THUNDER BAY – Long-time Thunder Bay MPP and former Liberal cabinet minister Michael Gravelle has decided he won’t run in the upcoming provincial election due to health concerns.
Gravelle made the announcement on Monday, three weeks after announcing he was again fighting cancer.
"Certainly this was the most difficult decision that I've ever had to make in my political life and I decided, based on conversations with my doctors, with my family, with my friends and certainly with my staff, I will not be able to seek re-election in the upcoming provincial election," Gravelle said.
"I treasured every single one of the 27 years I was able to represent Thunder Bay-Superior North and I was very proud of the many accomplishments that we've been able to achieve over that period of time."
Gravelle said the regular chemotherapy treatments he's undergoing for his most recent cancer diagnosis have proved to be challenging.
"I need to simply focus on that over the next period of time," Gravelle said.
He was first elected in 1995 in the former Port Arthur riding and was re-elected in Thunder Bay-Superior North in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2014 and 2018. He served in cabinet under premiers Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne as minister of northern development and mines, from 2007 to 2011 and from 2013 to 2018), minister of natural resources from 2011 to 2013.
Gravelle, 73, was first diagnosed in 2012 with an aggressive form of cancer, and in 2017 took a leave of absence from his cabinet post while battling depression.
He pointed to several points of pride he was able to help make happen over his nearly three-decade career as an elected official.
"I'm proud of so many of our accomplishments, whether it's the four-laning of the highway between Thunder Bay and Nipigon, the Nipigon River Bridge, the rehabilitation of the highways, work with organizations like Generation Mining and Greenstone Gold in terms of moving forward in our mining sector and the provision of the law school here in Thunder Bay," Gravelle said, adding he hopes his efforts made a positive difference in Northwestern Ontario.
Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca called Gravelle a lion of the legislature in thanking him for his years of service to the people of Ontario.
“As his friend, the last thing I want to be doing today is accepting Michael Gravelle’s decision to step away from politics. I know deciding to stand down from re-election would have been among the hardest decisions Michael has had to make. But I’m glad he and his family are deciding to put his health and his recovery first. Politics shouldn’t have anything to do with moments like these and must be set aside to put healing first," Del Duca said in a statement issued to media.
The Liberals have not yet named a replacement candidate in Thunder Bay-Superior North.
More to come
