THUNDER BAY -- Speculation of a former provincial party leader restarting his political career might make Northwestern Ontario home to one of the tightest three-way federal election races in the country.
Howard Hampton confirmed he has been asked by federal NDP Leader Tom Mulcair to consider launching a bid in the Kenora riding.
“I’ve told him I will think about it,” said Hampton, who served as Ontario NDP Leader from 1996 to 2009. “I will let him know on that in the not too distance future.”
Despite this potentially being his first foray into federal politics, Hampton is no stranger to Kenora voters. He was first elected in the now-dissolved Rainy River riding from 1987 until 1999 before serving until 2011 in Kenora-Rainy River.
The Kenora seat is currently held by Conservative Greg Rickford, who was first elected in the riding in 2008 and currently heads the Natural Resources portfolio. Rickford won the seat in 2011 with 47 per cent of the vote, more than 5,000 votes ahead of the runner-up.
In January former Liberal Cabinet minister Bob Nault declared his intention to seek that party’s nomination. Nault spent 16 years as MP after taking the seat in 1988 and was the Minister of Indian Affairs from 1999 until 2003.
Since stepping away from politics in 2011, Hampton was hired last November by Mulcair to serve as a special consultant on issues that included the Ring of Fire.
“To a large degree the federal government has been totally missing in action when it comes to trying to resolve and address the issues that need to be addressed with respect to the Ring of Fire,” Hampton said.
“Many people find that the federal government, because of some of its decisions, have made it more difficult to put together plausible and reasonable strategies…I think it’s pretty clear Mr. Rickford bears a lot of responsibility for that.”
--With files from TBT News
