Jobs, Cumberland top issues for Current River candidates

Fixing Cumberland Street and finding their constituents good-paying jobs are the top issues for Current River’s two municipal candidates.

Incumbent Andrew Foulds said he’s knocked on hundreds of doors throughout his ward and the No. 1 issue he’s heard from residents is the city needs more jobs. Foulds said he thinks city council has done a decent job attracting businesses, such as Tornado Medical Systems, to the city, but the real increase will come through a resurgence in resources such as mining and value-added forestry careers.

"For every resource-based job there are four spinoff jobs. We have to fight hard as a city council to make sure that Thunder Bay gets those good paying jobs."

For challenger Andy Wolff, his top priority if elected would be getting the city to repave Cumberland Street from the base of Hodder Avenue all the way to Water Street. He would also like to see bacteria issues in Boulevard Lake addressed over the long term.

But with taxes increasing 20 per cent over the last seven years, costly studies that go "nowhere" and cost overruns in the "waterfront fiasco," Wolff said the city needs to control spending.

"Before we can address any issue in any ward we have to get our finances under control," Wolff said.

Foulds has a slightly different view, saying while the city has $182 million in debt, there’s almost $900 million in assets, $94 million in reserves and the city paid down its debt by $9 million last year alone. Foulds said it’s important to get Thunder Bay’s full financial picture.

"We have a job to do and we have to stay the course. We have to keep paying down our debt," Foulds said. "We’ve got the mandate we’re doing it know we need to keep working towards it."

With a large chunk of the city’s waterfront in their ward, Foulds and Wolff have different ideas on how to draw people to the lake.

Wolff said based on the success of the Wednesday night Summer in the Parks concerts at Marina Park, he’d like to add a Saturday concert to the schedule. With development on the waterfront inevitable, Wolff said the city should focus on revenue-producing ventures that will draw people and money to the area.

"If we are going to build down there anyway we should put our Thunder Bay Museum down there so that people can see our city’s history," Wolff said. "I mean what better place than the tourist centre of the city."

For Foulds, the city’s 52-kilometre vision for the waterfront is coming along. Foulds said he’s proud to have added two kilometres of trails from Boulevard Lake toward Lake Superior.

And the new addition of the Fisherman’s parkette at the mouth of Current River is all part of linking the city together said Foulds.

"We are slowly connecting the bottom of the Current River to Prince Arthur’s Landing. That is the dream; that we make it connected to our neighbourhoods," said Foulds.