Taking a 2nd shot as PC leader: Tony Wakeham on political lessons from basketball
He competed at the national level on the basketball court. Now he's competing for the top job in N.L. politics
Tony Wakeham can still make a basket.
It just takes him a few more tries than he used to.
"I've been involved in sport my entire life," said Wakeham, one of three candidates for the leadership of Newfoundland and Labrador's Progressive Conservative party, in a recent interview.
These days with a bad knee — not to mention a busy job as an MHA, and a leadership campaign to boot — he doesn't get to play much.
His love for basketball started in school. He continued to play in university and represented the province at the national level.
Later, he became a coach, including a Canada Games team that earned the best finish ever for a boys' team from Newfoundland and Labrador.
"All of that experience gives you the concept of team building, and teamwork, and what it means to form teams," he said.
"I've been a team player all my life, I've worked with teams all my life. I'm as comfortable in the boardroom as I am on the basketball court."
This is the second time Wakeham, who represents the western Newfoundland district of Stephenville-Port au Port in the House of Assembly, has tried for the top Tory job.
In 2018, he lost to St. John's lawyer Ches Crosbie, who would go on to run two unsuccessful election campaigns in 2019 and 2021 against the Liberals.
When interim leader David Brazil decided not to pursue the job permanently, a new leadership race was triggered. Looking back at the race five years ago, Wakeham says he is building on a decent debut showing.
"I entered the [leadership] race late," he said, pointing out he still got 42 per cent of the points in the PCs' weighted-vote ranking system.
"To this day people have told me if I had a few more weeks, I would have won."
Gaining experience in the legislature
In that first race, Wakeham was brand-new to politics. Since then, he's won two elections as an MHA, giving him profile as a party critic — and also winning him support in caucus.
He has five MHAs backing him. Including his own vote, that means half the current caucus on his side, as he competes with fellow MHA Lloyd Parrott and businessman Eugene Manning.
PCs will elect a new leader through a voting system that opens Oct. 4 and concludes Oct. 14.
Wakeham is confident he has an edge in the race and will build a government in the wings as the next provincial election, expected in 2025, draws closer.
"I've been able to attract people who have lots of political experience," he said.
Before he was in politics, Wakeham's career has largely been working behind the scenes in health care,apart from a brief stint when he ran a string of KFC franchises.
He's worked for health boards in Clarenville, Grand Falls-Windsor and Happy Valley-Goose Bay, eventually serving as CEO of Labrador Grenfell Health.
He said the experience on the court and in his work and politics have taught him one thing.
"It's not just about a leader," Wakeham said.
"If you're really going to be successful, you need to have a team."
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