WELLINGTON COUNTY – Newly-elected MPP Joseph Racinsky knows he has big shoes to fill, but that isn't going to stop him from trying.
The 23-year-old was elected as the new MPP for Wellington-Halton Hills in a landslide win in late February, replacing longtime MPP and Speaker of the House, Ted Arnott, who held the position for almost 35 years.
One of the youngest politicians to ever hold a seat at Queen's Park, Racinsky said while he understands this is a change that will require some adjustment, he's focused on trying to keep Arnott's legacy going "as much as possible."
"It's a real privilege to be in this position, I'm honoured," said Racinsky, in a phone interview with EloraFergusToday. "It's a tremendous responsibility and I'm going to work my hardest for the people."
Outside of politics, Racinsky said his first job was working on a small farm and he also worked at a grocery store for a summer. A history buff, Racinsky has a passion for world geography when not helping out his local church and the Georgetown Agricultural Society. He married his wife Mikayla, who is from Erin, in 2023.
"Agriculture is facing some unique challenges ... as communities are growing and that's going to put pressure on agricultural systems out here as well," said Racinsky. "So making life easier for farmers is something I'm passionate about."
Post-university, "it was always politics."
Working as an MPP's constituency assistant before becoming a Halton Hills councillor in 2022, the lifelong Conservative said he's always enjoyed getting involved with his community to help people and residents can expect him to be an MPP that's active in their community and listening to people "face to face."
"That's what I did as a councillor in Halton Hills and I'm going to continue doing that for all of Wellington-Halton Hills," said Racinsky. "That's why I ran, that's what I want to do and I'm looking forward to working with Premier Ford and the government to do that."
Similar to Arnott, Racinsky said two of his main priorities as MPP are a new hospital in Georgetown and getting the Morriston Bypass built in Puslinch.
So far, Racinsky said he's met with both the Health and Transportation Ministers and they'll be hearing from him often going forward.
He also plans to meet regularly with local leaders, mayors and members of the county like Warden Chris White so he can stay up to date on community issues and take any needs or wants back to Queens Park.
"It's not going to happen overnight but these are launched, pending projects that I'm hoping to keep advocating for," said Racinsky.
The biggest concern he's heard from residents so far remains the tariff threat from the U.S. and the "uncertainty that it brings." Having already met with local chambers of commerce, Racinsky said many are concerned about job losses, general affordability and less money being handed out for programs, healthcare and education.
"So that really is an overarching issue that everybody's concerned about," said Racinsky. "As a government, our focus right now is making sure that we protect Ontario families and jobs from those threats south of the border."
When asked what other issues he'll be bringing to the table at Queen's Park, Racinsky said his job is to represent resident views and he's looking forward to getting his local constituency office up and running in Fergus, where he's taken over Arnott's old office on St. Andrew Street.
From there, he encourages residents to reach out to him in person or online at [email protected].
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program