Bradley saw election defeat coming
There are just some things Jim Bradley can’t let go of.
After more than four decades in politics, most of it spent as the Liberal MPP for St. Catharines, he has accumulated a treasure trove of memorabilia.
The worth of these pieces of his political career is subject to some debate among his staff as he closes his constituency office.
“Now my staff is telling me all the things I have to throw out. I’m frantically going around trying to prevent them from throwing things out,” said Bradley, a selfconfessed pack rat. “They’re saying, ‘This is 1972. It was back in when you were in city council, this particular document. Do you really need the minutes of the 1972 city council meeting?’
“Well, like I say, I could look back with nostalgia. They say ‘No, no, no.’ That confrontation’s going on right now because we have to close our offices.”
The rules of the Ontario legislature require an out-going MPP to close his or her offices if they lose an election. With only 10 days to vacate his office Bradley, who first won his seat in 1977, cannot handle constituency business.
“Now if you phoned in with a problem, I can’t deal with it. There has to be a sign on the door saying, ‘The office is closed.’ That’s the rules of the assembly,” he said in an interview the day after he lost his seat to NDP candidate Jennie Stevens.
Beyond arguing over which documents he should keep, Bradley said he is not particularly upset about his election loss.
“I thought the answer would be ‘Yes’ but it’s not. I just recognize reality, political reality, and again that sounds philosophical to say it, but those of us who are contesting elections have to understand we have to respect whatever the result is, and if the feeling of a desire for change is strong enough it trumps everything else, it really does.”
Bradley said it became evident to him early in the election campaign that victory was unlikely. In every neighbourhood he canvassed, Bradley heard the same thing — voters liked and respected him, but they wanted a different party in power. Like gravity, the unpopularity of the Liberals and their leader Kathleen Wynne was pulling him down.
“I warned my colleagues before the election started: ‘Don’t feel slighted if you don’t win, because most of the time, most of the factors in an election are out of our control anyway,’” he said.
“There are elections where you will be able to sit at home in your living room, riding on the coattails of whoever’s there. Then the next one, you’re scratching and clawing, trying to hold on. Much of it’s out of our hands, and we have to understand that. I certainly did.”
Bradley, who held several ministerial posts, hasn’t had enough time to reflect on his career at Queen’s Park since Thursday’s election, but said he was proud of spearheading efforts to combat acid rain, pressing the government to bring GO trains to Niagara, establishing early childhood learning programs and the Liberals’ recession-era bailout of General Motors — a program he said eventually resulted in the arrival of General Electric in Welland.
Bradley said he will offer whatever help his replacement needs as she transitions from city councillor to MPP. Although he said he doesn’t want to offer unwanted advice, he did say there was one thing Stevens should keep top of mind.
“Certainly, it’s keeping in touch with the local groups and organizations within the community that represent people in the healthcare field, the education field and so on,” he said.
“It’s good to sit down with those people and hear from the frontline folks on what their needs are and how they think you can best meet their needs. That’s an important step.”