This woman knows her way around the halls of power

Celia Ross is a passionate person.

Her passion and her enthusiasm are infectious and they bring people together to accomplish great things, says Bud Wildman, who served nearly a quarter century as Algoma MPP and provincial cabinet minister.

Ontario New Democratic leader Andrea Horwath came Ross's nomination meeting last night at the Community Soup Kitchen in Jamestown to add her voice of support.

The two echoed and developed each others' messages.

"We are the people of real change," said Horwath.

"Il est maintenant temps pour un changement vrai," added Ross.

Even the just-defeated Tony Martin came out to introduce Horwath and to support Ross.

Martin was greeted by wild cheers and smiled broadly as he introduced Horwath and thanked everyone for a well-run federal campaign.

"We did everything right," he said. "The only thing we didn't do was win."

Martin said that the local New Democratic team and Ross make an excellent combination that will propel her to a seat in Parliament.

Wildman was Ross' big promoter last night.

He talking about more than 10 years working with Ross at Algoma University while he was chair of the board of governors and she was president.

He highlighted Ross's drive and determination for the university's charter, her willingness to share credit for the work done in securing independence for the institution and her passion for the students and their success.

She is an incredible team-builder who can work with people from every political party, office, institution and organization to get things done, he said.

"Celia Ross is a woman who knows her way around the halls of power," Wildman said.

He argued that Ross is the best possible candidate the party can put forward at this time.

That argument was met with resounding applause.

Ross agreed that she's passionate about life and about people and her love of them is what leads her to invest so much of herself, her time and her energy in them.

And she's passionate about the underlying theme of social justice that ties together her desire to serve the people of Sault Ste. Marie and the New Democratic Party of Ontario.

During her acceptance speech, Ross talked about her reasons for coming to and staying in the Sault.

She also talked about living in Sault Ste. Marie for 29 years, meeting her husband here, her son being born here and her father moving here to live with her family for the last years of his life.

"When my contract came to an end, I'd been president [of Algoma University] for 12 years and it was time for a change," she said. "I started thinking about what I was going to do and after a couple months of baking bread and cookies realized that wasn't quite enough."

She said that when she first retired she entertained visions of taking off with her family for a backpacking trip in the French Alps and buying a little chalet or adventuring other places around the world.

But then she said she realized that she really didn't want to live anywhere else.

The Sault is her home and that of her family.

Ross said some old friends from the Sault Ste. Marie Peace Association came to her and suggested she seek the nomination of the NDP to run in the next provincial election.

She gave the idea careful consideration and talked at length about it with her family.

Ultimately Ross realized that representing Sault Ste. Marie would be the best way for her to serve the people she cares most about and support the philosophies she is passionate about.

Those include peace, social justice and the environment, she said.

Her family fully supported her decision, something Wildman said is an essential component to her success, and last night the local NDP members also unanimously supported her uncontested nomination.

The pledge forms came out and the party faithful started casting big votes with their wallets.

Ross finished her acceptance speech with a nod to Horwath, thanking her for making the trip to the Sault and saying she looked forward to learning from her both on the campaign trail and as a member of the government with Horwath as the next premier of Ontario.