THUNDER BAY -- A lack of engagement may have led to the youth being shutout of the city's strategic plan a group of young professionals say.
SHIFT Thunder Bay president Peter Marchl said when the city developed its strategic plan four years ago, the group even held its own event with city administration to give feedback leading to a lot of the group's suggestions making it into the plan. While SHIFT had an opportunity to give the city feedback on the city's current draft strategic plan, it leaves a lot to be desired for the city's youth so far.
"This time around it seemed to be a little bit different of a framework," Marchl said. "I think there was a little bit of a lack of engagement there."
"We feel there needs to be a focus on civic pride. We felt that it is lacking in the strategic plan. We felt that we needed to have that youth viewpoint on the strategic plan overall not just specifically for our group."
The city needs to re-brand itself to focus on the area's natural beauty and celebrate its history. There also needs to be more attention paid to beautification he said.
"Even though I love Thunder Bay there are some points where we could be improving the look of the city," he said.
"We want to provide constructive criticism to the city."]
Northwood Coun. Shelby Ch'ng said she ran for city council partly because she saw that young professionals weren't represented. She's glad that the group came forward with its suggestions so they could be considered before the plan is final.
"I think it's a good thing that SHIFT is coming forward now," she said.
The plan still needs work and she'd like to see other initiatives, such as a women in politics, in there as well.
Below is the news release issued by SHIFT
Young Professionals Overlooked in 2015-2018 City of Thunder Bay Strategic Plan
SHIFT tells City to think YOUNG. Recommends Civic Pride to be more of a focus.
Thunder Bay, ON, June 5th, 2015- Representatives from SHIFT Thunder Bay’s Young Professionals Network say the City of Thunder Bay 2015-2018 Draft Strategic Plan does not recognize young professionals as an important contributing component of the future of the city.
In the draft document, the word “young” is mentioned two times in its entirety, but fails to have any focus specifically on young professionals in the community. SHIFT defines a young professional as a 19 to 40 year old living, working or doing business in Thunder Bay.
SHIFT has submitted a review of the plan providing recommendations and support to specific areas of the document.
“SHIFT appreciates the opportunity to submit our comments in respect to the 2015-2018 City of Thunder Bay’s Corporate Strategic Plan;” says SHIFT President Peter Marchl. “As history has revealed, we need to learn from our past, understand our present, and think towards our future. Every SHIFTer shares a common value that we believe in what's next for Thunder Bay and we want to help drive the community forward.”
With a vision to retain and attract young professionals in the city of Thunder Bay and through membership review, SHIFT recognizes the importance of “civic pride” in a community and suggests that it needs to be a focus in and throughout the Strategic Plan. “Ultimately, it is people who are at the heart of a vibrant, dynamic city. Encouraging civic pride in our community is essential for achieving the quality of life desired by residents, and results in individual responsibility, community improvement and self-sufficiency,” says SHIFT Vice-President Amanda Bay.
“Civic pride must be nurtured to the point that it becomes so contagious that those who witness it, are compelled to follow suit adding to the momentum.”
While civic pride is mentioned once in the Strategic Plan, SHIFT believes the “actions” listed do not reflect the initiatives required to foster civic pride in the community. The organization is recommending a three-prong approach that consists of the City of Thunder Bay Corporation, private business, and citizens.
Continues Marchl; “As a community we need to build on things that make the city different, things that people are proud of. The City of Thunder Bay can lead by example and communicate more effectively as to why Thunder Bay is the best city to live in with its current residents. We often focus on celebrating our community through our tourism efforts, but rarely provide our current residents with the information and excitement to make them our own ambassadors of the city.”
In the report SHIFT recognizes the significance of including young professionals in the development of civic pride, stating that young professionals are the long-term tax-paying market, which the City should be targeting to attract and retain. SHIFT recommends enhancing civic pride in the community through many local initiatives such as a City of Thunder Bay rebrand, recognition of beautification projects, and curb appeal incentives.
The full report titled: Proud to live in Thunder Bay- A Review of the City of Thunder Bay Draft Corporate Strategic Plan by SHIFT - Thunder Bay’s Young Professionals Network, can be found online by visiting shiftnetwork.ca.
