THUNDER BAY – Adelina Pecchia says she hears a clear appetite for change on local doorsteps.
The Conservative candidate for the Thunder Bay-Rainy River riding is looking to build on momentum from the party’s surprisingly strong second-place finish there in the last election in 2019.
The ordained clergy member, who recently moved back to Thunder Bay from Kingston, said what she’s hearing from the public on the campaign trail has made her optimistic people are ready to turn the page from the Trudeau government.
“People in Thunder Bay-Rainy River want change, we need change,” she said. “I will be part of that change and renewal.”
Pecchia believes the factors driving frustration with the current government are largely economic.
“I’ve been hearing a lot of things about housing costs, loss of jobs, the economy,” she said.
Her stint in Marathon, where she served as a senior pastor before moving to Kingston several years ago, gave her a first-hand look at the economic challenges faced by smaller communities in the region.
“There are a lot of places in the Thunder Bay-Rainy River riding where businesses are shutting down, and a lot of factories are shutting down,” she said. “People are worried about their jobs.”
The pandemic has exacerbated those challenges for small businesses in particular, she said.
Pecchia has a BA in history and religious studies and a Masters degree in theological studies, and has served as a pastor, associate, and worship leader.
The candidate has said she would champion the needs of seniors and the vulnerable if elected, and in an interview pointed to Conservative plans to expand disability benefits as a key policy plank.
The party has pledged to boost the Canada Workers Benefit’s disability supplement from $713 to $1,500, and lower requirements to qualify for the disability tax credit.
Pecchia, who was born in Italy and raised in Westfort, will be on the ballot alongside Liberal incumbent Marcus Powlowski, Yuk-Sem Won (NDP), Tracey MacKinnon (Green), and Alan Aubut (PPC).
Pecchia has declined to take part in two debates against that field during the campaign.
In 2019, Conservative candidate Linda Rydholm placed second with 29.3 per cent of the vote, narrowly topping Won’s 29.1 per cent (Powlowski won election with 35.3 per cent support).
That was the best result for the party since the 2004 creation of the Thunder Bay-Rainy River riding.
