A federal election could be years away, but when the writ drops the local Conservatives know whose name will be on the ballot.
Surrounded by a crowd of supporters at Full Beard, Gaétan Malette announced his nomination as the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) candidate for Timmins-James Bay.
“The big reason is we’re losing control of our resources in Northern Ontario. My real reason is to leave a future and we want to keep the youth here so we need to do something about it,” he said after his speech on Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 18)
Malette was born and raised in Timmins and is a retired forestry executive. He's also had leadership roles on a number of boards, including the Timmins and District Hospital, the francophone health centre, and the Timmins Police Services Board.
In the last provincial election, he was the campaign chair for now MPP and Minister of Mines George Pirie's successful bid.
For the next federal election, he thought he'd hold the same role.
Life has changed, though.
"I thought of it seriously and agreed to do it and I’m ready to do it. I have the time, I have the energy, I have the contacts. I’ve worked in every single one of those communities all my career. I knew all the families from all the communities,” he said.
The last federal election was in October 2021 and saw Prime Minister Justin Trudeau win a minority government. Right now, the Liberals are being bolstered by the NDPs. The latest the next election will be is October 2025, but one could be called any time before then.
In the past year, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has been to Timmins a couple of times.
SEE: Poilievre shares 'common sense' plan at local rally
RELATED: Conservative leader connecting with Northerners
At Poilievre's last rally in July, Malette was there handing out cards announcing his intent to earn the local nomination.
Malette has been working on the nomination for a year. A mistake candidates have made in the past, he said, is announcing they're running within a month or so of the election.
Now that his candidacy is official, he said he needs another year to get to work.
"Now I have to visit every community and work at it. The only way I have a chance to win is by working hard and creating teams. There were people from every community here today that will be involved. We’ve done it early, give ourselves time to work,” he said.
The next federal election will be the first time an MP is elected for Kapuskasing-Timmins-Mushkegowuk. It starts in the Kirkland Lake area, capturing communities along Highway 11 North and extends up to Peawanuck. It has a population of 93,948.
SEE: Timmins riding lines redefined, MP cut from Northern Ontario
Whether or not the riding boundaries changed, Malette said he'd work hard to win and have teams in every community.
“The next step for me is going in every community, meeting the groups and having strong discussions of what they want. I need to listen to what they want. Politics is about what the people want, not what the politicians want. And i believe most people right now, they want to see changes in our economy. They want to see fiscal responsibility. Someone’s going to have to pay this debt one day,” he said.
