BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN
Chelmsford lawyer Gerard Guimond has put his name on a growing list of people who want to seek the Liberal nomination in Nickel Belt.
Nickel Belt MP Ray Bonin, who suffered a minor stroke in April, announced recently he will not run in the next election. Many people expect the federal election will happen next spring.
Unsuccessful mayoral candidate Lynne Reynolds and Sylvain Beaudry of Verner announced a few weeks ago they intend to seek the nomination.
Insiders says Bonin's executive assistant, Shawn Murphy, also wants to become the next Nickel Belt Liberal candidate.
Over the years, Nickel Belt has been won by both federal Liberals and New Democrats.
Bonin has held the seat since the nation-wide Liberal sweep of 1993, when he won the election against New Democrat John Rodriguez (now the mayor of Greater Sudbury).
Guimond, 52, says his roots are in Nickel Belt. He's operated his lawyer's office in Chelmsford for 25 years, and he grew up in St. Charles. His father is from Sturgeon Falls.
“I don't have the political baggage that a lot of other people seem to have,” he says.
“I'm very active in the community. I was past president of the United Way, was elected to the board of United Way Ontario and I'm a founding member of Cinefest.”
Guimond has also gone to Jamaica for the past 13 years to build new homes for poor families in the country.
He wants to become the Liberal candidate for Nickel Belt so he can win the election and help to defeat the Conservatives nationally.
“Not a lot of people are happy with what the Conservative government are doing in the country right now,” he says.
“They're doing a lot of what the Progressive Conservatives did provincially in Ontario. They're targeting the less-favoured people in the community and letting slide big-ticket items like the environment. It's just not acceptable.
“Right now, they (the Conservatives) are just a minority. If these guys ever get a majority, the cloak is going to come off and we'll see their true colours.”
Guimond thinks newly-elected Liberal leader Stephane Dion has a good chance of leading Liberals to victory in the next election because he's “honest” and a “good leader.”
The lawyer wasn't a delegate at the leadership convention himself.
He can be contacted at 855-4511.
