Candidate Profile - Matthew Barton

Jeff Green | Oct 17, 2019

Matthew Barton’s candidacy came about as the result of his fervent support for the newly minted People’s Party of Canada (PPC). In August, he attended the People’s Party of Canada 2019 Conference in Gatineau. Quebec.

“One difference between the People’s Party and all the others is our commitment to improving pensions and healthcare for veterans. We would re-instate payments under the Pension Act, and roll back the cuts for Veterans that the current government has brought about. My grandfather is a veteran and we need to show veterans more respect,” he said.

He joined the campaign only 7 weeks ago and said that it has been a huge effort and learning curve for him since he works full-time as a Construction Modelling Specialist on Parliament Hill. Although he works on Parliament Hill, his job does not put him into contact with the political side of things, just the site itself. The first thing he said when interviewed for this profile was that he is “not a politician and has no experience in political campaigns.”

Barton does not live in the riding. He is, however, “a Valley boy” having been raised in a rural household south of Ottawa, attending North Dundas High School in Chesterville before. He also attended Algonquin College in Ottawa, and worked in an architect’s office for 6 years. He decided to seek the party nomination in Lanark Frontenac Kingston after monitoring the PPC website all summer to make sure that there were candidates in all the ridings near his home in Ottawa.

“I saw that there was no candidate in Lanark Frontenac Kingston, and feeling strongly that the Peoples Party needed to be represented in as many ridings as possible, I almost felt like it was my duty to put my name forward and here I am. It has been difficult because I am basically doing everything myself since I had only one or two volunteers in the riding when I started,” he said.

The reception within the riding has been gratifying.

“People are willing to listen to the party platform and that is what I am here for, to provide an important perspective on some of the major issues.”

One of those issues is immigration, and Barton supports the party position to curtain immigration, place a strong focus on economic migrants, and prioritize refugees facing persecution. “We are for cutting immigration and focussing on the over one million Canadians who are unemployed, our homeless, and our veterans, ” he said.

His is also a strong supporter of the People’s Parties’ climate change policy.

“We are the only party that thinks the ‘climate crisis’ rhetoric is alarmist in Canada’s case. Canada is not a big emitter in global terms and we are not really facing a crisis. We shouldn’t be talking about stifling our economy today when we need to invest in the technologies of tomorrow.  If we can use safe pipelines to transport oil for export and sell cleaner natural resources to China, which is using vast amounts of coal for energy, it would be a win-win for the economy and the environment.  I could talk about climate change all day,” he said.

He added that he has learned a lot from campaigning, saying that he has learned a lot from it. He said that his first All Candidates meeting, in Verona, was difficult for him but that the next one in Almonte was a lot better. He is proud to represent the People’s Party of Canada and its leader Maxime Bernier, in Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston.

“We are a unique option for voters, and it was important to make sure we were on the ballot in this riding,” he said.