Platform vs. popularity in Thunder Bay mayoralty race

Three of the six candidates running for the mayor's seat in Thunder Bay are counting on their platforms — not their name recognition — to win votes.

Superior Morning5:23Mayoral Candidate - Doug MacKay

He's been a tree planter, a freelance labourer, and is well known for his stance on legalizing marijuana. We meet Doug MacKay, one of 6 candidates for mayor of Thunder Bay.

Mayoral candidates, including incumbent Keith Hobbs, former CBC News journalist Shane Judge and city councillor Ken Boshcoff, are well-known to voters.

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But contenders Doug McKay, Colin Burridge, and Henry Wojak have not spent as much time in the public eye.

This is the third election Doug McKay has put his name on the ballot.

His main platform plank is to use Thunder Bay as a test site for legalizing drugs.

"Drugs are tearing this town apart right now,” he said.

“When you make something illegal, you bring the gangs in. But if it's legalized, take the gang activity out. It'll die overnight."

With so many candidates in the mayor’s race, McKay said he believes he has a chance.

"How am I going to do? There's going to be a lot of vote splitting. You've got 6 people running. And ah, there's going to be split votes this way and that way. So, who's going to come up the middle?"

McKay received about 2,000 votes when he last ran for mayor in 2006.

Appealing to ‘the people’

Another mayoral hopeful, Colin Burridge, received slightly less than 200 votes when he ran for mayor in 2010.

He said he's running again with the expectation that people will now know who he is.

Burridge said he feels he's the best choice because he knows the everyday citizen.

"How can you represent the people when you're not talking to the people about it, or just having the people that contact you? I'm running because the people need to get their voice back in city hall."

Burridge said he has not seen any improvements in Thunder Bay for the past four years, and that's why he is running for mayor for the second straight election.

"When I was a kid, it was awesome. We didn't have to worry about all the stuff that we do now,” he said.

“I understand that times change … It's ridiculous how much crime has increased, exponentially, since the 90s. How everything seems to be falling apart and we're losing everything. We've lost all our blue collar jobs," said Burridge.

Henry Wojak is also running for Mayor. He ran for councillor in the Neebing ward in the last election, and received 154 votes.  

During a debate in Thunder Bay Tuesday evening, Wojak told those in attendance he will focus on city hall accountability and fiscal responsibility.

CBC News was unable to obtain an interview with Wojak for this story.