Local municipal politician earns Oxford Liberal nod in upcoming provincial election

Woodstock city/county councillor Bernia Martin will run for the provincial Liberal party in the Feb. 27 election. Contributed photo

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A familiar face in Oxford County has been acclaimed as the Liberal nominee for the Feb. 27 provincial election.

Bernia Martin’s campaign will be her first foray into provincial politics after successfully earning a seat as a city/county councillor in Woodstock in 2022.

“I have always believed people deserve a credible candidate to choose from, that’s the first point. Secondly, I believe Doug Ford and this conservative government really has not been a friend to municipalities or the people of Oxford.”

She added county residents should expect more and have a stronger voice at Queen’s Park. The Gazette asked Martin if she sees the upcoming vote as an election against Doug Ford or the current Oxford MPP, Ernie Hardeman.

“My frustration has been with the Ford government as a whole and its policies. I have never personally had an issue with Ernie, he’s a nice guy. For me, this is about the much bigger picture across Ontario and how the Conservatives are treating rural and small municipalities and that’s my focus,” explained Martin.

Martin said she has issues with not only the funding provided by the current government but also its policies.

“The money is nice, the funding is nice, but the policies live on well beyond and of it. The Ford government has fallen down on homelessness prevention. For me in Oxford County, that’s number one. We have a homelessness, mental health and addiction crisis, and access to attainable housing crisis, and those are all linked.”

She added the lack of funding is making those problems worse, and continues to grow because of a lack of responsible and dedicated money streams.

“I could point to five different examples of why that is. I think, and this aligns very closely with the Liberal platform, that health care and education are so underfunded and our policies do not meet the needs of real people living in communities like Oxford.”

Martin explained there are smaller issues she wanted to point out where the big cities are able to receive big dollars for certain files.

“You mentioned health care what the big ridings get the smaller ridings don’t always get, the same goes for me with rural transit. Southwest Community Transit is an established system throughout nine rural counties.”

Martin said it was initially funded through the Ministry of Transportation and started back in 2019. That funding is set to cease at the end of March.

“This system connects community to community so people can get from one town to the next on a rural system and now the funding is disappearing. We know that the economic impact of that decision will be close to three-quarters of a billion dollars based on the people who ride that to get to work.”

She added people also use the transit system to attend health care appointments, college or university, as well as allowing seniors to remain in their homes.

“Seniors have been allowed to stay in their communities and age in place because they don’t have to move to a large urban centre to access the things they need because they have been able to do it through the rural transit system. That’s an example, one of many, where smaller ridings don’t always get the attention some other parts of Ontario get. Transit is essential in the GTA. Why isn’t it here?”

One criticism of the Liberals and party leader Bonnie Crombie is she still does not have a seat in the provincial legislature. Martin doesn’t see it as an issue.

“Critics could point to any aspect of any campaign and find something to be negative about. Bonnie has been focused on leading the party, developing policies and talking to people. She is doing the work to reestablish a party that needs that energy right now.”

She added having a seat or not having a seat in the legislature has not impacted the leader’s ability to do her job.

“She’ll run in this election and I think she’ll win handily. There is the expectation the leader must have a seat but it’s not a requirement.”

In addition to being on Woodstock City Council, Martin is the board chair of Southwest Public Health and had a two-decade career working in the economic development field. She was also raised on a family farm in Southwestern Ontario.

The Gazette will run a feature on each Oxford and Kitchener-Conestoga candidate running in the upcoming provincial election.