After a federal election passed in 2021 without a Green Party candidate for Perth-Wellington, Stratford resident Laura Bisutti decided to step outside her comfort zone.
“I was concerned that would happen again this election cycle so I put my name in,” said Bisutti, who just got her official status on Wednesday, the first full day of this election.
Bisutti said she’s never really been that interested in politics and she doesn’t consider herself to be an activist but wants environment issues to be at the forefront of conversations.
“It’s just important to me that the Greens are represented because I think they have the best platform. If it means that I have to step up to the plate and hoof around town trying to get support then I’m willing to do it as long as the issues are being brought up. To me, it’s more about the issues than it is about, you know, winning.”
Going about town isn’t an unusual thing for Bisutti, who in one of her part-time jobs delivers the local paper every morning. Unless the road conditions are really bad from snow, she usually does this on her bicycle, a three-wheel with a big basket which she gets a lot of compliments on.
Her other role is a bit more in the public eye. She’s been a school board trustee for the Avon Maitland District School Board since 2018. Her youngest child is still in the local school system, but she also has two adult children with one living in Thunder Bay.
She said she was simply interested in the role of trustee and decided to go for it when a previous trustee announced she wouldn’t be running again.
“I guess it gave me a little more courage,” Bisutti said on how running as a trustee impacted her decision to run provincially. She noted she didn’t have any particular politician in mind who inspires her but she respects all who get into it because of how much they end up in the limelight.
“I admire anyone who goes into politics because really, you’re putting yourself out there,”
Bisutti isn’t originally from Stratford. She was born in Mt. Hope and lived near Hamilton International Airport.
“We would watch the air shows every year,” Bisutti recalled from her childhood.
Bisutti would go to Mohawk College in Hamilton, graduating with a diploma in chemical engineering technology which eventually landed her a job as a chemist at Standard Product in Stratford in 1988.
“I’ve been living here ever since, I really liked the town and then settled down and had my family,” Bisutti said.
The now 58-year-old can often be found on her bike, whether delivering the paper or not, or in her garden which is her go-to relaxing activity.
“Come around February I’m thinking about seeds and what I’m going to plant and I get seedlings started and in the spring, of course, I’m planting and thinking about where I’m going to put things,” Bisutti said. “In the summer, you know, I just love puttering in the soil.”
She also said she enjoys the news, usually through the radio or the internet as she doesn’t have TV anymore once rabbit ears stopped working.
“I just like learning about what’s happening in the world so I like watching the news or listening to people’s opinions,” Bisutti said.
With an election already underway, it’s Bisutti’s turn to share her opinions with the electorate. She is focused on bringing the Green Party’s message around protecting the environment forward after the party wasn’t involved in the riding in the 2021 federal election.
“I’ll just have to make sure that I have the energy to go out there every day and look for supporters and spread our message,” Bisutti said.
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