Veteran Conservative campaigner Noble Villeneuve admits he's heading into the June 3 provincial election battle as the underdog.
It's a startling admission for a sitting MPP and high-profile minister for OMAFRA whose record of accomplishment should have him brimming with confidence.
But Villeneuve isn't going into battle in his rural home riding where the outcome would almost be a foregone conclusion. Through the Fewer Politicians Act, he's being forced to contest the redistributed riding of Stormont-Dundas-Charlottenburgh which includes the City of Cornwall where his profile is lower than he'd like it to be.
His chief opponent is also a sitting MPP... a sitting MPP who has never been a Cabinet minister but who's still given an important edge.
Since 1987, former police officer, millwright and municipal politician John Cleary has represented Cornwall for the Liberals. Under redistribution, Cleary keeps his urban powerbase and gains most of Villeneuve's far-less-populated old territory.
Born on a Lunenburg farm, Cleary is also well know in the rural areas, having served in 1983 as Warden of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.
Quick off the mark with a pre-election announcement in the riding of his party's rural platform, the former reeve of Cornwall Township has stated publicly he isn't at all intimidated by the post-redistribution presence of such a powerful opponent.
"I'll do the same thing I've done for my whole public career... I'll identify the problems and do my best to correct them."
The NDP candidate is youthful Cornwall resident Maggie MacDonald who observers agree will be gaining a political education from the sidelines as the old warhorses slug it out.
"I'm going to try my best to make sure the campaign is kept clean," says Villeneuve, noting he's sat in the Legislature with his former political neighbor for a dozen years. Cleary says he'll do his part as well, complaining that some of his opponent's pamphlets were circulated prematurely.
The outcome in this new riding might also seem to some as preordained. As Villeneuve, who acknowledges he's been shafted - at least on paper - by his own government's redistribution process points out, 60 per cent of his electorate this time out is urban and new to him.
But Villeneuve is nothing if not a dedicated campaigner. His challenge is to make himself better known within the new part of his riding within a limited period of time and to convince the urbanites he can do for them what he successfully did for his original constituents since first picked in a 1983 by-election. His success will also largely depend on the popular support of the Mike Harris government which is looking to win its second mandate.
"We just have to try harder," the minister states, pointing out he's not exactly unknown in Cornwall where he was instrumental last term in bringing in a new justice building.
Villeneuve was re-elected in 1985, 1987, 1990 and 1995 when he was sworn in as OMAFRA minister with the added responsibility of Francophone Affairs. He spent years in training for the job as opposition critic and by serving on a number of standing committees.
A native of Maxville where he and wife Elaine raised five children, Villeneuve is a farmer and a former accredited real estate appraiser who has served as vice president of the Ontario Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.
Cleary and wife Elizabeth have four children. He has served on the board of directors of Cornwall's Hotel Dieu Hospital, as chair of the Raisin Region Conservation Authority and as chair of Glen-Stor-Dun Lodge. He's also a charter member of Cornwall Township Lions Club.
Currently the official opposition critic for rural affairs and rural economic development, Cleary served as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Agriculture in 1989-90.
Cleary echoes his party's stand in claiming that rural Ontario has been treated as second class by the Harris government. A liberal government will reinvest if agriculture to ensure that rural communities remain strong, particularly by beefing up OMAFRA regional offices.
The minister counters with a list of his government's agricultural/rural program priorities, including the $30 million Rural Job Strategy Fund, the $35 million Rural Youth Strategy, the pre-election budget $35 million Healthy Futures for Agriculture and the $5 million for specialized rural crime prevention units, also contained in the last budget.
Villeneuve says the current agricultural priorities are upcoming WTO negotiations and strengthening safety nets. He said he loved serving as OMAFRA minister and would welcome the assignment again if asked to serve in a new Harris Cabinet.
Cleary says nursing cutbacks in Cornwall hospitals have made health care the main riding issue while Villeneuve cites employment as the number one priority, particularly in Cornwall with its expanded workforce.