The Bacon Man's last request
The next municipal election is not until October 2026 but that isn't stopping Ernie 'the Bacon Man' Lamont from making a campaign pitch.
"I'm the guy that's willing to go the nine yards," said Lamont to CTV New while sitting in his bed at Hospice Windsor.
The long-time entrepreneur is recognized for his active presence in local politics. He ran for Windsor’s top job five times.
"How many times do we say if you're going to complain put your name on the ballot? And he did put his name on the ballot and he shared those ideas," said current Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens.
Lamont and Dilkens are known to battle it out on the city council floor.
"If we don't agree on anything else, we agree on the fact that we want our city to be better. We want it to succeed. And I wanted to recognize his contribution and his dialogue throughout the years and go visit him in his final days,” Dilkens adds.
Photos placed in Ernie ‘the Bacon Man’ Lamont’s room in hospice care in Windsor, Ont. on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. (Stefanie Masotti/CTV News Windsor)
Lamont was diagnosed with cancer in 2022. Doctors tell him he has one to three months to live.
He says has one final request. To be transported, on a stretcher, to Windsor City Hall to make one last pitch.
"To bring a second casino across from the new mega hospital. It would create 10,000 jobs year round,” said Lamont. He suggests an aquarium, convention center and indoor amusement park be attached.
As his time nears, some still question how the Bacon Man got his name.
“I was working at Ford selling bacon and cheese. And then my foreman said what do you sell the most? I said bacon. He said ‘why don't you call yourself the bacon man?’ And that was that," Lamont explains.
He hopes residents of Windsor will remember him fondly for years and decades to come.
"I always had your box,” he said. “I always went to city all with the right motivation to make sure that I was doing the right thing."
Photos placed in Ernie ‘the Bacon Man’ Lamont’s room in hospice care in Windsor, Ont. on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. (Stefanie Masotti/CTV News Windsor)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING 122 active wildfires burning across Canada, 32 considered 'out of control'
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
B.C. parents sentenced to 15 years for death of 6-year-old boy
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has sentenced the mother and stepfather of a six-year-old boy who died from blunt-force trauma in 2018 to 15 years in prison.
Veteran TSN sportscaster Darren Dutchyshen has died
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57. His family says 'he passed as he was surrounded by his closest loved ones.'
'More aggressive': Tocchet shifts lineups as Canucks get ready to take on Oilers in Vancouver
As the Canucks prepare to take on the Oilers for Game 5, Vancouver head coach Rick Tocchet is making changes to the team's lineup.
Police issue Canada-wide warrant for Regina homicide suspect
Police have issued a Canada-wide warrant for a man wanted in a homicide which occurred in Regina on May 12.
Kevin Spacey receives star support as he fights to get his career back
Kevin Spacey is pushing back on the 'rush to judgment' against him and is being backed by some big names as he seeks to reclaim his acting career.
Trudeau calls New Brunswick's Conservative government a 'disgrace' on women's rights
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assailed New Brunswick's premier and other conservative leaders on Thursday, calling out the provincial government's position on abortion, LGBTQ youth and climate change.
Speaker cuts ties with Sask. Party, alleges he faced threats, harassment from gov't MLAs
The Speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislature Randy Weekes has severed ties with the Sask. Party after accusing some members of harassment and intimidation tactics, including a situation he claimed saw the Government House Leader bring a hunting rifle to the legislative building.
A Toronto man killed his mother and decapitated her. His lawyers argue it wasn't murder
A ‘lifetime of abuse’ led Dallas Ly to snap and repeatedly stab his mother inside their Leslieville apartment in 2022 but he never intended to kill her, his defence lawyers argued during his murder trial in Toronto on Thursday.