Liberal Candidate Profile: Bernia Martin

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Tuesday, 11 February 2025 05:50

Photo Credit: Bernia Martin for Oxford Facebook page

She's currently a City-County Councillor for Woodstock, but she's looking to become the next MPP for Oxford County.

OXFORD COUNTY - A City-County Councillor for Woodstock is representing the Oxford County Liberal Party in the Ontario snap election.

Bernia Martin is currently serving her first term as a Woodstock City Councillor and Oxford County Councillor.

She has been part of several boards and committees during her time in municipal politics. This includes the Southwestern Public Health Board, South Central Ontario Region Economic Development Corporation (SCOR), the Woodstock Public Library Board, Safe and Well Oxford, the Woodstock Sister Cities Committee, and the Woodstock Community Grants Committee.

"It has really allowed me to see our city and our county from a wide range of perspectives. That has truly helped me understand our issues not just as a business owner and an elected official, but above and beyond that."

On the downside, Martin says Woodstock City Council and Oxford County Council have both faced a lot of challenges over the past couple of years

"We have been under funded in a lot of ways that require us to tax people at the municipal level and that is not the way it should be. People should not have to pay on their municipal tax bill for provincial services."

If she's elected, Martin says she will also be a strong champion for healthcare, education, affordability, rural transit, homelessness prevention, agricultural preservation of land, climate change, and autism funding.

"I have a teenager with autism and the funding cuts that Doug Ford initiated six years ago have just really left families struggling without the supports and the care that they need. So restoring that funding is something that I will make a really high priority for our community."

Martin says she had received a mixed response from the public after announcing her candidacy for the Liberals. One the one side, she says people are excited to have a candidate who is enthusiastic, energetic, and ready to listen and represent their concerns at the provincial level. But on the other side, she says there's lots of Conservative voters in Oxford and there's some confusion between the federal Liberals and the provincial Liberals.

Martin would also like everyone to know that she continues to serve as a Woodstock City-County Councillor during this campaign.

"Given that this is such a short turnaround and such a short campaign, I didn't feel that taking a paid leave of absence would be necessary, so I continue on with both hats on."

Outside of her political career, you might know Martin as the owner of two local businesses, one in Woodstock and one in Blandford-Blenheim. She also worked for Rural Oxford Economic Development and she worked on a rural food hub project for SCOR.

Ontarians will head to the polls on February 27th.