Graydon Smith is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

in the 2022 provincial election. He represents the riding of

Parry Sound—Muskoka Parry may refer to: People * Parry (surname) * Parry (given name) Fictional characters * Parry, protagonist of the movie ''The Fisher King'', played by Robin Williams * Parry in the series ''Incarnations of Immortality'' by Piers Anthony * T ...

as a member of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC; ), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party, or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada. During its uninterr ...

. Smith was formerly the mayor of

Bracebridge, Ontario Bracebridge is a town and the seat of the District Municipality of Muskoka in Ontario, Canada. The town was built around a waterfall on the Muskoka River in the centre of town and is known for its other nearby waterfalls (Wilson's Falls, High Fal ...

. On June 24, 2022, Smith was appointed Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry by Lieutenant Governor

Elizabeth Dowdeswell Violet Elizabeth Dowdeswell ( Patton; born November 9, 1944) is a Canadian civil servant who served as the 29th lieutenant governor of Ontario from 2014 to 2023. As lieutenant governor, Dowdeswell was the viceregal representative of the Crow ...

. On June 6, 2024, it was announced that Smith remained the Minister of Natural Resources but no longer had responsibility for forestry. After the

2025 Ontario general election The 2025 Ontario general election was held on February 27, 2025, to elect the 124 members of the 44th Parliament of Ontario. Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Progressive Conservatives were re-elected to a third cons ...

, he was appointed as the Associate Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Background

Smith grew up in

Port Sydney, Ontario Huntsville is a town in District Municipality of Muskoka, Muskoka district, Ontario. It is located north of Toronto and south of North Bay, Ontario, North Bay. Of the three major Muskoka towns (the others being Gravenhurst, Ontario, Gravenhur ...

, 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 in

Political Career (2006 - present)

Smith began his political career in Bracebridge, Ontario as a

District of Muskoka The District Municipality of Muskoka, more generally referred to as the District of Muskoka or Muskoka, is a List of regional municipalities in Ontario, Canada, regional municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. It extends from Georgian Bay in the ...

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 the

Association of Municipalities of Ontario The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) is a non-profit organization representing municipal and regional governments in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created on June 22, 1972 through a merger of the Ontario Municipal Associa ...

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 MPP

Norm Miller Norman or Norm Miller may refer to: * Norman Charles Miller, American journalist * Norman M. Miller, United States Navy officer * Norm Miller (politician) (born 1956), politician in Ontario, Canada * Norm Miller (baseball) (born 1946), American ...

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% 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 endangered

Blanding's Turtle Blanding's turtle (''Emydoidea blandingii)'' is a species of semi-aquatic turtle of the Family (biology), family Emydidae. This species is native to central and eastern parts of Canada and the United States. It is considered to be an endangered s ...

habitats during his tenure as mayor of Bracebridge. On October 25, 2022, the charges against Smith were dropped.

Election results

Notes

References

Living people Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs 21st-century mayors of places in Ontario People from Bracebridge, Ontario Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the Executive Council of Ontario 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario {{ProgressiveConservative-Ontario-MPP-stub