‘Our democracy is broken’: What do Ontario election results mean for Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, the city, Simcoe County?

While the June 2 Ontario election seems, on the surface, to have given the Progressive Conservative party a strong mandate in Barrie, Simcoe County and across the province, advocates say the low voter turnout indicates residents feel disenfranchised by their democratic institutions.

Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte (BSOM) saw one of the closest contests in Ontario, with incumbent PC MPP Doug Downey, who is also attorney general, beating Liberal candidate and Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman by 609 votes.

Unofficial results showed Downey earned 42.45 per cent of ballots cast in the riding, with Lehman (40.85 per cent), NDP’s Beverley Patchell (7.83), Green Party’s Elyse Robinson (4.35), New Blue’s Hayden Hughes (2.87) and Ontario Party’s Gerry Auger (1.65) trailing behind.

Of the 85,091 registered electors in the riding, 44.61 per cent voted.

The results show a lot of people don’t feel politics works for them, Margaret Prophet, Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition executive director,  said.

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