Profile: Kozorys knows politics

Mary Kozorys may not have much experience as a politician, but she’s spent plenty of time around them.

An assistant in NDP MP John Rafferty’s Thunder Bay constituency office, the 53-year-old mother-of-two said after seeing what politicians can accomplish for their communities, she decided it was a role she wanted to take on herself.

“It’s been many, many years I’ve been helping people to access services and to get a better understanding of the issues and some of the possibilities we have to create  a better future for Northwestern Ontario,” said Kozorys, who is seeking public office for the first time.

“My main goals are really to be an elected representative who is accessible and accountable to the constituents of this riding and to Northwestern Ontario.”

Kozorys said her constituency work provides all the background she’ll need to make a good politician.

“There you really are exposed to every single issue possible in the community. And when I say that, I say that in every single context. They are not only federal in nature, but primarily municipal and provincial and branch off into different areas,” she said.

With a background in community development and as an executive director of a not-for-profit organization, Kozorys said affordability is the issue she’s hearing the most as she knocks on people’s doors.

“People have felt they’re very neglected in terms of being able to create a life that is affordable in the community,” she said. “So many people, as we’re aware of are just one paycheque or two paycheques away from losing everything.

“That is with the downturn in the economy, with people being forced to have several part-time jobs. I’ve seen families who have been separated by job loss.”

Kozorys would also like to see Northwestern Ontario take over its own decision-making destiny. Whether it’s health care and having a say in how health dollars are spent in the North, or having a caucus of Northern-area MPPs involved in policy-making, it has to happen soon, she said.

It’s the lack of that kind of power that led to something like the Far North Act, legislation she’d like to see repealed as soon as the NDP take office.

“We have to pull the plug on the Far North Act and start from square one. If we are to create a future that’s inclusive, First Nations have to be respected and their voices have to be heard.”

Pointing to closed mills and a decimated forestry industry, Kozorys said the ruling Liberals have had the opportunity to turn things around and failed, pointing a finger directly at Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry Michael Gravelle.

Gravelle and MPP Bill Mauro, the Liberal she’s seeking to dethrone, have ignored the region for too long, she added.

That’s why she’s convinced she’ll win on election day.

“I think I have an excellent chance and that is based on not only what I’m hearing at the door, but it’s my commitment to this community,” she said, hopeful the NDP surge in May at the federal level will translate to votes on Oct. 6.