Michael Gravelle
MPP
Gravelle in 2015
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Thunder Bay—Superior North
Port Arthur (1995-1999)
In office
June 8, 1995 – May 3, 2022
Preceded byShelley Wark-Martyn
Succeeded byLise Vaugeois
Personal details
Born (1949-01-23) January 23, 1949
Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada
Political partyLiberal
OccupationExecutive assistant, publicist

Michael Gravelle (born January 23, 1949) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who represented the riding of Thunder Bay—Superior North from 1995 to 2022 (known as Port Arthur from 1995 to 1999). He served as a member of cabinet during the Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne governments.

Background

Gravelle was born in Port Arthur, which is now a part of Thunder Bay, the son of Edmund Gravelle and Jan Shepherd.[1] He was educated at the Port Arthur Collegiate Institute and Lakehead University, receiving a degree from the latter institution 1968. He was an assistant to Liberal politicians Robert Andras, Stuart Smith and Joe Comuzzi. He also worked as a publicist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and was a founder of the North of Superior Film Association.[1]

Politics

Gravelle was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1995 provincial election, defeating incumbent New Democrat Shelley Wark-Martyn by almost 7,000 votes in the riding of Port Arthur.[2] The election was won by the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, and Gravelle joined 29 other Liberals in the opposition benches. He supported Dwight Duncan for the party leadership in 1996.

Gravelle was easily re-elected for the new riding of Thunder Bay—Superior North in the 1999 provincial election.[3]

In the provincial election of 2003, Gravelle was re-elected with 72.5 per cent of the popular vote, the highest percentage total in the province.[4] He was appointed caucus chair on November 25, 2003. In the 2007 election, he was returned by a much narrower margin, 46.8 to 38.3, against New Democrat candidate Jim Foulds.[5]

On October 30, 2007, Gravelle was named Ontario Minister of Northern Development and Mines.[6] In the summer of 2009, Gravelle's ministry was expanded, adding on the responsibility of forestry. In 2011 he was shuffled to the position of Minister of Natural Resources. In February 2013, Kathleen Wynne moved him back to the position of Minister of Northern Development and Mines.[7] He was reconfirmed in that role after the 2014 election.[8]

He was re-elected in 2011,[9] and 2014.[10]

In February 2017, Gravelle temporarily stepped aside as minister because of his battle with depression; his duties were taken up by fellow cabinet minister Bill Mauro.[11]

The Liberals were heavily defeated at the 2018 provincial election, and Gravelle was left as the only Liberal MPP in Northern Ontario.

In 2020, Gravelle announced that he would be seeking re-election,[12] however, in April 2022 he announced that his previous cancer had returned,[13] and later that month said that he was not able to run for re-election.[14]

Cabinet positions

Electoral record

2018 Ontario general election: Thunder Bay—Superior North
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMichael Gravelle11,97339.86-16.14
New DemocraticLise Vaugeois11,16037.16+7.74
Progressive ConservativeDerek Parks5,39517.96+10.79
GreenAmanda Moddejonge8382.79-0.8
Northern OntarioAndy Wolff3761.25+0.76
LibertarianTony Gallo1480.49-2.84
TrilliumLouise Ewen1450.48
Total valid votes 30,035100.0  
Turnout 55.0
Eligible voters 54,627
Liberal hold Swing -11.93
Source: Elections Ontario[15]
2014 Ontario general election: Thunder Bay—Superior North
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMichael Gravelle15,50356.00+11.00
New DemocraticAndrew Foulds8,14429.42-5.43
Progressive ConservativeDerek Parks1,9857.17-10.34
GreenJoseph LeBlanc9933.59+1.47
LibertarianTamara Johnson9223.33+2.82
Northern Ontario HeritagePaul Sloan1360.49
Total valid votes 27,683100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 2620.94
Turnout 27,94550.41
Eligible voters 55,436
Source: Elections Ontario[16]
2011 Ontario general election: Thunder Bay—Superior North
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMichael Gravelle11,76545.00-1.78
New DemocraticSteve Mantis9,11134.85-3.41
Progressive ConservativeAnthony LeBlanc4,57817.51+8.11
GreenScot Kyle5552.12-3.43
LibertarianTony Gallo1330.51 
Total valid votes 26,142100.0
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 970.37
Turnout 26,23948.20
Eligible voters 54,443
Source: Elections Ontario[17]
2007 Ontario general election: Thunder Bay—Superior North
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMichael Gravelle13,37346.78-25.28
New DemocraticJim Foulds10,93838.26+23.32
Progressive ConservativeScott Hobbs2,6889.40-0.16
GreenDawn Kannegiesser1,5865.55+2.11
Total valid votes 28,585 100.0  
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 1690.59
Turnout 28,75453.91
Eligible voters 53,341
Source: Elections Ontario[18]
2003 Ontario general election: Thunder Bay—Superior North
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMichael Gravelle21,93872.45+11.55
New DemocraticBonnie Satten4,54815.02-3.53
Progressive ConservativeBrent Sylvester2,9129.62-8.36
GreenCarl Rose8822.91+1.70
Total valid votes 30,280 100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 1600.53
Turnout 30,44055.60
Eligible voters 54,753
Source: Elections Ontario[19]
1999 Ontario general election: Thunder Bay—Superior North
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMichael Gravelle19,24960.9+11.98
New DemocraticNathalie Galesloot5,86418.55-7.11
Progressive ConservativeEd Linkewich5,68317.98-4.47
IndependentRobert Woito4311.36
GreenCarl Rose3821.21
Total valid votes 31,609 100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 2320.73
Turnout 31,84154.94
Eligible voters 57,961
Source: Elections Ontario[20]
1995 Ontario general election: Port Arthur
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMichael Gravelle14,28148.92+9.76
New Democratic(x)Shelley Wark-Martyn7,49025.66-17.22
Progressive ConservativeJim Doherty6,55422.45+8.59
Family CoalitionAnita Harris6832.34-1.76
IndependentPaul Weber180.62
Total valid votes 29,190 100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 3221.09
Turnout 29,51261.91
Eligible voters 47,672

References

  1. 1 2 O'Handley, Kathryn (2005). Canadian Parliamentary Guide 2005. ISBN 1-4144-0141-8.
  2. ↑ "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. 8 June 1995. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. June 3, 1999. Archived from Bay-Superior+North&flag=E&layout=G the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  4. ↑ "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. October 2, 2003. Archived from Bay-Superior+North&flag=E&layout=G the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  5. ↑ "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 10 October 2007. p. 15 (xxiv). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  6. ↑ Ferguson, Rob; Benzie, Robert (31 October 2007). "Premier goes for new blood; Expanded 28-member cabinet has eight ministers from Toronto, three from 905 area". Toronto Star. p. A13.
  7. ↑ "Ontario's new cabinet". Waterloo Region Record. Kitchener, Ont. 12 February 2013. p. A3.
  8. ↑ Richard Brennan; Robert Benzie; Rob Ferguson (24 June 2014). "Kathleen Wynne warns financial cupboard is bare". Toronto Star.
  9. ↑ "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 6 October 2011. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "General Election by District: Thunder Bay-Superior North". Elections Ontario. 12 June 2014. Archived from the original on 14 June 2014.
  11. ↑ "Michael Gravelle steps away from cabinet post, cites year-long battle with depression". CBC News. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  12. ↑ "Gravelle intends to run for re-election". The Chronicle-Journal. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  13. ↑ Rinne, Gary (5 April 2022). "Michael Gravelle fights a new battle with cancer". TBNewsWatch.com. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  14. ↑ "Long-serving Thunder Bay MPP Michael Gravelle not seeking re-election". CBC News. 25 April 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  15. ↑ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  16. ↑ Elections Ontario (2014). "General Election Results by District, 091 Thunder Bay-Superior North". Archived from the original on 14 June 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  17. ↑ Elections Ontario (2011). "Official return from the records / Rapport des registres officiels - Thunder Bay—Superior North" (PDF). Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  18. ↑ Elections Ontario (2007). "Official return from the records / Rapport des registres officiels - Thunder Bay—Superior North" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  19. ↑ Elections Ontario (2003). "Official return from the records / Rapport des registres officiels - Thunder Bay—Superior North". Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  20. ↑ Elections Ontario (1999). "Official return from the records / Rapport des registres officiels - Thunder Bay—Superior North". Retrieved 1 June 2014.
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