Fred Gilbert admits that high-profile name or not, his first stab at provincial politics is a long shot.
But the former Lakehead University president, who spent 12 years at the helm of the Thunder Bay school, said he’s looking forward to the challenge.
“It’s going to be a tough slog,” Gilbert said Thursday, a day after announcing he would seek the Progressive Conservative nomination in the Thunder Bay-Atikokan riding, a seat held for the past eight years by Liberal Bill Mauro.
Gilbert, who retired from his LU post in July, said Ontario’s North hasn’t been adequately represented during the Liberal reign, and he’d like to try to right past wrongs if he wins the party nomination and ultimately the election in October.
“I’ve always had respect for the Conservatives and what they’ve done in the province in the past,” Gilbert said, explaining his decision to make the political plunge. “I think that right now we really do need a change.
“Certainly some of the policies that have affected Northern Ontario are ones that I think we need to address in new ways.”
It’s been a long wait for Grow North and fibre allocation, and bad decisions have been made in regards to the controversial Far North Act, Gilbert said, adding he thinks his time at the university has prepared him for life at Queen’s Park.
“I think it’s a tremendous advantage. You can’t be a senior administrator at a university without being political in a sense, even though you don’t have party affiliation at that time. You have to understand how government works, you have to understand the interrelationship among the parties and among the ministries and I think that’s given me a tremendous background going forward.”
The political game has long been in the back of Gilbert’s mind, he said, noting that he plans to steal a page or two out of Mayor Keith Hobbs’ campaign playbook should he win the nomination, knocking on doors relentlessly and using social networking sites like Facebook to get his platform out there.
Gilbert is the first Conservative candidate to file his nomination papers, but he may not be the last. Rumours of other candidates coming forward have been swirling for months.
On Thursday, at-large Coun. Larry Hebert told tbnewswatch.com he had his nomination papers in front of him and is weighing his options ahead of the mid-February cut-off to file.
“I have to work out a couple of personal and business issues before I make the final commitment,” Hebert said via email.
A Conservative hasn't won on the city's south side since Mickey Hennessy captured the last of his three straight terms in 1985. The riding was then known at Fort William.
Mauro, who defeated the NDP’s John Rafferty by a mere 50 votes in 2007, is the lone Liberal expected to run this time around.
Mauro said by phone Thursday that he's looking forward to the campaign and praised Gilbert for stepping forward.
"I respect anybody who is willing to put their name forward to do this kind of work, having done it for 13 years," said Mauro, who included his time on municipal council in his tally.
The NDP have two candidates in play so far, former Schreiber mayor Madge Richardson and Mary Kozorys, who works in Rafferty’s constituency office.
Lakehead Public Schools trustee George Saarinen originally filed to run for the NDP, but pulled out for personal reasons.
The election is scheduled for Oct. 6.
