Jake Tucker isn’t going to let the lack of a big political machine get in the way of fighting to become the next provincial representative for Barrie-Innisfil in Queen’s Park.
Tucker, who co-founded Innisfil Pride, has decided to take a second bite at the apple and is running in next month’s provincial election as an independent candidate.
Having lived in Simcoe County for the last 17 years, Tucker told BarrieToday the goal is to represent the whole community.
“This is my home, my community. I love the people here and it’s time for change,” Tucker said. “I have been running Innisfil Pride for four years and working with community members and other organizations. … (I know) that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Having a member of the 2+LGBTQ community running… is needed right now.”
Creating affordable housing would be top of the to-do list if elected, Tucker added.
“That’s big everywhere in Ontario, but Barrie and Innisfil seem to be quite pricey right now for rentals. I was looking to move and found a place for $2,900. That was upstairs. I didn’t realize when I got there that there were tenants living in the basement. I don’t know when a landlord became a job title.”
Transit between the two communities is another key issue Tucker wants to address if given the green light to Queen’s Park.
“There’s not a lot of transportation to get back and forth between Barrie and Innisfil. Seniors… are stuck here. It would be nice if we could find a way to extend transportation so we can have our own system running. I know Innisfil has tried in the past with Uber… but it doesn’t seem to work," Tucker said.
Running as an independent allows a candidate to have more of a voice than one who's tied to one particular party and their platform, added Tucker.
“I know you don’t have that backing of a party, but at the same time I don’t have to play 'follow the leader'. Anything I am fighting for is not necessarily my opinion, however it’s the opinion of the majority who have spoken in my community and that’s what I would be fighting for.”
That said, Tucker wants to be a strong advocate of “uniting” and admits to sharing many of the main views of the various political parties.
“I don’t necessarily share all of their (ideals) or how they handle certain situations, but I do share a lot of things with them. With not having to follow suit, and being able to have that loud and proud voice… it will be noticed at least throughout the house.”
Tucker also wanted to emphasize to the 2+LGBTQISSA community that the intention is to also to be a strong voice and advocate at Queen’s Park for them, as well as the BIPOC and transgender community.
“I am doing this a lot for how I grew up and what I had to go through. I want to make sure I can make a change so that everybody in the future doesn’t have that life which wasn’t great.”
