Bob Huget, a labor activist elected MPP in Sarnia in 1990, has died. He was 75.
Huget died June 1 in hospital in Hamilton, according to an obituary.
He was elected to serve in the legislature as part of Bob Rae’s NDP government and was the first, and so far only, NDP elected provincially in the city.
“First and foremost, he was a friend,” said Cal MacKinnon, son of the late Ellen MacKinnon, who was also elected for the NDP in 1990 as MPP for what was then the neighboring Lambton riding.
“He was someone my mother could always count on to be there, to be in her corner, just like labor people, working people, always knew that Bob Huget stood in their corner,” MacKinnon said.
Born in Regina in 1947, Huget moved to Sarnia to work for Shell at its refinery near Corunna and became active in the Energy and Chemical Workers Union and later the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP.)
He was also active in the NDP and worked on several election campaigns before running as a candidate and winning in 1990.
“We had a really good working relationship,” said Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, who was the Liberal Party candidate in Sarnia in that election.
“I had a lot of respect for him,” Bradley said. “He was a very effective MPP. . . and a really good advocate.”
Huget held several parliamentary secretary posts and served as minister of international trade.
“He represented our community well,” MacKinnon said. “He served with honor and grace.”
After losing his seat in the 1995 election when the Progressive Conservatives under Mike Harris swept to power, Huget worked as a regional political leader with the CEP and moved with his family to Hamilton.
“I work very hard at trying to move the yardstick ahead, whether that’s for fair wages, health and safety issues, or working conditions,” Huget told The Observer in 2005.
“I take a great deal of pleasure in making sure we have some social justice in the province and, in particular, in the workplace,” he said.
St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton posted on social media June 8 that its flags were lowered for 48 hours in honor of Huget who had been a patient and family advisor there.
“His great passion was to make the care and services for patients and families better,” the hospital said.