Barrie mayoral candidate Alex Nuttall officially kicked off his campaign for the city’s top political job this morning.
Nuttall welcomed approximately 140 supporters Saturday morning in the parking lot of PIE Restaurant head office on Collier Street, who came to volunteer their time to canvass homes in the city.
“The whole intent of today is to start the conversation about where the people of Barrie want their city to go and find out what the issues are that matter most to them. I have a few ideas, but I know folks around the city will have their ideas as they care as much as I do about our community,” he told BarrieToday before taking the microphone to address the volunteers.
This run for mayor isn’t Nuttall’s first foray into politics, having served on Barrie city council from 2006 to 2014 and as Conservative MP for Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte from 2015 to 2019.
“I love public service. I feel like it’s my purpose and it’s certainly my passion. As I looked at the City of Barrie, and how we were progressing, I think we are uniquely positioned as a municipality that’s growing, but with that comes a lot of challenges,” he said. “I want to focus on those challenges to ensure that when my kids grow up, they don’t have to leave town in order to have an awesome, well-paying job. I don’t believe that you should have to have a job in Toronto to afford a home in Barrie. We need to ensure we focus on having a complete community.”
As for why he opted to return to municipal politics, Nuttall said it’s because he believes that is where some of the most important decisions are made.
“That’s really where the rubber hits the road. It’s a place where you have the most direct impact (to) really help your community and I get to stay right here in town. That’s beautiful to me because I love this city,” he said. “I have experience on all levels of government and working with all parties. I have certainly been elected in a partisan manner, but I have worked across the aisle on issues that have been affecting Barrie.”
That ability to work with people of all political stripes, combined with his experience in various levels of government, he said, is what will help set him apart in the October municipal election.
“I have spent some time in the private sector. I have a finance background and, certainly, bringing that to city hall in terms of how we are going to approach things going forward, I think, will be very important. We need to make sure we’re setting our priorities, funding our priorities, but that we aren’t spread too thin,” he said.
