If you’ve known Karen Vecchio for even the shortest time she served as MP for Elgin-Middlesex-London (EML), you would have sensed that community comes first.
She was elected by members of the community to serve all members of the community.
EML PC MPP Rob Flack summed it up best at Vecchio’s retirement party last month.
One of the attributes that Flack most admires in Vecchio is that she is ecumenical.
“Not in the religious sense, but in terms of working across party lines, working across issues throughout this community that maybe have no partisan or political colours.
“And look at the room here today, there are different colours, political stripes, and issues, but she was able, and the House of Commons had tremendous respect, especially in the last couple of years.
“She’s earned those stripes, she works closely with all parties, and because she cares about the issues.
Photo Kennedy Freeman
“And yes, she’s a Conservative, but also she cared more about the community, more about getting what’s done for this community, what’s needed to be done, rather than being a true whatever.
“So her ecumenical ways, politically and community-wise, speak loud and clear.”
And so it should come as no surprise that Vecchio – in a London Free Press article this week – refuses to endorse Andrew Lawton, the Conservative Party of Canada candidate in what is now Elgin-St. Thomas-London South.
There is little indication that Lawton shares that same political philosophy of working your butt off to get elected so you can turn around and serve all of your constituents.
Not just those for voted for you.
For Lawton, you get the sense that a win at the polls is a critical step down the road to advancing his political stature.
He is no stranger to the art of politics. Lawton ran provincially in 2018 in London West and lost by 15,000 votes to the NDP’s Peggy Sattler.
He was hustled into that riding by Premier Doug Ford.
“I think people don’t understand that if being asked to endorse somebody, you have to believe in them, right? You have to sit there and know that you’re giving your name to that person. And I’m very cautious on that.”
A half-dozen years later, the London resident parachutes himself into this riding and on social media advises, “I’ve been fighting for freedom and conservative values my whole career. Now, I want to take that fight to Ottawa.”
His fight, not that of constituents.
No doubt Vecchio will face heat over her decision not to endorse Lawton.
After all, last July in the myFM studio, Vecchio made it known she would work diligently to ensure the riding remains a Conservative stronghold.
“My parting message is that I’m going to work hard over the next year. I want to make sure this is a Conservative-held riding.
“That’s who I am and the values of many people in this community. I would say we are very fiscally responsible and very socially open.
“I want to make sure our community continues to go in the right direction, working with our municipalities and our local MPP.”
Vecchio is convinced that a constituent-driven vision would not be upheld with Lawton sitting as MP.
As MPP Rob Flack pointed out, “So her ecumenical ways, politically and community-wise speak loud and clear.”
And so we spoke with Vecchio this week about that determination not to endorse the Conservative candidate.
“And so that the big picture right now is tariffs. And all of these little supporting things are your issues, like the cost of living and housing and healthcare and all of those issues. We cannot forget about those.”
She stressed right off the top, “I think people don’t understand that if being asked to endorse somebody, you have to believe in them, right?
“You have to sit there and know that you’re giving your name to that person. And I’m very cautious on that.”
Because it is your hard-earned reputation that is on the line.
“And honestly, that’s what I wanted out of politics. I wanted to be able to work collaboratively, representing the people here.
“Because I know not all of us think alike in this riding, and that’s exactly how the world is. But my job was to find out what the people down here actually felt, and how I represent them and their voices in Ottawa.
“So I don’t have to talk to people I just agree with. I like to talk to the people I don’t agree with just as much because you learn about the issues if you’re speaking to somebody who’s wearing a totally different pair of shoes on this.”
But this is not like any other election we have experienced in many decades.
Vecchio agreed wholeheartedly, and so we momentarily diverted our attention to a campaign in which the momentum has shifted dramatically.
“And so for me, it’s trying to focus on how do we keep it sustainable? How do we keep Canada, the sovereign country that we have right now? And that’s what we need to focus on.
“The City of St. Thomas is very invested, as are the Province of Ontario and the federal government. So for me, all levels of government are working on this to ensure that this is a project that goes through and is maintained and sustained.”
“I was on a podcast earlier today, and they were just discussing, you know, the big picture, and the big picture of the Academy Awards.
“But don’t forget about all of the supporting actors.
“And so that the big picture right now is tariffs. And all of these little supporting things are your issues, like the cost of living and housing and healthcare and all of those issues. We cannot forget about those.”
Vecchio continued, “So to me, that (tariffs) is a priority. I look at our agriculture, I look at our manufacturing. Those are priorities for our economy.
“We’ve got multiple places in this community that are building parts for automotive. We have people who are shipping things down to the United States, whether it’s fresh fruits or whether it’s pork. These things matter.”
This brought us to the future of the PowerCo EV battery gigafactory scheduled to open in St. Thomas in two years.
“But the EV battery plant is something really, really important because we have all levels of government working on this.
“The City of St. Thomas is very invested, as are the Province of Ontario and the federal government. So for me, all levels of government are working on this to ensure that this is a project that goes through and is maintained and sustained.
“We do not know what’s going to go on. There have been changes to mandates in the U.S. when they’re talking about the tariffs.
“What does that look like?
“And this is where we need all levels of government and everybody collaborating to say, this is the situation. How do we move forward as a country, as a province and as a city?”
At this point, Vecchio drew on advice given to her several years ago by Ed Holder, former MP and Mayor of London.
A piece of advice that goes a long way toward answering the endorsement question.
“He said to me, you cannot let the party and you cannot let anyone put anything under your name if you don’t 100 per cent believe it. You have to put your constituency first, always.
“And to this day, that’s exactly how I try to do things. A lesson well learned.”
There’s that ecumenical side of Vecchio coming out again, and so it should not surprise you one iota that an endorsement for Lawton was never in the cards.
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NOT IN OUR BACKYARDS
It’s a story that goes back a couple of years to city resident Kay Vaughan requesting that members of council allow the raising of hens in backyards.
In June 2023, Jim McCoomb, manager of planning services, recommended a proposed pilot project be deferred for a year “pending more information on the emerging concern of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and the potential for considerable costs and resource impacts required to safely administer a city-wide program.”
It would now appear the presence of chickens in St. Thomas backyards will be limited to KFC buckets and those on the barbecue.
A follow-up report from McCoomb for Monday’s (April 7) council meeting recommends members reject the idea.
McComb writes, “While preparing a report for the pilot project, staff determined that there were a number of issues associated with introducing backyard hens/chickens as a permitted use. These included:
- The City Animal Services Centre confirmed that they are not set up to handle chickens in the event that birds need to be confiscated or impounded due to abuse or sickness;
- Only two practicing vets locally specialize in food animals, including small flock chickens, and this limited availability of veterinarians accredited to care for hens to advise persons who have backyard hens on control for health risks is of concern;
- The cancellation of the City of Toronto pilot project citing significant costs and staff time, and concerns related to avian influenza;
- Escalating cases of avian influenza in the southwestern Ontario region.”
He concluded, “statistics published by the Canadian Government state that there are several currently active cases in the local area involving poultry operations, including in Middlesex Centre, North Middlesex and Oxford County.
“Given this situation, and the other issues/concerns noted above, staff are recommending that council table this matter indefinitely.”
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MTO UPDATE
According to a report to council for Monday’s meeting, construction on the Talbotville Bypass is projected to begin this summer and tree removal is already underway at the south end of Wonderland Road.
The report notes, “This project will require large quantities of fill for the construction of the Highway 3 and Ron McNeil Line Interchange that will be excavated from the west side of the Highway 3 Expressway in St. Thomas between Centennial Avenue and First Avenue and transported to the Talbotville Bypass project area.”
Based on the report, the bypass and the twinning of Hwy. 3 through St. Thomas is expected to take five years.
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TVDSB ACCOMMODATION PLAN
Included in Monday’s council agenda is a letter from the Thames Valley District School Board with a link to the 2024-25 Accommodation Plan.
The plan indicates a new secondary school to replace Arthur Voaden Secondary School, which is operating at 33 per cent capacity with 346 students.
This compares with 95 per cent capacity with 683 students at Central Elgin Collegiate Institute and 103 per cent with just over 1,000 students at Parkside Collegiate.
In addition, a new kindergarten to Grade 8 school is planned to serve St. Thomas and Talbotville.
Out in the west end of the county, West Elgin Secondary School continues to have a cloud hanging over it as the school is operating at 45 per cent capacity with 287 students.
An eye-opening statistic is the 335 portables now in use or planned at elementary schools across the board.
This includes six at Locke’s Public School and five at Kettle Creek Public School.
With substantial residential growth planned in the Sandymount area of St. Thomas, the school board has created a new holding zone whereby elementary students in that area will attend Elgin Court Public School until a new school is built.
The plan is chock-full of relevant information and statistics and can be found at http://www.tvdsb.ca/AP.
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