Councillor Pinsonneault soon to be sworn in as MPP Pinsonneault

Last Thursday was a double-win for Steve Pinsonneault.

The Progressive Conservative candidate from Thamesville won the Lambton-Kent-Middlesex by-election by a landslide, and his beloved Toronto Maple Leafs pulled off another great playoff win over the Boston Bruins.

“It was a great night all around for Blue!” Pinsonneault said, laughingly, after garnering more than double the votes of his runner-up in the May 2 by-election.

With his lopsided win, Pinsonneault will head to Toronto to serve as the riding’s Member of Provincial Parliament at Queen’s Park.

His victory keeps the LKM riding Blue, following the three terms of PC Monte McNaughton of Newbury, who resigned last September and necessitated the by-election.

“I’m here tonight to officially pass the torch to our next MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex,” McNaughton said during Pinsonneault’s victory celebration at the Dawn-Euphemia Community Centre in Florence. “I don’t have to tell anyone in this room, but we have elected an outstanding person to take our concerns for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex to Queen’s Park to be our voice in the government.”

Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff also attended Pinsonneault’s celebration.

“I’m very excited for Steve. He is going to represent Chatham-Kent very well,” Canniff said. I’m looking forward to this new working relationship.”

Pinsonneault heads into provincial Parliament with 17 years of political experience as the Ward 3 East Kent representative on the Chatham-Kent Council.

Pinsonneault collected 15,549 of the 27,429 (56.85%) votes cast to win by a huge 9,341 margin over Liberal candidate CathyBurghart-Jesson, mayor of Lucan-Biddulph and former Warden of Middlesex County, who collected 6,206 votes (22.55%). Kathryn Shailer, the NDP candidate from Alvinston, was third with 2,973 votes (10.80%). Keith Benn, the New Blue Party candidate from Port Lambton, finished fourth with 1,513 votes (5.50%).

The other four candidates failed to get 500 votes: Andraena Tilgner, of the Green Party of Ontario, had 429 (1.56%); Stephen R. Campbell, None of the Above Direct Democracy Party, had 360 (1.31%); Cynthia Workman, of the Ontario Party, had 310 (1.13%); and Hilda Walton, of the Family Rights Party, had 87 (0.32%).

Elections Ontario reported that only 30 percent of the 90,993 registered voters cast a ballot.

“I was, I’m not going to lie,” Pinsonneault answered if he was surprised by his lopsided victory. “Having Monte endorse me was huge.

“And I think, honestly, the cost of living and the Carbon Tax drove people away from the Liberals,” he said.

Pinsonneault said he had a good feeling going into the election on the feedback he received during his campaign.

“I canvassed myself in every community and had very positive responses at the doors; that’s usually a good tell-tale of what’s going to come,” stated Pinsonneault.

He put in over 17,000 kilometres to familiarize himself with the riding, about three times the size of Chatham-Kent.

“I wanted to learn the communities and what’s important to the residents in each one of those communities,” he said.

He visited Strathroy over 20 times.

“That’s the biggest community, and nobody knew me ... obviously, it paid off,” Pinsonneault said by the numbers.

He also won the polls in Lucan, where Burghart-Jesson, his closest contender, is mayor.

As he heads to Queen’s Park midway through the 2022-26 term, Pinsonneault will face several major issues, none hotter locally than York1 Environmental Waste Solutions’ proposed plan to activate a dormant landfill near Dresden.

Pinsonneault was already on record opposing the landfill both as a citizen—with the truck traffic going through his hometown of Thamesville—and as a Councillor.

And he will add his MPP title to oppose the landfill.

“As I’ve stated publicly, that’s just not a good fit there,” said Pinsonneault. “I want to see this environmental assessment go forward and give these people peace of mind.”

Pinsonneault stated that he intends to make his position on the landfill known to those around Queen’s Park, including Premier Doug Ford and Minister of the Environment Andrea Khanjin.

“He already knows; he has commented on the dump issue,” Pinsonneault said of Ford.

“The Minster is obviously listening to the residents to order the environmental assessment,” said Pinsonneault. “They know there is something here that needs to be dealt with.”

Pinsonneault said the completion of the Ford government’s plan to provide broadband internet for all of rural Ontario by 2025 and investing in primary health care are two other local issues of priority.

Another is continuing McNaughton’s focus on enhancing skilled trades.

“Monte really brought the trades to the forefront, and being a tradesperson, I understand its importance,” said Pinsonneault, who has operated Pinsonneault Enterprises, an auto repair business, and Steve’s Sign Shop in Thamesville for over 25 years.

Last week, the province announced the creation of Focused Apprenticeship Skills Training (FAST). This initiative will allow Grade 11 and 12 students to participate in more apprenticeship learning through additional cooperative education credits.

“You can get kids right out of school into apprenticeship programs; that’s monumental,” Pinsonneault said of the new program.

Pinsonneault said his experience dealing with infrastructure in the Chatham-Kent rural and urban areas will be beneficial when he switches to his MPP role.

“I know the issues, the infrastructure needs (in LKM), and how the province can help with that,” he said.

Pinsonneault said he is grateful for his 17 years of service to the citizens of East Kent and the support he received during his five terms.

“I appreciate the support; I kept my voter base; you don’t do that unless you’re doing your job.”

But it wasn’t always easy.

“There were some trying times, no question—the Bothwell sewer issue back in the day, the woodlot cutting bylaw—we dealt with a lot of things along the way that were challenging,” he reported.

Pinsonneault was in Toronto for orientation on Monday to prepare for his first caucus meeting on Tuesday.

“It’s going to be a learning curve, no question,” said Pinsonneault, who is looking for an apartment or rental because of his time in Toronto. “At the end of the day, I’m up for the challenge and looking forward to the next chapter.”

Meanwhile, Chatham-Kent Council will determine Pinsonneault’s replacement, either by a by-election or by appointing Morena McDonald, who finished third behind Pinsonneault and John Wright in the 2022 municipal election.

Michael Bennett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Ridgetown Independent News