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Essa mayor, Collingwood OBGYN to challenge Kellie Leitch

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In Council Watch
Nov 5th, 2017
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Dr. Gillian Yeates

by John Edwards Collingwood Connection

It appears Simcoe-Grey MP Kellie Leitch will have competition for the Conservative Party nomination for the 2019 federal election.

Terry Dowdall, deputy warden for the County of Simcoe and Essa Township mayor, as well as Dr. Gillian Yeates, an OBGYN from Collingwood, will be throwing their hats in the ring.

The party’s nomination procedure allows individuals to become candidates for the nomination as long they submit a nomination form by Dec. 15. Those interested must include a petition featuring 50 names of current party members who live in the riding.

Dowdall is in his second term as Mayor of Essa after having served seven years as deputy mayor. Dowdall operated the Baxter Corner Store for 20 years. He is married with two children.

“As mayor of Essa Township and deputy warden of the County of Simcoe, I’ve got my ear to the ground of the concerns, in the County of Simcoe,” he said in an interview with simcoe.com. “I have the interest of helping the people and representing the people. I think we need a strong party going into the 2019 election.”

Yeates graduated from Harvard University where she played on the varsity hockey team and attended medical school at Dalhousie. She operated a practice in Collingwood since 2000.

Yeates said she wants to see the party run on a platform that focuses on acceptance and equal opportunity for people.

“I feel strongly there needs to be changes and changes on how we are addressing our public and presenting ourselves as a country,” she said. “Sometimes there is something that says this is a need, and this needs to change and that’s why I am doing it.”

Yeates said the timing for her is good as both her kids are older and she has the opportunity to bring someone else on to her practice.

“The one thing I wouldn’t do is leave my patients without appropriate care,” she said.

Yeates said she would make a good candidate because she’s a good listener and is aware of the challenges faced by residents of the riding.

“I listen and I have a responsibility to the people of this area,” she said.

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