THUNDER BAY - The Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce wants candidates to see the city as one of economic opportunity in the upcoming municipal election.
For the first time, they’ve launched a platform in the hopes of influencing and informing the mandate of those running for the mayor’s seat, and a spot on city council.
The development of the platform was informed by over 200 local businesses and their employees who responded through focus groups and surveys.
It encourages city council to develop a ‘culture of yes’ for dealing with local entrepreneurship, and divides its platform into three pillars: visionary leadership, economic opportunity, and quality of life.
“We’ll be asking all candidates to review [the report] and indicate whether they are in support of it, and whether they will work toward our goals should they be elected,” Chamber of Commerce president Charla Robinson said.
The Chamber outlined 10 steps of action they hope city council will undertake over the next four years. They are calling for electorates to promote collaboration, modernize city planning, and develop long-term strategies to combat social ills such as homelessness and addiction.
“Candidates will have the opportunity to go through each of these action step and say yes or no,” she said. “We will make that information publicly available.”
Robinson, speaking at a press conference at Sleeping Giant Brewing Co. on Tuesday, said the survey revealed that many entrepreneurs believed city by-laws to be too rigid.
“One of the things we hear is that it can be hard to do business at City Hall,” she said. “The by-laws are written very restrictively, and it makes it very difficult for innovative new businesses to start if they aren’t the traditional kind.”
“The new ideas would obviously make things easier,” Sleeping Giant Brewing Co. co-owner Matt Pearson said. “There are some cities where council works closely with businesses... and entrepreneurism seems to be flourishing.”
“For example, Sleeping Giant wasn’t specifically identified in any by-laws,” Robinson explained. “They had to go through a lot of work with city officials to expand what they wanted to do… because they didn’t fit into one specific category.”
Although Pearson maintained his relationship with the city during the early stages was an “exemplary one,” he says a more collaborative relationship between council and the business sector would benefit both sides.
“The number one thing that frustrates businesses is when questions are asked and answers aren’t coming,” Pearson said. “If we get a council that comes in and identifies entrepreneurship as a real avenue for growth, it can inject a lot of life blood into the community. I think we’re seeing that with cities comparable to ours.”
The report also showed over 93 per cent of businesses said they’d like to see city council take more risks in trying to innovate solutions to issues.
“With every election, there’s an opportunity for change,” Pearson said.
The Chamber clarified that they will not be endorsing candidates based on their response to the platform, but rather they will attempt to “educate [the] electorate.”
The top concerns local entrepreneurs believe the city face, as gathered by the survey, include: rising tax levies, neighbourhood decay, and difficulty in hiring skilled labour, among others.
