DAN CEARNS, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, for The Standard
UXBRIDGE: Former Uxbridge municipal politician, Jacob Mantle will be running in the next federal election as Pickering-Uxbridge’s Conservative Party of Canada candidate.
Mr. Mantle was announced as the candidate in late November. He previously served one term as Uxbridge Ward 4 councillor, the youngest elected councillor in township history at 21 years of age. Mr. Mantle has also been a Legislative Assistant for former MPP John O’Toole.
Mr. Mantle told The Standard about why he decided to become a candidate at this time.
“The answer to that is largely the crisis we find ourselves in right now, as well as my good friendship with our current leader Erin O’Toole,” he said. “There’s a leader I believe in, with a plan, and a team I want to be on. When you believe in the coach, you want to be on the team. Then, the last twelve months of this pandemic, I think, has shown the failings of this current government. You can complain about it, or you can get involved.”
As a candidate, Mr. Mantle is aided by his experience in his previous political roles.
“You learn, putting your name on the ballot is a big commitment to make to your residents. I recognize the importance of that and the support and earning their trust. Now, that’s definitely on a much bigger scale now, than my small ward of a few thousand people, to two whole communities of Uxbridge and Pickering. But the principle remains the same, you need to work to earn their trust, and to get to know them, and to get to know the issues.”
But he also hopes to learn a lot from the experienced members of the party. “No one is an island, and the biggest thing you need to learn is, this is a team effort,” Mr. Mantle explained.
If elected, there are a couple things Mr. Mantle hopes to bring to Ottawa. “First and foremost, the member represents the community. Whatever I think may be interests of importance nationally, you have to remember you are entrusted by your community to represent their views. My goal would be to do my best to represent those views. In addition to that, my professional experience is in the realm of international trade law, so that’s something I am passionate about. Canada has a significant number of trade agreements. That has only become more important in the last number of years,” he said.