My wife Nancy and I, with our three children, have lived in the Sudbury region for more than 30 years. During those years I was employed by the former Sudbury Board of Education and have served in municipal government the past nine years.

My involvement in municipal politics began in 1994 when I was elected to City and Regional Council. Since then I have acted in a variety of leadership roles having chaired several Regional Committees and served as Deputy Mayor of the City of Sudbury and Acting Chair of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury.

Along with my political responsibilities, my involvement with the community included working as a member of the United Way Campaign cabinet (1994 - 1998). Also, I am a supporter of the Heart and Soul Campaign.

As well, Nancy and I continue to help raise funds for the local Kidney Foundation. Over the years, when called upon, I have endeavoured to involve myself in a variety of charitable functions and fundraising events.

A graduate of Seneca College and Laurentian University, Daniel Gingras is presently President of Gingras and Associates a consulting firm providing Planning and Fundraising Management Services.

In the past, he has worked as the Executive Director of the Heart & Soul Campaign. Furthermore he acted as Director of Les Entreprises Boréal, Executive Director of the Collège Boréal Foundation, Director of Student Services at Collège Boréal, and Director of Continuing Education and Distance Education at Cambrian College.

Mr. Gingras has been involved in numerous community organizations such as: Chair of the Township of Opasatika Economic Corporation, Treasurer of Greater Sudbury Hydro Inc., Chairman of the Nickel Basin Federal Development Corporation, the Board of Directors of Cinéfest, the Hôpital Régional de Sudbury Regional Hospital Foundation, Collège Boréal, Laurentian Hospital and the Club Richelieu Les Patriotes.

Mr. Gingras has successfully raised over $30 million for non-profit corporations in Northern-Ontario. He is married to Hélène Chayer, has two daughters and a grand daughter. During his spare time he rides his Harley-Davidson and spends quality time at the cottage.

Frances Caldarelli was born and educated in Sudbury, graduating from the St. Elizabeth School of Nursing and Laurentian University.

Before being elected to Council in 2003, she served three terms as a school board trustee, and was also a City and Regional Councillor in the 1980's. She is a nurse specialist, certified in Occupational Health, and worked for many years in the field of Disability Management, Safety and Health Promotion.

Presently, Frances chairs the city's planning committee. She is also a member of the Sudbury Airport Community Development Corporation and sits on the Court of Revision Under the Drainage Act for Agricultural Drains. In June of 2007 she was elected as a director on the board of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Mayor John Rodriguez considers himself to be a man of the people.

John was born in Guyana, South America, where he received his elementary and high school education. John emigrated to Canada in 1956 and attended Teachers' College in Toronto and began his teaching career in St. Catharines, Ontario. He and his wife, Bertilla, moved to Coniston in 1962 where John was appointed Principal of St. Paul School. John graduated from Laurentian University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Spanish Literature. During this time, he was also active with the Provincial Catholic Teachers' Union having served as its President in 1968, and was a member of the Board of Governors of the Ontario Teachers' Federation.

John was elected to the House of Commons as NDP MP for Nickel Belt in October of 1972 and was re-elected in 1974, 1979, 1984 and 1988. John was an active MP both in and out of the House of Commons where he served on many committees over his 18 year career.

John entered the realm of municipal politics when he was elected to the Coniston Town Council in 1971 before it became part of Nickel Centre. John's second foray into local politics came in November 2006 when he was elected Mayor of Greater Sudbury. He came into office with the belief that our municipal staff are our city's greatest asset. Now, after spending time with hundreds of employees at their workplaces, his belief has become a conviction. To acknowledge the importance of our staff's contribution, Council has designated 2007 as the 'Year of the Employee".

As part of Mayor Rodriguez's Inaugural Address, he committed to and has established four advisory panels in his first 100 days of office. These panels include: Municipal Mining Revenues, Performing Arts Centre, Health Cluster and Multi-Sport Recreational Complex.

John and his wife, Bertilla, have five sons and five grand children. In his leisure time he enjoys reading, gardening and horses and is a patron of the local arts.

John feels privileged to represent the citizens of Greater Sudbury as their Mayor. He is proud of this community and looks forward to an unprecedented period of growth and vitality.

Les Lisk has over 35 years of teaching experience since graduating from University with an Honours Degree in Chemistry, Mathematics and Computers.

Les designed and implemented unique educational programs in Sudbury including the S.T.E.P. program at Lockerby Composite School, The School of Integrated Technology at Lively, the Virtual School for the Rainbow Board of Education and the Summer School of Science and Technology.

In addition he has developed the Pre-Trades/Technology Program, the Energy Systems Technology Program and is co-ordinating the Applied Research at the Sustainable Energy Centre at Cambrian College.

Community involvement has been very important to Les, having served as President of Nickel Centre Credit Union, Chairman of the Regional Science Fair, Chair of the Chemistry Advisory Committee at Cambrian College, Executive Director of the Youth Science Foundation and the Canada-Wide Science Olympics, President of the Principals Association, President of the Solar Energy Society of Sudbury and Vice-Chair of Greater Sudbury Utilities.

Peter McMullen was born in Sudbury and has lived there for most of his life. He has held positions at the colleges of Laurentian University, as well as owned a number of small businesses in the area. Peter is currently operating an accounting and legal practice in Sudbury.

Ron Vaillancourt is married with three grown children. He worked at I.N.C.O. for thirty-five years, starting in 1970 as an instrument technician and retiring in 2005 as a maintenance general foreman at Clarabelle Mill. Ron's passion at work was for his crews to attain zero injuries every day while discovering and using best practices to perform work in the most efficient manner possible.

After retiring from I.N.C.O. Ron started a company doing both safety and maintenance consulting.