The Nipissing riding has its sixth candidate as the Ontario Party candidate, Scott Mooney filed papers just before the deadline last week.
See: Ontario Party enters last minute candidate in Nipissing
Mooney moved to the area almost five years ago from Guelph, where he got his first taste of political life. He now lives in the Mattawa area.
"I was the local nominee for the PC party until shenanigans within the party were exposed and I withdrew my candidacy," he told BayToday.
With just a short time to reorganize, he then ran as a candidate with the Ontario Party, a new party on the political scene at the time.
"I wasn’t successful then with the sudden change, but believe the Ontario Party has what the people of Ontario want for a style of governance."
While Mooney's entry was last minute he says nobody except the insiders in the Doug Ford administration knew this was happening.
"I was away working. Fortunately, I have a great bunch of people who know me well and support my campaign, who stepped up and helped with a lot of the footwork to prepare.
"I believe that integrity matters, especially when it comes to politics and representing the people. What I am bringing to the table is a good common sense approach to governing, where the voice of the people within our riding stays as the focus, rather than the other alternatives of standing to a proverbial party line. That’s where true representation begins. And with that, accountability is openly achievable, even from within a party."
Mooney says he's seen firsthand the effects of forced compliance to a party line within our current federal government.
"I believe that no matter what side of the fence we stand, everyone has good ideas worth exploring. And just because a good idea came from another person or party, should never prevent it from consideration."
See a link to Mooney's campaign page on Facebook.