Local candidates hard at work with 30 days remaining until election day

BARRIE, ONT. -

With a month until Canadians head to the polls, the candidates in Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte aren't wasting any time.

"I've already said goodbye to my family. I said I'll see you on September 21. It's nose down getting to work," says MP Doug Shipley.

"I'm probably going to wear these shoes out over the next 30 days," says Tanya Saari, Liberal candidate.

The two won't be alone on the campaign trail.

The NDP announced on Friday that Sarah Lochhead will be its candidate in Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte, a week after the election was called.

York University political science professor Michael Johns says the last-minute decision could impact their chances.

"Every day matters so, if you're missing a week, week and a half, that does matter," Johns says.

The local NDP won't be the only local political party starting their campaign late. The Green party has yet to announce their candidate.

Johns says creating a campaign now is a tall task.

"You don't know what your signs are going to look like, you don't know what your literature will look like. All of that takes some time," he says.

Both Shipley and Saari are well into their campaign: knocking on doors daily and hearing from constituents.

"What we're hearing the most is that we have an affordable housing crisis taking place right now. That's a top priority for people as well as the environment," Saari says.

"The price of groceries is up, price of gas is up, the price of housing is up, everything is up, and I'm hearing it door-to-door: people are finding it hard to meet ends meet," Shipley says.

After a tight race in 2015 that was decided by less than 100 votes,

Shipley earned 39% of the votes in 2019 and will be working to grow that number this time around.

But for Saari and Lochhead, they're working to close that gap over the next month to become the new representative in Ottawa.