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ONTARIO ELECTION 2025: Barrie-area advocates express disappointment, frustration over lack of all-candidate debates, engagement ahead of provincial election
Posted: February 20, 2025
(February 20, 2025)
By:
Have you had a chance to get to know your local candidates ahead of the provincial election? If not, you’re not alone.
There is a noted lack of all-candidate debates in local ridings this go-around, and that lack of engagement has some interested parties worried about setting a precedent.
Margaret Prophet is the executive director of the Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition. Simcoe.com spoke to her about environmental issues ahead of the election, when it was mentioned that her group was one of several involved in co-ordinating a meet-the-candidates event.
The event — organized by the greenbelt coalition, along with CARP Barrie, the Simcoe County Health Coalition, Simcoe County KAIROS, SCAN! Barrie, OPSEU Local 305, Alliance for a Livable Ontario, Lake Simcoe Watch, and the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition — took place on Tuesday evening (Feb. 18), and candidates from across Simcoe County were invited to attend.
However, not all invited candidates attended the event.
Prophet said the shortened election cycle — less than a month — made it difficult for community organizations like hers to get things in place in a timely fashion, adding that it was apparent that incumbents were unlikely to attend or even fill out their questionnaires.
“So it leads to a ‘why bother’ attitude, which is a direct outcome of candidates deciding the public events and citizen-organized initiatives beyond pet favourites aren’t ‘worth it,’” she told Simcoe.com in an email.
Incumbents in Simcoe County include Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte’s Doug Downey, Andrea Khanjin in Barrie-Innisfil, Simcoe North’s Jill Dunlop, and Simcoe-Grey’s Brian Saunderson.
Turns out, they’re all members of the Ontario PC party.
Simcoe.com reached out to the party to ask why it isn’t participating in all-candidates debates. The party’s response was succinct.
“Ontario PC candidates will spend every day of the campaign at people’s doors, speaking to voters about our plan to protect Ontario,” responded a party spokesperson who declined to provide their name or title when asked.
This answer doesn’t work for Prophet.
“Elected officials are there to strengthen democracy, not suppress it. If you’re only willing to be accountable and transparent to your constituents on your terms and not what’s best to keep the electorate engaged and informed, then that’s a dangerous trend we’re allowing,” she warned.
Following an interview on the state of health care in Barrie, the Simcoe County Health Coalition’s Anisa Carrascal expressed disappointment to Simcoe.com in an apparent unwillingness to engage, saying this is nothing new, centring out the Ontario PC party specifically.
“We, in the past had the unfortunate experience, where the Conservative candidate generally doesn’t come to any of the town halls organized during the election cycle,” she said.
However, Simcoe.com also reached out to the Liberal Party of Ontario, as well as the Green Party of Ontario and the Ontario NDP, to learn their stances on all-candidate events, but have not received a response from any of the three parties by our deadline.
In the end, Prophet says this behaviour should give folks something to think about when heading to the polls.
“A healthy democracy thrives on open dialogue, scrutiny, and the exchange of ideas — all of which are central to debates. In my mind, why would you give your vote to someone who isn’t willing to demonstrate transparency and accountability?” she asked.
Meanwhile, the Barrie Chamber of Commerce has announced it is holding two candidate meet-and-greet sessions; the first taking place on Feb. 24 for the Barrie-Innisfil riding, the second on Feb. 25 for the riding of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte.
The chamber has not yet confirmed which parties will be in attendance, but more information on the events can be found through its social feed.
