He's been here before.
Marty Lancaster was chosen as the Green Party candidate for the Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte riding in the upcoming federal election during a nomination meeting this week.
Crucial to making a strong push in the campaign, Lancaster says, is shedding the "granola-eating, dreadlocked" image that some voters still associate with the party.
"I did have long hair in university," Lancaster joked. "I do have solar panels on my house and I do have an electric car.
"But there's so many different types of Green and all kinds of different reasons, from a farmer who wants to maintain their land to social justice warriors," he added.
The 47-year-old married father of two teenaged girls was chosen from a group of three candidates that also included Andy Thomson and Stephan Kalmar. Lancaster said the Green Party has strong membership.
"I felt pushed and it wasn't easy," Lancaster said of winning the party's nomination. "We had some good solid candidates. Andy especially knows his stuff and brought some Green messaging from Germany. I basically went over to him right away and said 'I want you to be my campaign manager and I need you to run this.' He's got great skills especially on the tech side, and I'm pretty good at the hand-shaking and talking to people. We should make a great team."
Kalmar was also offered a role on Lancaster's campaign team.
"That's how we do Green," Lancaster said. "We don't slag each other and we don't bring each other down. It's more fun being positive and it's a better message."
Lancaster, who teaches physics and environmental science at Bear Creek Secondary School in Barrie, was the Green Party candidate in the last federal election in 2015. He finished fourth in a six-person race, with 2,648 votes, in a closely contested riding.
In 2015, Conservative Alex Nuttall, who will not be running for re-election this fall, won the riding by just 86 votes over Liberal candidate Brian Tamblyn. The NDP's Ellen White was third with 5,202 votes.
"Who won the last election in our riding? Nobody," Lancaster said. "More people didn't vote than did vote, so everybody lost to 'We Don't Care'. We need to find the we-don't-care people.
"The Conservatives get their one-third, but that number never goes up," he added.
Lancaster says he'll also tap into his experience from his first go-round, but also make a stronger push in protecting the policies the party has developed over the years.
"I want to be assertive," he said. "If (other candidates) are painting themselves green, I'm to pass them a Green paintbrush."
This time around, Lancaster says he also wants to focus his campaign differently.
"We're going to do a much better job around Georgian College," he said. "We door-knocked around there, but we didn't really get in there and push to meet people. We're going to get those young votes."
Eric Loewen, president of the Green Party's electoral district association for Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte, said he believes Lancaster is a good choice for the riding.
"Marty was the candidate last time, so he knows a lot of people," Loewen said. "He's a teacher in Barrie and has been here a long time. He's a fantastic choice. He's very intelligent and well-spoken, and he knows what he's talking about. I'm confident he's going to be a good representative for us."
Voter recognition could also bode well for the Greens, Loewen said.
"He ran last time and people will remember that," he said.
Other candidates chosen by their party in Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte include Doug Shipley (Conservatives) and Dan Janssen (NDP).
"The field seems like intelligent characters," Loewen said. "It should be a very strong run. It doesn't matter who gets elected, I think people will have a good, strong representative. I just know that, with having our election here today and nomination meeting, we've got a great candidate."
Around 70 people attended last night's meeting. Prior to party members choosing their candidate, Lancaster, Kalman and Thomson discussed a variety of topics, from fracking and carbon pricing to oil imports and "greening the grid," before opening the floor to questions. Topics there included switching to a four-day work week, civility in politics, and uniting the left.
The federal election is Monday, Oct. 21.
