Liberal Rhodes takes another run at Miller

GRAVENHURST— Brenda Rhodes is giving politics another go a decade later.

Brenda Rhodes was the 2007 provincial Liberal candidate. She won 26.71 per cent of the votes in that election, behind winner Norm Miller who took 47.17 per cent of the 36,766 votes.

The executive director of the Bracebridge-Port Sydney Chamber of Commerce, who ran locally for the Liberals in the 2007 provincial election, got the party’s nod again Tuesday as the candidate for Parry Sound–Muskoka.

She received 9,819 votes (26.71 per cent of the 36,766 votes cast).

Incumbent MPP Norm Miller beat her that year, with 17,343 votes (47.17 per cent of the ballots).

Miller was first elected in 2001 when the Parry Sound and Muskoka ridings merged. He is the son of former Muskoka MPP and premier Frank Miller.

Matt Richter, the Green Party’s candidate since 2007, is also running again June 7.

The NDP are still searching for a candidate.

“It’s an honour to be nominated as the Ontario Liberal candidate for my home riding on Premier Kathleen Wynne’s team,” said Rhodes at a small nomination meeting at Tea-Beard’s in Gravenhurst.

“I’m ready to fight for fairness, to ensure we deliver the care our community needs and to defend a progressive agenda to support workers with fair wages, to provide free tuition for nearly a quarter of a million students and to pioneer a free pharmacare program, first for youth and students, and soon for seniors,” a party release said.

Rhodes previously worked in a management role with the McGill University Faculty of Dentistry, overseeing an accreditation-review process and the building of a new, state-of-the-art facility.

She also previously served as a political adviser to Andy Mitchell, the former MP for Parry Sound–Muskoka, both in the constituency and in ministerial roles with the Ministry of Agriculture and the then-Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.

She also served as an adviser for the Bridges Out of Poverty committee of the YWCA and sits on the Muskoka Tourism Marketing Agency Board. She is a business mentor with Muskoka Futures and a local Rotarian. She received the local Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award and the Woman of Distinction Award. An athlete, she’s played on the Bracebridge-Gravenhurst Women’s Softball League, was MVP of the OCAA All-Star Game and the Female Athlete of the Year for Fanshawe College, where she earned a diploma in recreation and leadership and in public relations.

She says she is a proud resident of Huntsville where she lives with her partner, Peter.