MPP Michael Gravelle 'optimistic' about cancer diagnosis
Thunder Bay-Superior North member of provincial parliament says he will keep working
The MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North says he plans to continue on with all his duties, including those of Minister of Natural Resources, despite a recent cancer diagnosis.
At a news conference on Monday, Gravelle said he’s been told the aggressive form of lymphoma "is treatable … and the prognosis for a full recovery is good."
MPP Michael Gravelle
Michael Gravelle was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 1995 representing the riding of Port Arthur. He was re-elected as the first Member of Provincial Parliament for the new Thunder Bay-Superior North riding in June, 1999.
Gravelle was appointed Minister of Natural Resources in October 2011. He has served as the Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry, Government Caucus Chair and as a member of the Priorities and Planning Board.
The Liberal party member said the development means he will rely on his staff more, and he'll have to miss some public events during his chemotherapy treatments, which were to start on Tuesday.
"While I will be following the advice of my physician … as to how I can protect myself throughout this process, I am hoping that I will be able to carry on with my life as normally as possible," he said.
Gravelle will receive several rounds of chemotherapy in Thunder Bay.
During an interview with CBC News, he said he felt conflicted about going public with the diagnosis, and added he didn’t want people to think he was taking advantage of a disease to gain public sympathies.
He "kept running into so many people at the cancer centre" that word was bound to get out, he said, and noted he didn't want people to think he was hiding his diagnosis.
"I felt it was very important for them to know about my health situation," Gravelle said.