Thunder Bay library gives municipal candidates another chance to reach voters as advance polls open up

Affordable housing, crime, addictions, roads, transparency: the Thunder Bay Public Library's second candidates night covered a wide variety of election issues.

The second candidates event this week took place Tuesday night at the Mary J.L. Black branch, bringing in candidates from the Northwood and McKellar wards, along with dozens of voters to hear what the candidates had to say.

Participating Northwood candidates were Bill Dell, Syed Kabir, Chris Krumpholz, Mike Maher, and Dominic Pasqualino.

The McKellar candidates included Cory Bagdon, Stephanie Danylko, incumbent Brian Hamilton, and Lori Paras.

Northwood resident Maria Irwin said the event gave her a chance to get to know the candidates in her ward.

"This is why I came out," she said. "I wanted to see the candidates, and I wanted to get their opinions personally."

"It's important to get out there and just know what they stand on, not just vote based on name or who you know."

Irwin said the city's proposed indoor turf sports facility is a big issue for Northwood.

"I find it's a tax burden on on the general public," Irwin said of the project. "Taxpayers in general are facing ... tax increases this year. City taxes, provincial taxes, gas taxes."

"Now we're proposing more pressure on the taxpayer, and I think a lot of people can't bear that burden."

Fellow Northwood resident Bruce Kaus said crime, addictions, and infrastructure are major issues he'd like to see addressed.

He added Northwood residents seem to be very engaged in this year's election.

"I see a lot of signs out," he said. "Especially this year, I think we need engagement."

"We can't wave a magic wand and expect things to get better overnight, but we do need, I think, some new blood in."

Debbie Lapierre, another Northwood resident, said crime, homelessness, and transparency are big issues for her this election.

Lapierre said she has lived in ward for over 17 years now, and has raised her family in Northwood.

"Particular to our neighborhood is things like recreation, or the Churchill pool, what's going on at Chapples, and just the ability to get in touch with our ward councillors, or maybe hear from them a little bit more often about what's going on in our ward," she said.

"I love the city and I'm concerned about it," she continued.

Accountability for councillors is an issue for McKellar ward resident Cathy Webster, as are affordable housing, roads, and food security.

"It's the first time I've been to a candidates meeting, so I just want to hear what people have to say, and what issues are going to be talked about, and make an informed decision," she said. "I think you have to listen to the people that have elected you, and be accountable."

"If you don't have an answer, then get an answer," Webster said. "Step up and do your job, and do it well."

Question and answer session

Many of those topics were discussed in the question and answer session that took place later in the evening.

For example, when asked about the condition of roads in Thunder Bay, Maher said more money is needed.

"The way we find more money is by finding the 27,000 people that don't exist in our census right now," he said. "We've got academics coming and telling us that [Statistics Canada] isn't counting everybody."

"When not everyone is counted, that means that federal and provincial dollars that are ... funded by populations don't come into city budgets. What that means is that you and I are paying taxes for a population that is unfunded by the other orders of government," he said.

"That means that we're supporting 20 per cent more people than we're getting funding for, and that intersects every single problem that the city has that it spends money on," Maher continued. 

Turf facility topic of discussion 

Pasqualino was asked about whether or not he'd prioritize large capital projects, such as the proposed indoor turf facilty, or a new police headquarters.

"I can see a need for an indoor sports facility," he said. "I think that there's a lot of support for it in the community. The big thing that has faced the community just lately though, is that the funding from the federal or provincial government, the external funding, is falling through, so we'll have to address that issue."

"I don't know how to deal with it at this point. I know that that if the city does grow ... that certainly we can afford to do that."

Hamilton, when asked about investments in social services, said council needs to work with outside organizations.

"We have to be the conduits between these organizations and the machinery of administration," he said.

"I think it's incumbent on us as as councillors to not recreate the wheel, but in fact to be conduits for the organizations on the frontline of these issues, and help them tie into the machinery of government," he continued.

Bagdon said he'd like to see more community input when it comes to city spending.

"It is up to the city to decide where we want to put all of our tax dollar money," he said. "I think that's really, really interesting, mostly because when it comes to spending money, I think it should be up to our communities to decide where it goes."

Bagdon said he thinks council needs to listen to demand when it comes to dictating where funds end up. 

"We should listen to what the community wants, what the community needs," he said. 

More candidates events this week

Tuesday's entire question and answer session will be posted on the Thunder Bay Public Library YouTube channel.

The library will host another candidates night on Wednesday for the Current River, Red River, and McIntyre wards. The event will take place at the Waverley branch. Doors open at 6 p.m.

The municipal election takes place on Oct. 24, advance and online voting opens today.