Longtime assistant to Barrett will run as independent
Bobbi Ann Brady, the long-time executive assistant to Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett, is running as an independent candidate in the June 2 provincial election.
Brady, 46, declared her candidacy Wednesday, a week after Haldimand County Mayor Ken Hewitt was appointed by Premier Doug Ford as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding.
“We’re standing up for Haldimand-Norfolk and we’re sending the premier and the party a message that they can’t just take the people of this riding for granted,” Brady said. “People in the riding have spent a lot of time raising money and building the party here and we won’t be disrespected.
“We were not consulted and we were blindsided by the appointment.”
Barrett will serve as her campaign manager, Brady said.
“We’re switching roles,” said Brady, who has been the president of the provincial Haldimand-Norfolk Constituency Association and Barrett’s executive assistant for more than 20 years.
A graduate of Delhi District Secondary School, Brady has a diploma in broadcast journalism.
Brady, in a statement announcing her candidacy, said the Ontario PC Party has twice recognized her as Outstanding Campaign Manager and Outstanding Riding Association president.
A provincial and national gold medalist in kickboxing, Brady has represented Canada on the world stage. She is currently training to earn a black belt in karate.
Brady is the mother of Addison and Carter and lives in Lynedoch.
In an interview prior to her official announcement, Brady said local Conservatives are bewildered by Hewitt’s appointment as the Progressive Conservative candidate.
Brady said Hewitt has never held a Conservative Party membership, nor has he donated or attended any of the association’s events.
Moreover, in 2007 Hewitt ran unsuccessfully to be the federal Liberal candidate in Haldimand-Norfolk. Hewitt lost to Dr. Eric Hoskins, who, as the federal Liberal candidate, lost the 2008 federal election to incumbent Diane Finley.
“To say that local Progressive Conservatives are upset would be an understatement,” Brady said.
But Hewitt, who addressed his appointment at a meeting with Haldimand County councilors earlier this week, said the premier had little choice but to appoint a candidate.
“I can’t speak for the premier, I can’t speak for the current MPP and I can’t speak for the people involved in the association,” Hewitt said. “All I can say is that a nomination meeting did not occur, for whatever reason, and the premier was forced to have to ask me to join the team at such a late stage.
“The process is that the writing is going to drop in another week or so.”
Hewitt will step away from the day to day mayoral duties to concentrate on his provincial election campaign, he said. His mayoral duties will be handled by Deputy-Mayor Bernie Corbett for the month of May.
Hewitt also said he will donate the salary he will receive in May to a yet-to-be determined charity.
Hewitt has been made aware of Brady’s comments and on Tuesday said he was working on a response.
A call to Hewitt seeking comment on Wednesday afternoon was not returned.
When Hewitt was appointed last week, he announced his intentions in an internal email to Haldimand County staff a week ago.
The email made it to the media before Hewitt could issue a public statement.
Later that same day, Barrett announced his retirement and described Hewitt as an ‘arch rival.’
Barrett said that Hewitt had failed the first test of a provincial candidate by pre-empting the political party and the incumbent MPP on an important announcement. The party and the incumbent go first, Barrett told The Reformer.
“That’s how it works,” Barrett said.
Barrett said he alerted the premier’s office four years ago that this would be his final term and that he would not run in 2022.
Barrett and Hewitt have disagreed on key issues in Haldimand County over the years, dating back to the Indigenous land dispute in Caledonia, which began 16 years ago.
More recently, Barrett and Haldimand council have disagreed on a proposal to situate a planned community of 40,000 people near the Stelco steel plant in Nanticoke.
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