KENORA – The Green Party of Ontario’s candidate for Kenora-Rainy River has run for public office many times before.
“I've been an advocate for people with disabilities since 2010,” John Redins told Newswatch from his home in Ottawa.
“I've ran in numerous elections — municipal, federal and provincial — and I love to challenge the politicians on how they feel about us as people with disabilities.
“I had a double hip collapse and I felt that the governments have abandoned us,” he continued.
“So since then I've become an advocate. And I’ve run against (former premier) Dalton McGinty, (MPP) John Fraser and others. And I just like to get involved in that kind of thing.”
The Green Party website’s candidate biography for Redins, a former Schreiber resident, says he “has a long history of community service, starting in his hometown in Northwestern Ontario.”
Redins “became deeply aware of the need for greater representation for people with disabilities” while awaiting surgery, according to the biography.
The website says he’s “committed to the principles of the Green movement, including ecological wisdom, non-violence, social justice, sustainability, participatory democracy and respect for diversity. He has represented these values in his advocacy work at federal, provincial and municipal levels, often presenting at committee meetings to champion these causes.”
Government misspending is hurting northern communities, Redins said.
For example, he said, “northern Ontario communities are paying outrageous (fees) for OPP services because of gimmicks like the $200 (rebate checks).”
Another example is how the government is “wasting money” getting an Austrian company to build a massive spa where Ontario Place once sat in Toronto, he said.
Government misspending means less money for the services Ontarians need, said Redins.
A post this week on his campaign’s Facebook page said Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford “still devalues people with disabilities in the province. When he was a (Toronto) city councillor he was caught saying negative comments to a home in his ward that treats people with developmental issues. I am running in Kenora-Rainy River for the Green Party of Ontario to tell Mr. Ford I am worth it.”
Redins questioned whose interests the Progressive Conservatives have at heart.
“Is Doug Ford the premier of Toronto or the premier of Ontario?” he asked rhetorically.
Revenues generated by northern resource extraction are being put into expensive Toronto projects such as a light rail transit system, he said.
“That’s money from the North that could have been used for infrastructure projects in northern Ontario, plus it could also subsidize the federal program (for) clean water for First Nation communities.
Redins said "things have to change, and they’re not changing.”
