Graydon Smith | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Parry Sound—Muskoka | |
| Assumed office June 2, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Norm Miller |
| Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry | |
| Assumed office June 24, 2022 | |
| Premier | Doug Ford |
| Preceded by | Greg Rickford |
| Mayor of Bracebridge | |
| In office circa. 2010 – June 2, 2022 | |
| Succeeded by | Rick Maloney |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
Graydon Smith is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2022 provincial election. He represents the riding of Parry Sound—Muskoka as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.[1]
Smith was formerly the mayor of Bracebridge, Ontario.
On June 24, Smith was appointed Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry by Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell.
Smith grew up in Port Sydney, Ontario, where his family owned and operated a local business. He along with his father and brother were members of the Kinsmen Club of Bracebridge for many years. Smith was inspired to enter politics through his time with the Kinsmen Club and a Bracebridge councillor who encouraged him to run in 2006.
Smith is married with two children and lives in Bracebridge, Ontario.
Smith began his political career in Bracebridge, Ontario as a District of Muskoka councillor in 2006. After one term as councillor, the Bracebridge mayor at the time and Smith’s mentor, Don Coates decided to retire and encouraged Smith to run for the mayorship in 2010. He won the seat and served as mayor for 12 years.
During his time as mayor, he became a board of director with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario in 2014 and was president 2021. Smith was also a board of director with the Ontario Small Urban Municipalities.
In 2022, former Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Norm Miller announced he was retiring and would not be seeking re-election paving the way for Smith to run as the Progressive Conservative candidate. On June 2, 2022 Smith won the provincial election with about 45%[2] of the votes. On June 24, Smith was appointed Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry.
In June 2022, Smith was criminally charged under Ontario's Endangered Species Act. Specifically, he was accused of ordering road construction which destroyed endangered Blanding's Turtle habitats during his tenure as mayor of Bracebridge.[3][4] On October 25, 2022, the charges against Smith were dropped.[5]
Source:[6]
| 2022 Ontario general election: Parry Sound—Muskoka | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Graydon Smith | 20,216 | 45.41 | -2.66 | ||||
| Green | Matt Richter | 18,102 | 40.66 | +20.64 | ||||
| New Democratic | Erin Horvath | 3,427 | 7.62 | -14.41 | ||||
| Ontario Party | Andrew John Cocks | 1,649 | 3.70 | |||||
| New Blue | Doug Maynard | 883 | 1.98 | |||||
| Independent | Daniel Predie Jr. | 155 | 0.35 | |||||
| Populist | Brad Waddell | 126 | 0.28 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 44,558 | 99.58 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 187 | 0.42 | ||||||
| Turnout | 44,745 | 53.28 | -5.94 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 83,570 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | -11.65 | ||||||