Photo: Huron-Bruce Conservative MP Ben Lobb
The Conservative candidate and incumbent MP in Huron-Bruce says cost of living continues to be the top issue people in the riding want action on.
Lobb, 48, is in his sixth election campaign and has served as the MP for Huron-Bruce since 2008, the same year the riding flipped Liberal to Conservative.
“The fire’s definitely still burning, there’s no doubt about that,” Lobb says in an interview.
He says the No. 1 issue in Huron-Bruce he continues to hear about is the cost of living. Lobb says the federal government needs to do everything it can to ensure an economic climate where inflation doesn’t run out of control.
“So we can keep costs down and make it affordable for families, to live and grow and raise a family in Huron and Bruce counties,” Lobb says.
He points to the Conservative Party’s pledge to cut income taxes by 15 per cent in the lowest tax bracket ($57,375 in annual taxable income or less) as a measure to help people struggling with the cost of living. That’s a move that Conservatives boast could save workers in that income range about $900 per year.
Housing affordability is another area Lobb says people have concerns about. He says the federal government needs to do its best to “encourage communities to do their best to make shovel ready development areas.”
“I think that would really help ease the building burden,” he says. “In addition to that, the Conservative Party is promising to take sales tax off of new homes. And I think that would certainly help families or seniors when they’re making a decision on what they’re going to do in the future.”
Lobb also believes federal spending needs to be reined in. Canada’s 2023-24 federal deficit under the Liberals swelled to an estimated $61.9-billion, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. It’s projected to be around $50.1-billion in 2024-25. New Liberal Party leader Mark Carney has vowed to balance the government’s operating budget within three years, but Lobb questions the government’s record over the past decade in managing spending.
“The federal budget is completely out of control,” Lobb says. “It would be great to get back to a Conservative government to balance the budget and help protect all of the social programs we hold so dear.”
Election day in Canada is Monday, April 28. The Liberal Party under Carney has enjoyed a resurgence in polls in recent months. Online polling aggregator 338Canada has the Liberals at 44 per cent support nationally, and Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives at 38 per cent. That’s a major shift in the three months since former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his plans to resign, when the Conservatives held a 20-plus points lead in opinion polls.
When asked if the national polling trends are concerning, Lobb says he’s been hearing through door-to-door campaigning from people wanting a change in government — and adds his party’s polling numbers are still up from where they were in the last election campaign in 2021.
“We are at roughly 39 per cent and normally 39 per cent would give you a majority government, pretty well at any time in history,” Lobb notes.
Lobb is one of six candidates running in Huron-Bruce in the 2025 Canadian election. James Rice is the Liberal candidate, Melanie Burrett is NDP and Gregory J. McLean for the Green Party. There are also two independents who will be on the ballot, Justin L. Smith and Caesar Salad Pella.
