Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Lise Vaugeois celebrating her election night victory - (CJ Goater/Acadia Broadcasting)
No new faces when it comes to Thunder Bay’s provincial ridings.
The incumbent candidates in both Thunder Bay-Superior and Thunder Bay-Atikokan have been re-elected.
Conservative MPP Kevin Holland has been re-elected in the Thunder Bay-Atikokan riding.
“To get the support from the people of Thunder Bay-Atikokan in this election to continue to build on the work that we’ve done really validates everything that we’ve been able to do over the last two and a half years,” said Holland. “I look forward to continuing to do that work and advocacy, working with our community groups, agencies and businesses to promote the opportunities that we have here in, in the Northwest.”
Holland was first elected to the riding in June 2022.
Prior to that, he was the Mayor of Conmee for over three decades first being elected to the township’s council in 1991.
He has previously served as a vice-chair for the Rural Ontario Municipal Association, a board member of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association, and director for the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards representing Zone 1.
Outside of politics, he spent 21 years serving as a volunteer firefighter.
Since being first elected as MPP Holland has also served in the following roles:
- Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
- Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Northern Development and Minister of Indigenous Affairs
- Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Mines
- Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Long-Term Care
- Associate Minister of Forestry and Forestry Products
He has defeated Liberal candidate Stephen Margarit, NDP Candidate and former MPP Judith Monteith-Farrell, and the Green Party’s Eric Arner.
Lise Vaugeois has been elected for a second term as MPP for the Thunder Bay-Superior North riding.
I’m glad to be able to go back to Queens Park,” said Vaugeois. “I feel like my work isn’t done yet, and I’m grateful for the support of Thunder.
“When you go to Queens Park, your colleagues say it’s like drinking from a fire hose, there’s so much to learn quickly and I do feel like I found my footing fairly quickly in the job, so I look forward to going back with that experience and knowledge now about how to proceed.”
She was first elected as a member of the NDP party in June 2022.
Prior to the election call, she was serving as the Critic for Seniors as well as the Critic for WSIB & Injured Workers.
She beat out Conservative candidate and Marathon Mayor Rick Dumas, Liberal candidate and Thunder Bay City Council Member Brian Hamilton, and the Green Party’s John Northey.
The provincial conservatives have secured their third consecutive majority government, marking the first time this has happened in 65 years.
“I think to have the confidence of the people so overwhelmingly as was indicated here with the election results is key,” added Holland. “That’s why we went to an early election to get that strong mandate from the people of Ontario to do what we needed to do, to continue to protect Ontario, protect our jobs, protect our economy, protect our communities.”
The provincial NDP is back as the official opposition.
