For Thunder Bay business leaders, this fall's election is about who'll tackle social issues

For the second straight municipal election, Thunder Bay's business owners have identified public safety as their highest priority.

The Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce unveiled its "Say Yes" campaign on Monday, urging all candidates standing for mayor or council in the upcoming Oct. 24 election to commit to 10 priorities identified in a survey of its members.

Chamber president Charla Robinson said crime, homelessness, addictions and mental health were top-of-mind.

"Our members are saying that the whole safety and well-being is their biggest concern. Secondly would be financial issues — and those things go together," Robinson said.

"It's not cheap to address the social issues in this community," she said. "[We're] looking at things like partnership collaboration, other opportunities could help to address some of those social issues while also doing it in a fiscally prudent way."

Many of those issues are health issues and fall under provincial jurisdiction but Robinson pointed out the municipal government has a role. She credited the outgoing city council with developing the committee of community safety and wellbeing to centralize the local conversation. She urged candidates to focus on communicating common local concerns through the city's Inter-governmental committee.

"It's the same issues. It's poverty, it's crime, it's addictions. These are all challenges that are not getting better," Robinson said.

"We can't have everybody asking for different things. And so that collaboration should help to hopefully move us forward, to be able to get some of those pieces because we're all on the same page now, but there's still a long way to go," she said. 

The chamber's campaign also encourages candidates to reflect on increasing partnerships to build infrastructure and deliver programs, to cut red tape for business, to develop accountable customer service standards in every city department, and to prioritize inclusion for an increasingly diversifying city.

"We know the importance of treating our customers with dignity and respect. A diverse population brings many advantages and offers opportunities to harness the unique abilities and attributes of a wide range of people to achieve common goals," Robinson said.

"Although tremendous steps have been taken. The City of Thunder Bay has a long way to go to ensure that all of its citizens are treated well and not subject to racism, discrimination, or systemic abuse."

Social issues increasingly get attention 

Social issues associated with poverty continue to be raised in economic development circles as a limitation of Thunder Bay's potential and across the political spectrum, an urgency for systemic local responses to homelessness, mental health and addictions is emerging.

Northwestern and northeastern Ontario municipal leagues have adopted a recent Northern Policy Institute paper on homelessness, mental health and addictions as a lobbying document. 

Amid a number of recommendations, it calls for Ontario to legally codify "Northern Service Hubs" and commit to adequately funding those communities whose local services reach populations far beyond their municipal borders. 

That voice has already reached the provincial cabinet table. When voters elected Progressive Conservative Kevin Holland as the Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP in June, he identified mental health and addictions as his top priorities. He's now the Parliamentary Assistant of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Scroll down to read the full list of priorities from the chamber: 

Visionary Leadership through commitments to:

• Leading by example
• Partnerships
• Openness
• Prudent spending

Economic Opportunity through commitments to:

• Less red tape 
• Customer service standards
• Long-term thinking

Quality of Life through commitments to:

• Great neighbourhoods
• Safe streets
• Diversity and inclusion