THUNDER BAY – A fresh perspective is what Stephen Margarit promises to bring to city council if he’s elected to an at-large seat on Oct. 24.
The 32-year-old has plenty of political experience already, working as a constituency assistant to long-time Liberal MPP Michael Gravelle.
Margarit, currently a coordinator at the Bombardier Labour Action Centre, said he sees the coming council faced with a lot of tough decisions, ones that should be made with the input of city residents and not at the whim of elected officials.
He promises to be that voice and deliver that message to his fellow councillors, a skill he learned while working for Gravelle.
“I ran four years ago. It was a great learning experience, but you know what? Four years later and we’re dealing with some of the same issues, and I thought this time that we needed some new vision, we needed some younger people running on council,” Margarit said, explaining the reason he’s running for a second straight time for an at-large seat.
Margarit finished 12th of 26 candidates in 2018 and said he’d love to be part of the coming change on council.
“Every election we hear change, change, change, and when it comes to election day, it’s a lot of the same names. This time it will be interesting to see, because there is that push for change and there will be a few new [councillors],” Maragarit said. “Will it be a whole clean sweep? That’ll be interesting to see.”
Infrastructure spending is among the top issues for Margarit, who is also chair of the Downtown Revitalization Committee for Fort William, and the Clean, Green and Beautiful Committee.
“So I see first hand some of the projects going on in the city. It’s great, but we need to do more and we need to do it quicker,” he said.
“Another thing I think I bring to the table with my previous experience working for an MPP is we need politicians who are really responsive to people. I know what it means when you have to answer the calls and get back to people, troubleshoot challenges and work to make this a better place.”
That means representing all people and listening to all sides of an issue before making a final decision. It’s the approach he plans to take when it comes to any forthcoming decision on an indoor turf facility, a controversial project recently shelved by city council when senior levels of government turned them down for funding for the $46-million project.
“I’m hearing there’s a need for one and a want for one. Is it the current proposal that the city has? No. I believe we can do something cheaper, but I also believe we can get money from the province and the feds and as someone who has worked on the provincial side, I know there are pots of money and sometimes you just really need that advocate to be there,” he said.
Margarit said knowing jurisdictional difference will also help when it comes to crime and public safety and council’s role.
“It’s also about fostering that sense of community and bringing organizations together to come up with those solutions that will work in Thunder Bay and then advocating to the provincial and federal governments to get those funds to get those solutions to become a reality.”
