An experienced campaigner who is into his fourth term on North Battleford city council is now looking to make the giant leap to federal politics.
Ray Fox has been officially nominated as the Liberal candidate in Battlefords-Lloydminster for the next election.
The nomination meeting was held in Cut Knife Saturday afternoon, where Fox took the nomination by acclamation. His wife Krista was there, as were other prominent local Liberals including Councillor Ryan Bater and former councillor Don Salie.
Fox, a longtime broadcaster and current director of justice for Battlefords Tribal Council, now takes on Conservative incumbent MP Gerry Ritz in a riding Ritz has held for almost 18 years.
For the past few years Ritz has been minister of Agriculture and Agri-foods.
But Fox is unfazed by that and made it known to the gathering of Liberal supporters he believes Ritz won't be in cabinet for very much longer.
"Personally, I think Gerry Ritz is a good minister, I think he's a great guy," said Fox. "He's just not going to be in government."
Fox reiterated those sentiments in speaking to the News-Optimist later. He plans to make the pitch that constituents will be better represented by a member of the new Liberal government that he believes is on the way.
"Justin Trudeau is going to be the prime minister," said Fox.
"If you're not in the government, you're not in the government. That's going to be my spiel."
A member of Sweetgrass First Nation, Fox is the third nominee of First Nation descent for the Liberals in the province.
His candidacy seems indicative of an effort by the federal Liberals to reach out to First Nation voters and candidates in the province. It was also mentioned at the meeting that Lawrence Joseph, former FSIN chief, will soon be officially nominated to run for the Liberals in Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, a riding he contested previously under the NDP banner.
For his part Fox is attracted to the Liberals for a variety of reasons. He expressed admiration for Pierre Elliott Trudeau, calling him "one of the best prime ministers we ever had."
But he also said he was impressed by the new leader, Justin Trudeau.
He said he was particularly impressed by his decision to remove senators from the Liberal party caucus, even though Fox noted he was a personal friend and admirer of the work of the late Liberal senator Herb Sparrow of the Battlefords.
Fox spoke about Trudeau's controversial stance in favour of the legalization of marijuana. While Fox admitted to not being "100 per cent certain" himself on that issue, "I haven't had enough experience to say one way or another," he said he nevertheless expressed support for the leader.
"If Justin Trudeau says this is what we're going to do, I think it's a good idea."
Fox was more definite about another issue. He said Trudeau was "squarely in the right path" in saying "I'm going to call for a national inquiry on missing and murdered aboriginal women."
He reiterated the need for action.
"That to me is something that has to be done. We can't wait around for somebody else to do it for us."
But while Fox is passionate about aboriginal issues, he acknowledged to the audience the risk of being seen as a "one-trick pony" and pointed to his knowledge of other issues through his work on council.
As for issues affecting the riding, Fox is keeping an eye on the situation with oil prices, which concerns him considerably.
"You have to take a serious look at what's going on with the oil industry right now," said Fox, adding "we could be headed for disaster here."
Fox said he would also like to see something more happen with Highway 4 running north, noting the proposed highway between the La Loche area and Fort McMurray isn't developed yet. "We'd really like to see that connector road happening because it would really make a difference to the work that we do, and for our community."
Fox told supporters his decision to run for Parliament was for much the same as his decision to run for city council the first time. At that time, he was "a little bit tired of sitting on the sidelines" and complaining about things.
"If you can't lick 'em, join them," Fox said.
Now, Fox is back on the campaign trail for the newly-reconfigured Battlefords-Lloydminster electoral district.
The next step for the Liberals is to get ready for an election. That means putting together a campaign team and finding office space.
Fox indicated he has feelers out for a campaign manager, and that he is also looking to put together an advertising campaign and web presence, adding he believes "social media is the way to go."
Fox pledges the Liberals will be ready whenever the election is ultimately held.
The fixed-election date law mandates a fall vote and Fox expects Prime Minister Stephen Harper to stick with that date, despite the ongoing speculation of a possible spring vote instead.
"If our prime minister cannot keep his word on this idea of a fixed election date", said Fox, "I think it's just another nail in the coffin for him. I don't think he's silly enough to do that."
