MHA Eddie Joyce says people are lined up 'to write the cheque' for him to run again

Former Liberal cabinet minister Eddie Joyce will run as an independent in the district of Humber-Bay of Islands in the upcoming election.

He says he has an election team in place and feels very confident he will win, despite being removed from the Liberal caucus a year ago by Premier Dwight Ball over harassment complaints from MHA Sherry Gambin-Walsh.

"If you're in my shoes, and you were walking around the district of the Humber-Bay of islands and see how much people realize that tumultuous year was all politics," said Joyce.

"There was absolutely no foundation to the bullying and harassment stuff and people know the difference. So, that's why I am very confident, when I go around, that we will do just fine in the election."

• Eddie Joyce removed from Liberal caucus following complaints of harassment, bullying

Joyce was cleared of harassment and bullying allegations, but Bruce Chaulk, commissioner for legislative standards, said Joyce broke a code of conduct for elected officials in lobbying to get a friend a government job.

Run on liberal values

The Liberal Party has not put out a call for nominations in thedistrict yet, and there's no timeline as to when that will take place.

When Joyce starts his campaign, he said, itwill be very different from any other election he's run in the past 30 years.

He saidhe's been a liberal all his life and will run on liberal ideas and values. But he's not a Liberal, and will be running independently and payingfor his campaign out of pocket.

"You ask for donations, which you always do. I have a great group of volunteers who put in a lot of their spare time into it. Hopefully I can use the signs that I had before," he said.

Joyce said a campaigncan cost anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000, but he hopes to have some things, like a headquarters, donated in kind.

Raise money

"I have a lot of people lined up with donations waiting for the election to be dropped to write the cheque," he said.

"You can't raise money until an election is called, but I'm very confident we can run it on a shoe string budget but still run a great campaign."

Since the harassment scandal broke, Joyce has sat in the house as an Independent.

In February, hetravelled to Uganda with the HOPE Helping Orphans Prosper through Education Foundation, helping to distribute shoes, clothes and school supplies to those in need, and has been attendingmunicipal and community functions in his district.

"I'm from the old school where I still enjoy helping people, helping town councils," he said.

"As long as I still have that feeling and the people in the Humber-Bay of Islands puts their confidence in me, I still enjoy it. It's a pleasure to be invited to the personal functions, the birthdays and celebrations."

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