TORONTO - The race for the next leader of the Ontario New Democrats heated up Thursday as a second member of the party caucus threw his hat into the ring.

NDP veteran Gilles Bisson, a longtime champion of northern issues who launched his campaign simultaneously from Toronto and Sudbury, positioned himself as the experienced, centrist candidate who would build a stronger economy and revitalize the left-leaning party's grassroots.

The gambit could pay off as Bisson -- the only northern Ontario contender in the race so far -- takes on the task of winning over vote-rich southern Ontario while laying out a plan to make better gains in the next provincial election.

While's he's proud of his northern roots, Bisson said he's come to understand the concerns of all urban Ontarians in his 18 years in the legislature.

"Those things sometimes may be different in magnitude, but there's certainly at base the same problem and I feel that I have the experience to deal with that," he said outside the legislature.

But his job would be to take the party from its third-party status and put it in the seat of government, Bisson said -- a feat not accomplished since former premier Bob Rae took the reins of power in 1990.

The NDP has been instrumental in laying the foundation for Canada's social system, such as publicly funded health care, but it has stalled at the polls, he acknowledged.

Voters want reassurances that the NDP will pay as much attention to economic and fiscal policy as they do to social policy, a call Bisson said he's prepared to answer.

"We need to convince voters that we as New Democrats would take economic issues as seriously as we do on social issues," said the 51-year-old bilingual francophone.

"And that includes issues around the environment and the economy. That includes issues of key investment training and all of those things which we'll talk to more specifically during the campaign."

The next leader of the Ontario NDP will also have to face the lingering threat of the Green Party, which has been siphoning voter support from the New Democrats.

The NDP must take the Greens seriously, but that can't be their only focus, Bisson said.

"If the party's going to gain electoral success in this province, we need to go after soft Liberals, soft Conservative undecideds on key issues that are important to them, and the environment is one of those," he said.

"I believe the way you attract Green voters to the NDP is by proposing good policy around the environment."

As for his stand on public funding for Catholic schools, Bisson didn't budge from the official party line, saying he "firmly believed' that the NDP should continue to support separate school education.

Toronto New Democrat Michael Prue waded into the controversial debate last month at the launch of his leadership campaign, suggesting it was time for the party to review its stance on funding Catholic schools at the leadership convention next March.

Prue, a former federal civil servant and mayor of the former Toronto borough of East York, has said he's not trying to re-open the debate about religion and schools that sank Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory in last year's election.

While Prue has emphasized his ties to the labour movement, Bisson is appealing to the party's grassroots in a bid to build support ahead of the one-member, one-vote leadership election next year.

"Significant operational changes" must be made within the NDP, whose strong local riding association system has been eclipsed by a central base that makes most of the important decisions, Bisson said.

He wants to empower riding associations to build a strong base of local support, a move that will ultimately strengthen the central party, he said.

The months-long leadership race will be taxing and expensive for the contenders -- at least $350,000 each -- but Bisson said he's got his running shoes ready.

He's already got "good support" from local ridings in all regions of the province, and has managed to lure some of the "best people in the party" to help him win, he said.

"It's a long campaign -- a bit of a marathon -- and I'm pretty used to running a marathon," Bisson joked as he patted his slimmed-down stomach.

"I've trimmed all out, I'm ready to go."

Prue has also expressed concern that the $500,000 spending limit would be difficult to raise as the candidates criss-cross the province to sign up as many new members as they can before the Jan. 5, 2009 cutoff date.

Two other caucus members -- Toronto's Peter Tabuns and Andrea Horwath of Hamilton -- are expected to make a run for the top job as well.

The party will choose a new leader next March when departing leader Howard Hampton steps down after nearly 13 years at the helm.

Hampton saw the party through three provincial elections, but failed to make any significant gains in popular support or number of seats in the legislature.