THUNDER BAY — Dr. Marcus Powlowski expressed surprise last July when he won the federal Liberal nomination in Thunder Bay-Rainy River.
He might well be pinching himself after over 14,000 of the riding's voters decided Monday that he was the best candidate to represent them in the House of Commons.
"It’s been a great experience," he said. "I totally enjoyed the whole thing in terms of the things in my life, which have given me the most satisfaction. I have to rank this campaign as close to the top."
Powlowski, in his first attempt at politics, succeeded in retaining the seat for the Liberals after Don Rusnak decided not to seek re-election.
The emergency department physician said after his nomination that he hadn't even considered entering politics until two or three months earlier.
After the party hierarchy greenlighted his candidacy, he said, he had 10 days to campaign for the nomination "and suddenly I seemed to become a politician."
Celebrating his victory Monday night, Powlowski expressed gratitude to his supporters.
"I thank the many, many people who helped me along the way, all the people involved in my campaign, and all the people who voted for me. The next thing is, I gotta deliver," he said.
Powlowski promised to work "to ensure that those aren't hollow votes. They voted for me for a reason, and I feel it's incumbent on me to fulfill their faith in me."
Moving forward, Powloski said, one of his key priorities will be the local Bombardier plant, which is expected to layoff 550 workers next month.
"You guys are my priority," he said. "This is a very real issue. Can I do it tomorrow? I don’t know. But the first thing on the order of agenda is to go down to southern Ontario, the TCC, Go Transit, I know they want those cars and we need those 550 back on the job. I want more. I want 1,100. I want to expand Bombardier. I just don’t want to keep it as it is."
Powloski added that a minority government in Ottawa will present some challenges and that there will be some jockeying of parties in the coming days.
"I think governance will be more difficult," he said. "There is certainly a lot of uncertainty, but it will be clarified in the next number of days."
Former Thunder Bay city councillor Linda Rydholm, the Conservative candidate, was in second place (almost 12,000 votes) with 99 per cent of the polls reporting as of 1:45 a.m. Tuesday.
She pointed to the pattern that federal politics has followed for decades in Thunder Bay as a trend that's "hard to buck."
"There's a history of voting Liberal, and when people get upset they go to the NDP. So I'm pleased we did well," Rydholm said.
She said she had expected that more people would turn away from the Liberals "at a time when we have an unethical Prime Minister, huge debts out there, and lack of community safety."
Rydholm also expressed disappointment that none of the three female candidates in Thunder Bay-Rainy River got elected.
NDP candidate Yuk-Sem Won, who was in third place but trailed Rydholm by fewer than 300 votes with 99 per cent of the polls reporting, said the campaign was a great experience for her despite the outcome.
"There is absolutely nothing I would do differently. It has been the most wonderful 100 days of my life," she said.
Won said she endeavoured to run a campaign that "brought back the voice of the NDP to northwestern Ontario," and she feels she accomplished that.
"I came from a place where people didn't know my name. They didn't know who I was...I look forward to the next time. This isn't my last," she promised.
Green Party candidate Amanda Moddejonge received 1,725 votes.
