In 1998, Andy Mitchell was 45 years old, a former country banker turned Liberal politician with a new assignment as a junior cabinet minister responsible for parks.
And he was fat.
“I had a photograph taken of me when my son graduated from Grade 8 and I filled up that photographic frame wide almost as much as I did high,” he recollected later.
That photograph helped change his life. He posted it where it could be seen every day, began running in September and by May 2000, was running in his first marathon.
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“I’m a goal-oriented person so I stuck with it, running every day for more than 500 consecutive days,” he said. He now has run four marathons and when in Ottawa, he often runs the 12 kilometres home from his Parliament Hill office.
“It’s the time of day I can think,” he said. “I’m alone. It’s an opportunity to think and to work things through.”
It also shows part of the character of Canada’s new agriculture minister.
“I work hard to achieve objectives, I believe there’s no substitute for hard work and I try to accomplish as much as I can on any given day.”
Mitchell said it also shows the risk-taking side of his personality, the side that loves a challenge.
And it illustrates his toughness and determination, traits shown during the 1997 election campaign in his Parry Sound-Muskoka riding north of Toronto when he checked out of a hospital where he’d spent the night battling a kidney stone attack to keep an appointment with a visiting reporter.
“I keep my commitments,” he said then.
These all are traits the 51-year-old rookie agriculture minister figures will come in handy as he tackles a portfolio rife with pressing issues – low incomes, World Trade Organization talks, BSE and a national farm safety net system that many farmers believe is broken even before it starts.
“There’s no doubt I’ll have lots to do.”
During his four years as a junior minister responsible for rural issues within Agriculture Canada, Mitchell developed a reputation as a hard worker, turning a minor cabinet responsibility into more than a full-time job. Along the way, he also developed a departmental reputation as a boss who drove his staff hard, some say ruthlessly, and often to distraction.
He was born in Montreal but spent his professional life in Ontario, joining the Bank of Nova Scotia in 1973 at age 20 and staying for 20 years, rising to bank manager status.
Although he didn’t have many farm clients, his time in rural banks taught him a lot, Mitchell said.
“It taught me an understanding of rural Canada, the importance of agriculture in a rural economy and the necessity of having a strong rural Canada in order to have a successful country.”
In 1993, he was elected as a Liberal in a riding that had been Progressive Conservative since 1957.
In 1997, the PCs thought they could undo the previous election result by running military hero Lewis MacKenzie against him. Kidney stones notwithstanding, Mitchell won by more than 6,000 votes.
In 2004, the margin was reduced to a little more than 3,000 votes.
Farm leaders give him the benefit of the doubt until they see how he performs. Part of that performance will involve standing up to cabinet in defence of proposed farm programs.
Mitchell talks about his track record of working with other cabinet ministers and the importance of having prime minister Paul Martin’s support.
He also played hockey as a young teen.
“I played defence and I didn’t mind taking the body if someone was challenging.”
