With the provincial election just three weeks away (Feb. 27), Essex Green Party candidate Steve Higgins knows he has to hit the ground running.
“It’s going to be a lot of work. I may not be able to do a lot of door knocking. It will be a tough campaign,” says Higgins.
The 43-year-old small business owner is a life-long resident of Kingsville and takes pride in his community involvement which, so far, has included both coaching and officiating hockey.
Higgins goes up against incumbent PC candidate Anthony Leardi, who is seeking his second term, and NDP’s Rachael Mills who, like Higgins, is entering the political arena for the very first time. As of press time the Essex Liberals had not announced their candidate.
“I believe it’s time for a change in politics. I chose the Green Party because of their ‘People Over Politics’ policy.”
Elaborating, he has been drawn to the Greens because he believes that he should not have to vote along the party lines, but instead what is best for the residents of Essex County.
In the 2022 provincial election, Green candidate Nicholas Wendler received about two percent of the overall votes – 989. That was well back of Leardi with 24,926, NDP Ron LeClair’s 13,793, and Liberal Manpreet Brar, who had 4,186.
“The goal for this election is to get 5,000 votes and to gain a strong hold in Essex so by the next election we can have a Green candidate here,” says Higgins.
When asked by the River Town Times what he felt to be the biggest issues for Essex County this election, he quickly said housing, health care and education. He said that as far as housing is concerned it needs to be more density over sprawl and everyone should have better access to a family physician. As far as education, he says that is the province’s future.
“It’s time we started putting money back in (to education) because we are investing in our future.”
The last election saw the Greens win two seats including one by Party Leader Mike Schreiner in the riding of Guelph. Higgins said he was looking forward to an all candidates meeting with the party hopefuls Sunday night.
And as far as what he can best bring to the table, Higgins says being a hockey official and a politician may have a few similarities.
“You have to handle criticism and make quick decisions.”
If he does not get elected, Higgins wants to run in the next Kingsville municipal election where, ironically, current MP Chris Lewis got his start in politics.
Steve Higgins to represent Green Party in Essex
By Fred Groves
Where and when is the all candidates meeting?