Rickford returns to Queen's Park with re-election win in Kenora-Rainy River
CBC News | Posted: June 3, 2022 1:54 AM | Last Updated: June 3, 2022
PC incumbent earns 2nd term as MPP
Voters in Kenora-Rainy River have re-elected Progressive Conservative incumbent Greg Rickford for a second term.
Rickford, a cabinet minister in the previous PC government led by Doug Ford, will return to the legislature following Thursday's provincial election.
"I'm tremendously grateful for all the candidates who participated in this election," Rickford told CBC News on Thursday. "It's a significant amount of work that has to be done, and a sacrifice, so a special shout out to them."
He also thanked his "family, friends and an extraordinary campaign team, who helped me knock on 17,000 doors and talked to 15,000 people by phone [to] hear what what folks appreciated about the work we've done so far, and the work that we need to do."
Rickford was a steady presence in the Ford cabinet, holding the Indigenous affairs, energy, northern development and mines, and natural resources and forestry portfolios.
Before that, he began his political career at the federal level, winning the Kenora riding in 2008 and again in 2011 for the Conservatives. He was defeated in the 2015 federal election, and shifted to provincial politics, being elected in Kenora-Rainy River in 2018.
Rickford said during this campaign, he heard voters appreciated the Ontario government's infrastructure spending.
"Several key legacy infrastructure projects are underway," he said. "There's the hope of more health infrastructure, new schools, expansion of schools, creating new daycare spaces, affordable housing for seniors that we've started and heard that we need to do more work on."
"Those were some of the key things that come to mind," Rickford said. "But I think one of the things that we heard from a lot of young families was that they appreciated the investments that the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund has done to create new recreational, or rehabilitate older recreational assets in communities across northwestern Ontario so that the quality of life overall would be enhanced."
In Thursday's election, Rickford defeated:
- NDP candidate JoAnne Formanek Gustafson;
- Green Party candidate Catherine Kiewning;
- New Blue Party candidate Kelvin Boucher-Chicago;
- Ontario Party candidate Larry Breiland;
- Independent candidate Mi'Azhikwan/Janine Seymour, and
- Consensus Ontario candidate Richard A. Jonasson.
Rickford will be joining a majority PC government for the next term at Queen's Park.