Candidate: Bruce Hyer

Bruce Hyer has come a long way since he first moved to the Thunder Bay-Superior North riding in 1976.

The NDP candidate spent his first two years in the area living first in a tent then a log cabin 25 miles from the nearest road West of Armstrong.

Now a biologist, forester, business person and incumbent MP, Hyer said he wants to make a cleaner, greener and more affordable Northwestern Ontario and Canada.

"I’m trying to make the world a better place," he said.

The 64-year-old married father of one said he’s spent the last two-and-a-half years learning how Parliament works and is ready for more, which is why he’s running for re-election. Hyer said he’s held 39 town hall meetings throughout the Thunder Bay-Superior North riding during his time as MP.

Hyer believes the two top issues for Northwestern Ontario are jobs and the environment. He added that there should be a shift in how jobs in the region are created, with a stringer focus on greener employment.

"I don’t see those (jobs and the environment) as mutually exclusive.”

Another issue in this election for Hyer is how seniors in the region will have access to health care. With Northwestern Ontario’s aging population, the NDP candidate believes seniors and health care must be a priority.

"Our healthcare system is at risk.”

Canada’s seen a massive tax shift over the past two decades, which Hyer believes has been to the detriment of the middle class and small business. Tax breaks for major corporations in Canada are lower by half in some cases than they are in the U.S. The current corporate income tax rate in Canada is 16.5 per cent, and Hyer said that needs to change.

"We need to get the tax burden off of the backs of the middle class and small business," said Hyer.

On the national level, Hyer worries that a Conservative government will mean a less democratic Canada.

From electoral reform to the Senate, the New Democrat said Canada needs to be more democratic.

Hyer’s Bill C-311 on climate change made national headlines last fall when it was killed by Conservative senators, a move opposition parties said the Senate had no right to do. Conservatives called the bill irresponsible.

"I’m very concerned with the anti-democratic politics of Stephen Harper,” he said.

Hyer is originally from Hartford, Conn. He lives in Thunder Bay with his wife Margaret and 15-year-old son Michael. He was defeated twice by Joe Commuzi in 2004 and 2006 before beating Liberal Don McArthur in 2008 to become the most recent representative for Thunder Bay – Superior North.