The riding of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound has a new MPP.
The Progressive Conservative Party secured a victory in Thursday’s election winning a solid majority of seats in the provincial legislature. They’re projected at 83 seats, up from their 67 in the last session.
Locally, Progressive Conservative Rick Byers won the seat in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound. Byers has been a campaign volunteer and manager of other local provincial progressive conservative and federal conservative campaigns. He was selected by the PC party to be the nominee for the riding after PC MPP Bill Walker announced he would not run in this election. Byers has a background in finance. Before retiring, he was Executive Vice President of Borealis Infrastructure.
Byers has been a member of a number of boards, including the True Patriot Love Foundation which supports members of the Canadian Armed Forces, Veterans, and their families. He has also been on the board of Metrolinx and the Toronto Transit Commission. He is the treasurer for the Markdale-Flesherton Legion and vice-chair of the South East Grey Health Centre. He and his family live in Markdale.
Byers spoke to Bayshore Broadcasting’s Fred Wallace about his projected victory, saying “I am so grateful to the enormous work done by our campaign team. We had a small team but they were so dedicated and worked so hard from start to finish and I can’t thanks them enough for all the confidence they showed in me.”
In Huron-Bruce, Progressive Conservative Lisa Thompson was re-elected for a fourth term. In the most recent sitting of the legislature, Thompson served as Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. In prior years, she has also been Minister of Government and Consumer Services, Ontario’s Registrar General and Minister of Education. She was first elected in the riding in 2011. Thompson , who has a background in agriculture, lives on a farm near Teeswater.
In Simcoe-Grey, outgoing MPP Jim Wilson did not run for re-election. PC candidate Brian Saunderson won the seat. Saunderson was elected mayor of Collingwood in 2018. He is a lawyer by trade.
Elsewhere around the province, NDP leader Andrea Horwath won her seat, but said she would step down as NDP leader. The NDP won a projected total of 31 seats and form the official opposition, though they did not win as many seats as they did in the 2018 election.
Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca did not win his seat in the riding of Vaughan-Woodbridge and announced he will resign as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. PC MPP Michael Tibollo was re-elected. In the last session of the legislature, Tibollo was Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.
The Green Party of Ontario won its seat with Guelph re-electing Mike Schreiner.
One Independent candidate was elected: Bobbi Ann Brady in Haldimand-Norfolk.