Shane Pankhurst has been named the New Blue Party of Ontario candidate for Sault Ste. Marie for the June 2 provincial election.
Pankhurst, 36, grew up in the Sault and owns and operates a restaurant - Bistro Seven - in Brantford, Ontario.
He has lived in that community for 15 years, he told SooToday in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Though residing in southern Ontario, Pankhurst said he is aware of the issues facing the Sault.
“Social services are being ignored. When I walked around and drove around the city I saw the homeless rate and we hear about the addictions and the youth have nothing to do. The things that make society come together are being ignored.”
Pankhurst said he and all small business owners across Ontario have been needlessly harmed by red tape and provincial government measures throughout the pandemic.
“It’s been a really rough two years with the lockdowns and restrictions that they passed. They passed these laws that really altered people’s lives. These are the people I want to be in touch with and give them a voice. I know I didn’t have a voice. People like me didn’t have a voice. We didn’t ask for anything that was done. The way it was done, it was handled very poorly,” Pankhurst said.
“In the riding of Sault Ste. Marie I believe that the most important issue is within the social services sector. The Sault needs more resources to help fight homelessness, addictions, disabilities, and mental health. The city also lacks resources aimed at giving youth a safe place to socialize and be part of their community. I would definitely say that social service resources are the biggest issue in Sault Ste. Marie,” Pankhurst said in an email.
“My initial priority if taking office as MPP will be to connect with the community, the small businesses, educators, healthcare organizations, the religious community and other social groups. I want to listen to the voices and issues that have been silenced, put aside and ignored by the current government. Essentially my first priority is to repair and rebuild the division between the people and the government which serves them,” Pankhurst said.
“I can’t be intimidated or bought. I will only act in the best interest of the people of Sault Ste. Marie and Ontario.”
The New Blue Party of Ontario is led by Jim Karahalios, a lawyer who is running in the riding of Kitchener - Conestoga.
The party was established by Karahalios and wife Belinda, the current independent MPP for Cambridge, after she left Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government benches in disagreement with COVID-19 pandemic measures.
Like Maxime Bernier’s federal People's Party of Canada, New Blue feels traditional Conservative parties have strayed from their roots.
The party’s 'New Blueprint' calls for an end to all provincial COVID-19 mandates, improving Ontario's electricity while taking down wind turbines, banning lobbyists from party politics, cutting provincial taxes, removing the carbon tax, stopping ‘woke’ activism within the education system, expanding early treatment for COVID-19 and clearing up the backlog of medical procedures in health care.
“It’s a true conservative choice at the provincial level,” Pankhurst told SooToday.
The candidate said he has visited the Sault twice recently and plans to return as the provincial election campaign continues.
