Graydon Smith | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Associate Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing | |
| Assumed office March 19, 2025 | |
| Premier | Doug Ford |
| Preceded by | Vijay Thanigasalam |
| Minister of Natural Resources[a] | |
| In office June 24, 2022 – March 19, 2025 | |
| Premier | Doug Ford |
| Preceded by | Greg Rickford |
| Succeeded by | Mike Harris Jr. |
| Member of theOntario Provincial Parliament forParry Sound—Muskoka | |
| Assumed office June 2, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Norm Miller |
| Mayor of Bracebridge | |
| In office October 25, 2010 – June 2, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Don Coates |
| Succeeded by | Rick Maloney |
| Member of Bracebridge Town Council | |
| In office November 13, 2006 – October 25, 2010 | |
| Constituency | At-large |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
Graydon SmithMPP is a Canadian politician, who was elected to theLegislative Assembly of Ontario in the2022 provincial election. He represents the riding ofParry Sound—Muskoka as a member of theProgressive Conservative Party of Ontario.[1]
Smith was formerly the mayor ofBracebridge, Ontario.
On June 24, 2022, Smith was appointedMinister of Natural Resources and Forestry by Lieutenant GovernorElizabeth Dowdeswell.[2]
On June 6, 2024, it was announced that Smith remained the Minister of Natural Resources but no longer had responsibility for forestry.[3]
After the2025 Ontario general election, he was appointed as theAssociate Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Smith grew up inPort 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 inBracebridge, Ontario.
Smith began his political career in Bracebridge, Ontario as aDistrict 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 theAssociation 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 MPPNorm 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%[4] 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 endangeredBlanding's Turtle habitats during his tenure as mayor of Bracebridge.[5][6] On October 25, 2022, the charges against Smith were dropped.[7]
| 2025 Ontario general election:Parry Sound—Muskoka | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Graydon Smith | 21,731 | 46.80 | +1.43 | ||||
| Green | Matt Richter | 19,360 | 41.69 | +1.06 | ||||
| Liberal | David Innes | 2,828 | 6.09 | N/A | ||||
| New Democratic | Jim Ronholm | 1,329 | 2.86 | –4.83 | ||||
| New Blue | Brandon Nicksy | 785 | 1.69 | –0.29 | ||||
| Ontario Party | Helen Kroeker | 403 | 0.87 | –2.83 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 46,436 | 99.21 | –0.37 | |||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 371 | 0.79 | +0.37 | |||||
| Turnout | 46,807 | 55.37 | +2.28 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 84,534 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservativehold | Swing | +0.19 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Ontario[8][9] | ||||||||
| 2022 Ontario general election:Parry Sound—Muskoka | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Graydon Smith | 20,216 | 45.37 | −2.70 | $85,536 | |||
| Green | Matt Richter | 18,102 | 40.63 | +20.61 | $95,858 | |||
| New Democratic | Erin Horvath | 3,427 | 7.69 | −14.34 | $14,568 | |||
| Ontario Party | Andrew John Cocks | 1,649 | 3.70 | $8,029 | ||||
| New Blue | Doug Maynard | 883 | 1.98 | $2,616 | ||||
| Independent | Daniel Predie Jr. | 155 | 0.35 | $0 | ||||
| Populist | Brad Waddell | 126 | 0.28 | $3,142 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 44,558 | 99.58 | +0.29 | $117,992 | ||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 187 | 0.42 | -0.29 | |||||
| Turnout | 44,745 | 53.09 | -6.13 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 82,580 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservativehold | Swing | −11.65 | ||||||
Source(s)
| ||||||||
| 2018Bracebridge mayoral election[10] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Graydon Smith | 4,457 | 75.9% |
| Lory-Lynn Giaschi-Pacini | 1,417 | 24.1% |
| 2014Bracebridge mayoral election[11] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Graydon Smith | 5,171 | 84.0% |
| Phil Kolyn | 986 | 16.0% |
| 2010Bracebridge mayoral election[12] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Graydon Smith | 2,882 | 46.1% |
| Larry Stroud | 1,954 | 31.2% |
| John Duck | 1,422 | 22.7% |
| 2006Bracebridge municipal election:At-large (three to be elected)[13] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Scott Young | 2,675 | 17.82% |
| Steven Clement | 2,464 | 16.42% |
| Graydon Smith | 2,428 | 16.18% |
| Barb McMurray | 2,271 | 15.13% |
| Don MacKay | 2,211 | 14.73% |
| John Kelly | 1,247 | 8.31% |
| Tricia Hunter | 1,171 | 7.80% |
| Jim Swanborough | 542 | 3.61% |
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