Five things to know about Southwestern Ontario’s newest MPP

He’s a Queen’s Park rookie, but Southwestern Ontario’s newest legislator is no stranger to politics. Ellwood Shreve breaks down five things to know about MPP-elect Steve Pinsonneault, who won Thursday’s Lambton-Kent-Middlesex byelection.

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PARTY FAVORS

Pinsonneault’s victory keeps the sprawling rural riding, the same size as Prince Edward Island, in the hands of Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government. The Tories held the riding for a dozen years straight until former cabinet minister Monte McNaughton bowed out of politics last fall for the private sector, leaving the seat vacant. With Pinsonneault headed to Queen’s Park, the Tories remain dominant in the wider London region, holding seven of its 10 seats.

POLITICAL CRED

Like McNaughton before him, who cut his teeth in politics as a Newbury town councillor, Pinsonneault, 61, is making the jump to Queen’s Park from a traditional launch pad to higher office: civic politics. Pinsonneault has 17 years under his belt as a municipal politician, representing the largely rural East Kent ward on Chatham-Kent council. His new boss, the first, followed a similar political path – serving first as a Toronto city councilor before making a failed mayoral bid, only to later win the Ontario PC leadership and lead the Tories back to power in 2018.

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BUSINESS BACKGROUND

Like many in the government caucus at Queen’s Park, Pinsonneault is cut from business cloth. He’s been a small business owner in small-town Thamesville, near Chatham, for 26 years, operating Pinsonneault Enterprises, an auto repair business, and Steve’s Sign Shop. He’s also been active for years in community groups and boards and has 32 years of experience as a volunteer firefighter. An especially valuable skill in rural areas, some politicians who have been volunteer firefighters will tell you it also doubles through its networking as a helpful added way to keep an ear on local issues.

HOW HE GOT STARTED

Single issues about which they’re passionate often persuade newcomers to try their hand in local government, running for office on civic councils or school boards – and Pinsonneault was no different. In his case, it was a plan by Chatham-Kent – ​​a municipality taking in both Chatham and the former Kent County – to close Thamesville public library. “I wanted to be an advocate for my community,” he recalled. “I thought, ‘If you want to be part of the solution, you need to be in a position to do that.’”

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Pinsonneault said he hopes to take that same grassroots approach to Queen’s Park, as he goes from being a civic politician in a far-flung municipality to an MPP in a larger rural riding without a single city. Wallaceburg, in the southwest, and Strathroy-Caradoc, in the northeast, are the two major urban centers in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex. “Chatham-Kent is very much a large rural area, with urban areas throughout, and that’s the way Lambton-Kent-Middlesex is,” he said.

WHAT SOME OTHERS SAY

As a volunteer firefighter, Pinsonneault is a “great team player” never hesitant to take calls, said Rick Patterson, chief of the Thamesville fire station. He said he believed Pinsonneault served the area well as a civic politician. “He’s never crossed a line, so to speak, to go a different way if something was easier.”

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Patterson also recalled helpful things he said Pinsonneault has done behind the scenes, such as barely charging Patterson’s sister to get her vehicle fixed after her son was killed in a motorcycle accident years ago. “He always said, ‘That’s probably one of the worst things that could happen to a person in their life.’ ”

Bill Parks, a farmer from nearby Bothwell and founder of Parks Blueberries, a country market and blueberry farm, said he likes Pinsonneault’s listening style – hearing everyone’s point of view – and how he’s worked for the area over the years. “He understands (Chatham-Kent’s) urban needs, he understands the rural needs, and he does his best to try and get everyone coming along together rather than . . . fighting each other.”

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