by Adam Gault
With Ontario’s general election less than one month away, candidates are officially gearing up for the date that will determine the government and members of Ontario’s 42nd parliament.
Chris Lewis, a former Kingsville Town Councillor and firefighter, was recently selected to represented the Progressive Conservative Party in the Essex Riding in the upcoming provincial election. He held the official launch of his campaign at his office in Kingsville on Saturday, May 5.
Married, with three children, Lewis said one of the main reasons he has decided to run, is to ensure that children and young adults have a chance at a better future, and to ensure Essex and Ontario, as a whole, can prosper and move in the right direction.
“I was told by my father a long time ago, ‘you have one job in the world, and that job is to leave the world in a better place than you found it,’” Lewis explained. “That’s what I intend to do. Everything that we’re doing now, is all about the future.”
Having spent four years on Kingsville Town Council, in addition to seven years as a firefighter between 1995-2002, Lewis explained it is his passion of public service that drove him to seek the PC Essex nomination to continue that public service through representing Essex in the Ontario government.
If elected, a top priority for Lewis will be the widening of Highway # 3 from its current two-lane configuration between Essex and Leamington, which he said is currently a tremendously dangerous stretch of road.
“Shy of our young adults having a voice, the number one issue is Highway 3,” Lewis said. “It’s very serious to me. Having been a firefighter, I’ve attended literally likely hundreds of accidents right on that road. From a safety aspect, it’s vital that it finally gets done.”
Lewis said he understands local citizens have made this request to governments at the municipal and federal level, but it is the lack of a voice in the provincial government that he said has kept the project from being undertaken.
“The only reason it doesn’t get done, is because they don’t have a voice at the table,” Lewis said. “They don’t have a representative of Essex with their hand on the purse strings, quite frankly.”
According to Lewis, an additional key component of his platform will be to address the debt, cost of living, and high taxation, and that the greater PC platform is the best way to address these issues in Essex and across the province.
“Why does hydro have to absolutely break the bank, so to speak,” Lewis questioned. “We need to get right down to the real root of problems, and I believe that the PC government, that Doug Ford’s platform, is correct.”
Lewis noted the Progressive Conservatives have pledged a 12 percent decrease in hydro bills from the get go, in addition to the repeal of the provincial carbon tax.
“Basically overnight, you will pay 4.3 cents less per litre at the pump,” Lewis explained. “These are the kind of initiatives that are really going to affect families, but further to that, small business.”
Feeling this election campaign will bring a powerful movement to Queen’s Park, Lewis explained that voters in Essex and across the province are looking for change in representation, and that he would be proud to bring his energy and dedication to serve as their representative in the provincial legislature.
“This campaign is not about Chris [myself], this campaign is only about the needs of the people of Essex, and Ontario, and of Canada. This movement is not about one individual. It’s about people realizing they’re sick and tired of being sick and tired of high debt, high taxes, and high cost living, and they desperately want change,” Lewis said. “It’s something that I know I’m doing for all the right reasons.”
If you would like to contact or learn more about the Chris Lewis Campaign for Essex MPP, visit www.votelewis.ca.
Ontarians heads to the polls on June 7.