Meet the Candidates: Dick Waddington

Dick Waddington suffered a stroke, a heart attack and was hit by a car since last being on city council eight years ago.

But aside from a limp, the man who served on city council for 21 years, and even has a park named after him in the Current River Ward he's running in, said he's ready to get back to city hall.

"I know from my experience on council there's very little acrobatics required so I think as long as the head works you're alright," he said.

Waddington is seeing too many things he disagrees with, which is the reason he wants to get back at it.

"I'm not very happy with the way things are going."

In his ward Boulevard Lake is his primary concern. Waddington said if the city can afford tin teardrops, alluding to Andy Davies' sculpture "Traveler's Return" on the waterfront, why can't it dredge or at least clean the lake up.

"It's slowly disappearing. We're going to lose that thing if we don't clean it up pretty soon," he said.  "Year after year it doesn't make the budget."

City-wide Waddington sees the continued closure of the James Street Swing Bridge as an issue that will keep popping up. But he's concerned that the city is cowing to CN and holding its discussions behind closed doors.

"It's all done in secret," he said.

Waddington is totally against a new event centre.

"It's a con job by whoever's pushing it. We can't afford it and many of the things they say are going to happen aren't going to happen," he said. "Why we think we'd be the only city on earth that can make one of these things work is beyond me." 

Waddington, who spent most of his career representing Current River with one term at-large, said he's hoping the same people who supported him in the past will do so again if they think he did a good job.

"I hope I can repeat it," he said.