Rob Flack, the Progressive Conservative MPP-elect in Elgin–Middlesex–London, says the 10,000 kilometers he put on his truck criss-crossing the vast urban-rural riding this campaign was well worth it.
Rob Flack, the Progressive Conservative MPP-elect in Elgin–Middlesex–London, says the 10,000 kilometers he put on his truck criss-crossing the vast urban-rural riding this campaign was well worth it.
The business executive is one of the three new PC MPPs elected in Southwestern Ontario Thursday, as London’s three core ridings re-elected New Democrats. Flack is taking over a seat vacated by longtime PC MPP Jeff Yurek, a former cabinet minister in Doug Ford’s government who resigned his seat in February.
Flack, who ran unsuccessfully for the Conservatives in West London during last fall’s federal election, won with 51 per cent of the vote in Elgin–Middlesex–London — a 32 point margin over the second-place finisher, New Democrat Andy Kroeker.
“They say one door closes and another door opens. As much as we wanted to win last fall, I’m thrilled that I’m here. . . . It’s home,” Flack said Friday.
“Since I got the nomination, it’s felt like a glove that fits. I really felt comfortable. . . . When you add in the small town and rural aspect and the people, it just fits.”
Flack is chief executive of Masterfeeds in London, a national animal feed business employing 700. He said bolstering the skilled trades is one of his biggest goals at Queen’s Park.
“Industries are coming here, but we have to have the skilled labor to fill these jobs. There’s a shortage, big-time,” he said.
Growing the area workforce — Elgin–Middlesex–London will be home to a new Amazon warehouse and Maple Leaf Foods plant — is a major priority, Flack said, along with affordable housing, economic growth and ensuring access to health care.
“With the health care crisis, the pandemic came up and frankly, no one was really ready for it. This problem has been in the making for probably 30 years, not three,” Flack said. “We need to get more hospitals and to hire more health-care workers. That was loud and clear at the doors (this campaign).”
Flack has lived in Dorchester for nearly 30 years, a change from the riding’s most recent federal and provincial representatives, who most often hail from St. Thomas or Elgin County. He has committed to keeping the riding’s constituency office in St. Thomas.
While he’s lived in a small town and has roots in the agriculture sector through his work, Flack said he is ready to serve his urban constituents in south London, Lambeth and St. Thomas and wants to build strong relationships with his three NDP neighbours.
“Politics is about give and take, it’s about finding common ground and I hope that we can work together in a constructive way, like Jeff Yurek did before me,” Flack said.
Southwestern Ontario’s political scorecard remained unchanged, with London’s three core city ridings remaining in NDP hands while the remaining seven in the region remained Tory blue.
Terence Kernaghan, who snatched London North Center from the Liberals in an open race in 2018, was re-elected to a second term Thursday with 39 per cent of the vote, down from 47 per cent four years ago.
Teresa Armstrong was re-elected in London–Fanshawe, a seat she’s held since 2011, and London West NDP Peggy Sattler was sent back to Queen’s Park for a fourth term.
While Kernaghan, Armstrong and Sattler won decisive victories, all saw decreases in their share of the vote and their margins over their second-place PC challengers this election.
Kernaghan beat PC candidate Jerry Pribil, owner and operator of the Marienbad restaurant and Chaucer’s Pub, by a nine-point margin — a much narrower win than his nearly 17 percentage point lead over the second-place Tory in 2018.
Armstrong’s had a 14 point lead over Jane Kovarikova in London-Fanshawe, down from a 26 percentage point margin over the runner-up in 2018.
In West London, Sattler’s margin of victory narrowed from about 26 percentage points in the 2018 election to about 11 points this time.
After a collapse in support provincewide in 2017, the Liberals increased their share of the vote in London’s three core ridings this election, getting between 10 and 20 per cent of ballots this time instead of the eight to 16 per cent range it had in 2018.
Voter turnout was down significantly from 2018 levels across the province and in the four London-area ridings.
with files by Norm De Bono, The London Free Press