Guelph's newly-nominated Green Party candidate in the upcoming fall election says he is ready to start a listening campaign and wants to put the fun back into politics.
On Friday, Steve Dyck took the Guelph Greens nomination in a close battle with four other hopefuls that went to a fourth ballot at the Holiday Inn. The venue for the meeting of the Guelph Greens EDA had to be changed from Cutten Fields to accommodate the higher than expected turnout.
“It was very close, I am very grateful and honoured,” said Dyck on Saturday.
The owner of Guelph Solar beat out Jax Thornton, Hayley Kellett, Alex Chapman and Ralph Martin for the nomination.
Dyck ran twice provincially under the Green banner, but stepped aside when party leader Mike Schreiner ran in Guelph in 2014 and 2018.
After Schreiner's win and a growing number of successful Green Party nominations across Canada, Dyck believes the conditions are right for a federal Green member in the royal city.
“I am really interested in listening to Guelph and finding out what is in our hearts and in our minds," said Dyck. “I am very interested in the challenging conversations.”
Dyck will be relying on the support of his wife Vera and children Nathan and Amber.
“I am just really excited. There is an amazing team that has been supporting me already," he said.
The federal Liberal government's purchase of the Trans-Mountain Pipeline last year has complicated its battle against climate change, he said.
"It's sending mixed signals to Canadians," said Dyck.
Born in Calgary, Dyck attended University of Alberta for mathematics before working in the air pollution testing industry. That work took him to Ontario and eventually the United States for a number of years.
The work included scaling up smoke stacks and working in oil refineries.
“I was in the armpit of chemical valley in New Jersey, I saw it all," said Dyck.
He moved on to work in the automotive industry, where he remained until he saw the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the war that followed.
I was horrified by the war. I was horrified by paying taxes in the states and having half of what I gave being spent on the military. I had to come back to Canada. I kissed the ground when I returned to our country,” said Dyck.
He moved to Guelph with his family.
“I wanted to live in a town that wasn’t the big city and had access to country and that’s how we came to Guelph," said Dyck.
Laid off during the financial crisis in 2009, Dyck built his dream company, Guelph Solar, from the ground up.
“I always wanted to start my own business and that is when Guelph Solar started," he said.
Dyck said mental health, wellness and infrastructure are all issues he is excited to talk about at the doors during the campaign and he is excited to 'put the fun back in politics.'
“Vera and I love to dance, we are going to have some democracy dances and we have some musicians lined up. That’s going to be really fun," said Dyck.
Lloyd Longfield will seek reelection as the Liberal MP for Guelph. The local Conservative Party of Canada riding association will consider between three nominees to select its candidate at a future date. The NDP and People's Party of Canada have yet to name candidates for the federal election, scheduled for Oct. 21.
