Bill Mauro says he wants to one day learn a second language and how to play a musical instrument.
But he doesn’t intend for that day to be any time in the near future.
First elected to Queen’s Park in 2003, the Liberal incumbent is seeking his fifth consecutive term as the MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan.
Mauro said he prefers to let his record speak for itself, and highlights measures that led to the resurgence of the city’s Bombardier plant as well as saving the Thunder Bay and Atikokan generating stations, two former coal-fired power plants that have been repurposed to biodiesel.
“I just focus on the results,” Mauro said. “Here’s what we’ve accomplished, here’s what you’ve asked us to do, here’s the results. Judge us on our record. We think it’s a very positive one.”
The 61-year-old proved to be a versatile of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s cabinet during the previous four years, first managing the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry portfolio before being appointed to helm the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.
Mauro takes pride in the ongoing diversification of the local economy, strengthened by the introduction of angioplasty to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre with a further commitment for full cardiac surgery as well as the first law school in the region brought to Lakehead University.
“We’ve seen a growth in the knowledge-based, recession-proof jobs where a lot of our younger people now have opportunities to stay here where they didn’t before,” Mauro said.
Mauro, a former teacher, got his political start in Thunder Bay city council chambers, being voted in as Northwood ward councillor first in 1997 and then successfully winning re-election three years later.
While he said he didn’t have initial ambitions to jump towards the provincial legislature, by the end of his second term on council he realized the influence and potential to make change that position held.
“You learn early that your ability to impact your community is certainly enhanced if you’re a provincial member if you consider the files that are within the provincial purview and control,” Mauro said, adding main issues on the campaign trail generally focus around the economy, health care and education.
“We feel like when it comes to those three or four main files we’ve made really remarkable progress here in Thunder Bay-Atikokan.”
