This is one of a series of profiles on the candidates running in Simcoe North for the Feb. 27 provincial election.
Chris Carr only wishes that politicians would better work towards the common good.
The Penetanguishene man says he wants politicians to stop bickering with one another when it comes to positive policy change and accept a good idea even if it emanated from an opponent.
Carr has thrown his hat in the upcoming provincial election ring with hopes to wrestle the Simcoe North crown away from incumbent Jill Dunlop (Progressive Conservative) as the Green Party of Ontario's flag bearer.
“I have been interested in politics and world events from a young age,” the 42-year-old Carr says.
While he has volunteered with the Green Party in the past including in the most recent election for local Green candidate Krystal Brooks, this isn’t the first time he’s run for political office.
While living in Kitchener, he ran in Kitchener Centre for the ‘None of the Above’ party. (The riding is currently home to one of the Green Party's two seats int he provincial legislature.)
“I enjoyed attending community events and listening to the public's frustrations and ideas,” Carr says. “I saw a lot of struggling people.”
Carr says the current economy is forcing people to choose between food, medicine or paying their electrical bills.
“Those are barriers for people. I don’t want to see anyone suffering and suffering in silence.”
And like the Kitchener party he previously carried the banner for, Carr is dedicated to electoral reform.
“The way we do elections needs to change,” says Carr, who’s a big proponent of adopting proportional representation as a better way for Canadians to elect their MPs, MPPs and, in turn, governments and points out that participatory democracy is one of the six core values of the Green Party.
“Other governments do it better than ours. We can learn from them.”
Besides the environmental benefits of voting Green, Carr says the party doesn’t ‘whip’ its members meaning individuals are free to speak independently, rather than having to toe the party line.
Carr, who has autism, moved to the area during the pandemic with his wife, Corrie LePage, and their four children aged seven to 16 as well as their American bulldog Molly.
While his career has included nearly two decades in full stack development work, he’s currently driving a school bus on a route that takes him through Tiny Township.
“Now, I do a bunch of different things,” he says, adding he also now works as a tech sales representative at Staples, but hopes to soon get back to working in his field full-time as a full-stack developer (ie. a software engineer who can work on all parts of an application, from the user interface to the database).
“I’d really like to get back into programming.”
But politically, Carr says he’s running for a spot at Queen’s Park due to a number of issues now affecting the province, including a failing health-care system and lack of environmental protections.
“Our family is having a hard time finding a family doctor,” he says, adding he realizes they’re far from alone in this struggle.
“We’ve been on a list for a long time. It’s hard to recruit doctors and nurses to some rural areas. I also think the educational system is underfunded and they’re cutting the budget for kindergarten and the younger grades.”
Andrew Philips/MidlandToday
Carr is also upset by what he sees as a lessening of ensuring all voices are heard.
As an example, he points to “the chilling effects” of Tiny Township’s plan to introduce a citizen code of conduct for those attending its meetings.
“The new code of conduct introduces sweeping restrictions on freedom of expression, raising serious concerns about overreach,” he says.
“It is unlikely to withstand scrutiny from the Ontario Human Rights scrutiny given its vague and arbitrary definitions of improper conduct.”
Carr says he’s passionate about using technology to address problems like climate change and social inequality.
During his career, he worked with British Columbia’s Ministry of Education to help update their K-12 curriculum and collaborated with the province’s Ministry of Forests and Alberta’s Ministry of Natural Resources on wildfire tracking and management.
“We have all the tools we need to solve the problems facing our communities,” Carr says. “And you can trust the Ontario Greens to get it done.”
In a release highlighting Carr’s candidacy, party leader Mike Schreiner says Carr is a natural problem solver.
He adds: “His experience working with various provincial governments to support future generations and deliver real climate action will make him a strong advocate for his community.”
To read Carr's profile on the Green Party of Ontario website, click here.