It's the end of a political era in Timmins.
With PC George Pirie being elected as the Member of Provincial Parliament in Timmins, long-time politician Gilles Bisson's run in the riding has ended.
Shortly after the polls closed for the June 2 provincial election, Bisson stopped by Pirie's election party at the Dante Club to give a concession speech.
Locally, the NDP was first elected in 1990, though the riding boundaries and its name have changed through the years. This was his ninth election campaign.
Bisson said he's somewhat surprised at the results.
“I’m somewhat surprised. We thought we were in a pretty good spot when we looked at the numbers and how we related with previous voters, but obviously the people of Timmins made their decision and in a democracy that’s never wrong. So you have to accept it, I accept the decision of the people of Timmins and I wish George well,” he said.
His advice for Pirie at Queen's Park is to remember to take care of his constituents.
“I hope he doesn’t forget that it’s not about just going to Queen’s Park, it’s about taking care of the people back home,” he said.
Heading into the campaign, Premier Doug Ford made a number of commitments to the North, including returning passenger rail and committing $74 million to redo the Connecting Link in Timmins.
Bisson doesn't attribute one particular thing to the election loss, though.
He said Pirie ran a good campaign.
"Sometimes change is unavoidable and you have to accept it. I’m not going to lose sleep over this. It is what it is, I accept it and I’ll move on,” he said.
Next up for Bisson, he said he'll wind down the constituency office and move to the next stage of his life — retirement.
“And you know what, that may not be a bad thing,” he said.
