both.”
Loughead said he was thrilled with how his entire campaign team came together with such short notice and made it a very competitive race.
“I think we were a top five Green result in Ontario here in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound,” said Loughead. “To have a top five result like that in this amount of time - I feel great about it. It’s a very strong result that we’re all very proud of. The big picture is that we’re moving forward to turn this riding Green.”
Hicks said although the election results “sting” for both himself and his party – the Liberals finished in third place with 14 seats and just under 30 per cent of the vote – he said there are silver linings for the Liberals. The 14 seats will give the Liberals official party status for the first time in three election cycles.
“We do need to look at the positives. We got 30 per cent of the vote. Here in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, we did tremendously well,” said Hickes. “Party status is certainly going to help. Without party status you don’t have staff, money or resources. It’s good news. We’re certainly moving in the right direction.”
Loughead was pleased with the entire Green campaign. He said the local riding received a lot of attention from Green party leadership – party leader Mike Schreiner visited Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound multiple times during the riding. He called the results a great “first step” for Greens locally.
“I keep telling everyone that the real work starts now. This is day one of the next election campaign,” said Loughead. “The snap election in February was a warm up to show everybody in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound that the Greens are here again, that we’re a serious party, that we are a really viable choice and that they should believe in us because we can win this riding.”
Both Hicks and Loughead hinted that their involvement in local elections would continue in the future.
Loughead’s response when asked if he was “in it for the long haul” was a simple: “yes.”
Loughhead repeated Schreiner’s election night message to supporters disappointed in the overall results: “don’t agonize. Organize.”
“It’s not about throwing your hands up and not voting and throwing your hands up and despairing,” said Loughead. “It’s about getting everybody who wants to make change together to really focus our efforts to make the change that we want to see.”
Hicks, who just finished his third provincial election campaign and has been involved for many years in local municipal government, said he would likely be back in the future.
“Politics is in my blood. I love politics,” said Hicks. “You can probably count on me being around. I’ve got a lot of life left in me.”