Anne Marie Watson. (image from Liberal Party of Canada)
The Liberal candidate in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound is optimistic the resurgence in national support for her party could help her election bid.
Anne Marie Watson, 67, is running for the Liberal Party in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound for a second time after finishing second in the 2021 Canadian federal election to Conservative Alex Ruff, who has served as the MP since 2019.
Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound has been a solid Conservative riding for more than two decades, and hasn’t elected a Liberal MP since 2000. Watson believes the surge in support in national polling numbers the Liberals have been enjoying in recent months could turn into real ballots for her locally in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound.
Online polling aggregator 338Canada.com has Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals at 44 per cent support nationally, while Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are at 38 per cent. Three months ago, the Liberals trailed the Conservatives by some 20-plus points in opinion polls, but support for the sitting government has skyrocketed since Justin Trudeau’s exit and Carney’s arrival as his replacement atop the party.
“Not only was I a candidate in the last election, but I’ve been a volunteer for elections before that. And I can tell you, it has never felt like this,” Watson says. “There is so much optimism out there among constituents. There’s so much energy. The momentum that Mark Carney has created is sweeping through all of the ridings. And we’re just along, basically, to catch his wind.”
“We have so many volunteers that have come into the office … they want to make a difference. And in their views, the Liberals are the best choice,” she continues. “I am just going to do my best not to let these people down. I know that we can make this a win. And we’re going to do everything we can to make this riding turn red.”
Watson is the riding chair for the Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound Federal Liberal Association, and was acclaimed as their candidate in December. She is a married mother of two grown children, who has been living on a family farm in West Grey for more than 30 years. Watson has long been involved in agriculture, and has experience working with the Grey County Federation of Agriculture as a director and past president. She has also been involved in the non-profit sector, most recently as Executive Director of the Durham Hospital Foundation.
She says she decided to take another shot in this election to become the MP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound because she believes there has “never been a more important time to represent Canada.”
“The people in this riding, we have a lot of challenges facing us right now. And I think I’m the person to do that,” Watson says. “I have the strength. I have the background. I have a huge amount of experience in different sectors that I can bring to the table. And I know I can succeed at this and make life better for people in this riding.”
Watson mentions housing as her top priority, saying there are far too many people in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound struggling.
“I believe Mark Carney already has a strong grasp on creating policies to promote affordable housing and I think I’m right with him. We as the federal government would have to be responsible for starts,” the Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound Liberal candidate says. “We have to be the the builder in effect, not so much the (actual) builder, but start the affordable housing.”
“And that means somebody who is struggling with saving for a down payment, or on what they earn it’s very hard for them to make the mortgage payments, let’s build them a smaller, but less expensive house so we can afford to get them in.”
The Carney-led Liberals’ housing plan proposes the creation of Build Canada Homes, a new federal entity that would “act as a developer” and oversee the construction of affordable housing. Modular and prefabricated homes would be part of the approach for Build Canada Homes, according to the Liberals. They are also pitching low-cost financing and no GST for first-time homebuyers purchasing homes under $1-million. The Conservatives have a similar pledge to the ladder one — no GST for new homes under $1.3-million.
As of Monday (April 7), Watson is one of six candidates officially confirmed in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound. Ruff, the incumbent Conservative MP, is also running. Chris Neudorf is the NDP candidate, and Natasha Akiwenzie for the Greens. The People’s Party and United Party also have candidates registered in the riding.
