THUNDER BAY – Kevin Holland has been a municipal politician for the past three decades, the past 25 as mayor of Conmee Township.
During his time in office, the Conservative Party hopeful in Thunder Bay-Atikokan says he’s learned first-hand the inner workings of the provincial government, what they’re good at and what they’re not when it comes to Northwestern Ontario.
Holland says it’s that experience that will prove invaluable at Queen’s Park, allowing him to become the voice the region sorely needs in the legislature should the Conservatives be re-elected for another four-year term on June 2.
“I feel that my 31 years of experience as a municipal councillor and mayor, combined with my business experience, gives me a unique opportunity to represent the interests of the riding, with a clear perspective as too what we need.”
That’s been missing locally for at least the past four year with a Conservative government at the helm and an NDP representative sitting in opposition in Thunder Bay-Atikokan.
Holland said the biggest issue in the riding, coming out of the pandemic and 15 years of Liberal rule in Ontario from 2003 to 2018, is finding solid financial footing. He said the Conservatives inherited a province in the worst financial shape in Ontario’s history and the party has spent the past four years trying to right the ship – despite the damage done by COVID-19.
“We need to focus on building our economy in order to sustain health communities,” Holland said.
“We can’t have healthy communities without a strong economy and we can’t have a strong economy without healthy communities. They depend on each other.”
Health care is among Holland’s top priorities, along with mental health and addiction issues that have plagued those that live in all four corners of the expansive Thunder Bay-Atikokan riding.
“We’ve seen a lot of investments in those two fields, particularly by the Ford government, but there’s more work that needs to be done and I want to make sure we have a strong voice at the table, not just telling them what we need, but explaining to them why we need it,” Holland said.
“I think that’s where we’ve been lacking before. If you don’t explain why you need something, the message can be lost, because everybody’s got their hand out.”
Holland said it’s key to have a seat in government in the Thunder Bay area.
“It’s huge, we absolutely need to have a seat at the table. We’ve seen what we get when we don’t have representation as part of the government. All the polls we’ve seen is the Ford government is on track for another majority government and Thunder Bay-Atikokan needs to have a representative at that table, advocating for the needs of our riding.”
