Francis announced his plan last week to run for mayor in the Oct. 26 municipal election.<\/p>\n
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Windsor mayoral candidate Fred Francis, a long-term city councillor with a seemingly conservative track record, has made former NDP member of parliament Brian Masse his campaign manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not the first time I\u2019ve heard that,\u201d said Francis. \u201cIt just goes to show the type of campaign I want to run, and if successful the type of mayor I want to be. Everyone is welcome regardless of political stripes, regardless of ideology, regardless of what ward you live in, regardless of anything. I want to have a big tent that\u2019s diverse and inclusive of everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Francis, who has represented Ward 1 for 12 years, announced his plan last week to run for mayor in the Oct. 26 municipal election. Kat Pasquach and Benjamin Danyluk have also entered the race.<\/p>\n
Incumbent Drew Dilkens, who has been mayor since 2014 and handily won re-election every term since, has yet to announce his intentions. But he has hinted that he intends to run.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes it look like I\u2019m taking my foot off the gas or not really interested in this? It probably doesn\u2019t look that way,\u201d Dilkens recently told reporters in response to a question from the Star about his intentions.<\/p>\n
Francis announced Thursday that Masse, a former Ward 2 councillor and an NDP member of parliament in Windsor West for 23 years, is his new campaign manager.<\/p>\n
The two have known each other for about 27 years. They also recently worked together at the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, where Francis is the executive director.<\/p>\n
After Masse departed federal politics with a 2025 election loss, he joined the council as an employment services specialist. He left that position in June after a planned one-year stint.<\/p>\n
Masse acknowledged his team-up with Francis could seem strange. But citing several former Saskatchewan NDP leaders whose footsteps he followed, Masse said it\u2019s not a huge reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might seem that way on the surface, and that\u2019s fair,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the reality is I come from the NDP stock of Tommy Douglas, where you basically balanced the books, cleaned up corruption and brought in social programs with the surpluses. That fiscal kind of conservatism \u2014 the Roy Romanows, the Lorne Calverts and even the Howard Pawleys \u2014 was part of my background.\u201d<\/p>\n
Francis said he has been called conservative.<\/p>\n