MANITOULIN – The Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing Federal Liberal Riding Association announced last week that Heather Wilson will carry the Liberal banner for the election to be held October 21. Ms. Wilson will be acclaimed as the candidate in a nomination meeting to be held June 1 in Spanish at the Four Seasons Complex at 2 pm.
Ms. Wilson ran in the 2015 election and came in a close second to incumbent NDP MP Carol Hughes. While Ms. Hughes got less than 40 percent of the vote in 2015, Ms. Wilson attained 34.11 percent of the potential vote, falling just over 2,000 behind the incumbent, a press release from the riding association states.
Ms. Wilson has remained active since 2015, attending regional events and knocking on doors and talking to people about what is important to them.
“Northern Ontario is doing well,” says Ms. Wilson, “and as the Member of Parliament for AMK, I will ensure that we have a voice in Ottawa that can get things done.” With an unemployment rates at historic lows getting workers to jobs in the North has been a problem. “We need employment training and reliable housing to make sure that Northern Ontario business can compete with the rest of Canada and globally.”
Ms. Wilson has worked in business as a financial controller and she and her husband owned their own local business for 16 years in Whitefish Falls so she says she understands what is needed for businesses to succeed. “We have so much to offer in this beautiful region with an abundance of natural resources and mining, plus a tourism sector that is revered around the world, but workers and business in Northern Ontario need programs to ensure people are healthy and happy and ready to work. That includes education, health care, and housing.”
Ms. Wilson also says that Indigenous issues, senior care and taxation are all things that she will be talking to people about between now and October. “AMK has a unique blend of people that requires unique solutions and I am ready to make things happen for our First Nations people and ensure that our seniors are well cared for.”
Marc Serré, the MP from Nickel Belt, called for a National Seniors Strategy that seeks to improve the quality of life for all seniors in Canada and these are the type of things that Ms. Wilson says she will support when she gets to Ottawa.
Ms. Wilson grew up on a dairy farm and she said this, in addition to her ability to run half-marathons, has prepared her to do the work required to represent the massive riding of AMK which covers over 100,000 square kilometres. “The job of the MP in Northern Ontario is quite different than those in urban centres but I have the education, experience and passion to do great things for AMK,” Ms. Wilson says.
Anyone requiring further information regarding the nomination meeting can contact Tom Farquhar, AMK Federal Riding Association at 807-228-2604 or tfarquhar49@hotmail.com.
