THUNDER BAY – Michael Gravelle says it’s hard to believe 25 years have passed since he was first elected to Queen’s Park.
It’s been a whirlwind quarter of a century, said Gravelle, who planned to mark Monday’s anniversary quietly, in part because of gathering restrictions put in place because of COVID-19.
Looking back over his political career, which began in April 1995 when he won the Liberal nomination in Port Arthur, Gravelle said he’s proud of what he’s been able to accomplish during his time in office, including 15 years in government, 11 with a cabinet seat under former premiers Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne.
“As minister, probably my proudest accomplishment is the four-laning of the highway between Thunder Bay and Nipigon, followed closely by the purchase of the Terrace Bay pulp mill by Aditya Birla,” Gravelle said.
It’s a project he continues to fight to complete today, though with far less clout as one of just eight Liberals in the legislative assembly, a party with no official status.
“As a backbencher, my proudest moment might be persuading our government to fund insulin pumps for people living with diabetes. That was huge issue back in the early 2000s and was causing people great problems.”
Gravelle was also front-and-centre in the mid-2000s, first as an MPP in a region heavily reliant on the forest industry and later as minister of northern development and mines and then minister of natural resources, when Ontario’s forest industry collapsed and attempted to recover.
It was tough times, he recalled, noting the demise began before the global recession in 2008, which compounded the problem.
“All I can tell you is all the northern members, including Bill Mauro, we fought hard to get a financial package together that would directly help the forestry sector. We put forward a package of over $1 billion to help the forestry sector recover ... and as a result of that package being put in place, the forestry sector survived,” Gravelle said.
It wasn’t all sunshine moving forward in the industry, which nationwide lost more than 100,000 jobs over the ensuing decade, including the closure of several mills in Northwestern Ontario.
Now 71, Gravelle got his start in politics long before being elected to office, both in the ministry of Northern Development and Mines and as a staffer with Liberal politicians Robert Andras, Stuart Smith and Joe Comuzzi.
It was under the latter’s watch that Gravelle decided to scratch his political itch, seeking the party nomination for Port Arthur in April 1995. Weeks later he was a rookie MPP at Queen’s Park, where he’d remain in opposition for eight years, until the Liberals ousted the Conservatives in 2003.
He said he leaned heavily on Jack Masters, the former MP and Thunder Bay mayor, for advice during those early years.
“Jack has been a great source of strength to me and somebody I rely on to this day. Joe Comuzzi was also very supportive of me. He was very supportive of my decision to try out provincial politics and helped me get my nomination in 1995,” Gravelle said.
The political neophyte swept into office that year, crushing incumbent NDP MPP Shelly Wark-Martyn and has won six straight elections since that first victory, though his latest two years ago was only by 873 votes, his slimmest win yet.
He’s not done yet, he added.
“I still feel very much excited by the work that I do,” Gravelle said. “I still feel very connected to my constituents, which is why I want to seek another term. It will be maybe difficult to go another term, but certainly there will be time for us to build our own campaign platform as Liberals under a new leader, Steven Del Duca.
“I want to continue to do the best work I can to represent my constituents.”
