WHITNEY — Former long-time local reeve and mayor and prominent labour activist Ethel LaValley was acclaimed the New Democratic Party candidate in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke for the upcoming provincial election.
Ontario residents go to the polls June 7.
Ms. LaValley is a member of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan who grew up in Whitney and went to work in Toronto, and later, with the MNR in Algonquin Park after graduating from high school in Bancroft. She is well known in Renfrew County politics and Ontario’s labour movement.
Both Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath and the party’s former leader Howard Hampton phoned her last week to encourage her to run.
“I agree with Andrea that switching to the Doug Ford Conservatives in this election would be moving from bad to worse,” said Ms. LaValley. “We need change for the better, which is why I’m running for the nomination and getting involved.”
She has a very successful track record in the Ottawa Valley. It includes being elected Reeve of the Township of Airy four times (1985-98) and then, in 1998, being elected Mayor of the newly amalgamated Township of South Algonquin. She was elected Vice-President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and was the youngest member ever elected to the Northern Ontario Municipalities Board.
Health care was always a strong area of interest for her. She served on the Renfrew County Health Unit Board of Trustees, on the Quinte Board of Health, and the St. Francis Memorial Hospital Board. And she was Chair of the Airy Medical Centre and Library Board, leading the launch of its first building.
At the same time as she was so actively involved in local politics, Ms. LaValley rose quickly in the labour movement, getting involved early in her Ministry of Natural Resources career with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and becoming a vice-president and executive member with the union.
That led to her election in 1995 as Secretary-Treasurer of the Ontario Federation of Labour, one of the top positions in this umbrella group for the province’s unions. She held this position until retiring from it in 2005. She also became the first Aboriginal Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress.
Ms. LaValley was married to Will Birkett, who died in 2010 and who she remembers as a “Wonderful man and wonderful supporter.” She has a daughter, Wendy, and two grandchildren, and Riley and Hayden.
She says she has fought throughout her career for strong public services, especially health care.
“The Liberals have made cuts in hospitals, underfunding them by $300 million this year alone,” Ms. LaValley stated. “When the PCs were in with Harris, they cut 6,000 nurses and closed 28 hospitals. Their last leader, Tim Hudak wanted to cut 100,000 public sector jobs. We need change for the better.”
Ms. LaValley values her aboriginal roots and the guidance she gets from people like Elder Jane Chartrand, of Madwaska, who endorsed her, saying, “It is indeed an honour for me to speak about this woman in your midst. She has always walked in her truth for the betterment of all people. She comes with many acolytes from her journey here on the land. It is now I wish her well and will always be beside her in her next endeavour. I am Jane Chartrand, and she makes our women proud. Meegwetch.”
