Former Thunder Bay mayor Ken Boshcoff says current Mayor Keith Hobbs is way off base with statements made to launch his re-election campaign.
Boshcoff, who has yet to publicly decide his plans for the Oct. 27 municipal election, issued a strongly worded email Tuesday morning decrying Hobbs’ claims of working hard, “probably harder than any mayor in history.”
Hobbs made the statement Monday to media at city hall, while officially filing his nomination papers.
“For Keith Hobbs to state that he is the hardest-working mayor in the history of Thunder Bay is insulting and offensive to those who have served in that role and to their family and friends,” said Boshcoff, adding he started getting calls about Hobb’s wording on Tuesday morning.
“To be so arrogant as to demean the efforts of previous leaders is a very sad situation indeed for Mr. Hobbs.”
Boshcoff served two terms as mayor, from 1997 to 2003. He then served two terms as a Liberal MP for Thunder Bay-Rainy River before losing the seat to the NDP's John Rafferty. Boshcoff returned to council in 2010 as an at-large representative.
Hobbs later apologized, saying he was just trying to get across that he's a hard-working mayor and did not mean to insult anyone.