Michael Gravelle

For the adoptive parent convicted of child abuse, see Michael and Sharen Gravelle.

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.

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 by	Shelley Wark-Martyn
Succeeded by	Lise Vaugeois
Personal details
Born	(1949-01-23) January 23, 1949 (age 76) Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Occupation	Executive assistant, publicist

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

Ontario provincial government of Kathleen Wynne

Ontario provincial government of Dalton McGuinty

Electoral record

2018 Ontario general election: Thunder Bay—Superior North
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Gravelle	11,973	39.86	-16.14
	New Democratic	Lise Vaugeois	11,160	37.16	+7.74
	Progressive Conservative	Derek Parks	5,395	17.96	+10.79
	Green	Amanda Moddejonge	838	2.79	-0.8
	Northern Ontario	Andy Wolff	376	1.25	+0.76
	Libertarian	Tony Gallo	148	0.49	-2.84
	Trillium	Louise Ewen	145	0.48
Total valid votes			30,035	100.0
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	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Gravelle	15,503	56.00	+11.00
	New Democratic	Andrew Foulds	8,144	29.42	-5.43
	Progressive Conservative	Derek Parks	1,985	7.17	-10.34
	Green	Joseph LeBlanc	993	3.59	+1.47
	Libertarian	Tamara Johnson	922	3.33	+2.82
	Northern Ontario Heritage	Paul Sloan	136	0.49
Total valid votes			27,683	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			262	0.94
Turnout			27,945	50.41
Eligible voters			55,436
Source: Elections Ontario[16]

2011 Ontario general election: Thunder Bay—Superior North
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Gravelle	11,765	45.00	-1.78
	New Democratic	Steve Mantis	9,111	34.85	-3.41
	Progressive Conservative	Anthony LeBlanc	4,578	17.51	+8.11
	Green	Scot Kyle	555	2.12	-3.43
	Libertarian	Tony Gallo	133	0.51
Total valid votes			26,142	100.0
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			97	0.37
Turnout			26,239	48.20
Eligible voters			54,443
Source: Elections Ontario[17]

2007 Ontario general election: Thunder Bay—Superior North
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Gravelle	13,373	46.78	-25.28
	New Democratic	Jim Foulds	10,938	38.26	+23.32
	Progressive Conservative	Scott Hobbs	2,688	9.40	-0.16
	Green	Dawn Kannegiesser	1,586	5.55	+2.11
Total valid votes			28,585	100.0
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			169	0.59
Turnout			28,754	53.91
Eligible voters			53,341
Source: Elections Ontario[18]

2003 Ontario general election: Thunder Bay—Superior North
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Gravelle	21,938	72.45	+11.55
	New Democratic	Bonnie Satten	4,548	15.02	-3.53
	Progressive Conservative	Brent Sylvester	2,912	9.62	-8.36
	Green	Carl Rose	882	2.91	+1.70
Total valid votes			30,280	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			160	0.53
Turnout			30,440	55.60
Eligible voters			54,753
Source: Elections Ontario[19]

1999 Ontario general election: Thunder Bay—Superior North
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Gravelle	19,249	60.9	+11.98
	New Democratic	Nathalie Galesloot	5,864	18.55	-7.11
	Progressive Conservative	Ed Linkewich	5,683	17.98	-4.47
	Independent	Robert Woito	431	1.36
	Green	Carl Rose	382	1.21
Total valid votes			31,609	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			232	0.73
Turnout			31,841	54.94
Eligible voters			57,961
Source: Elections Ontario[20]

1995 Ontario general election: Port Arthur
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Gravelle	14,281	48.92	+9.76
	New Democratic	(x)Shelley Wark-Martyn	7,490	25.66	-17.22
	Progressive Conservative	Jim Doherty	6,554	22.45	+8.59
	Family Coalition	Anita Harris	683	2.34	-1.76
	Independent	Paul Weber	18	0.62
Total valid votes			29,190	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			322	1.09
Turnout			29,512	61.91
Eligible voters			47,672