The lack of a serious, doable long-term, 25-year strategic plan will keep Thunder Bay in the Dark Ages, says mayoralty candidate Jeff Irwin.
It’s one of a number of fundamental problems with the city he believes need to be fixed, problems that have been ignored by the present council and mayor for far too long. Irwin said he thinks he’s got viable solutions that would put Thunder Bay back on the right track.
They’ve got to be better than what the city has faced for the past four years,” said Irwin, who vehemently opposes Horizon Wind’s planned wind farm on the Nor’Wester Mountain Range, thinks the waterfront development as it stands is not the right course of action and wants the city to get its books in order before embarking on any major future projects.
He’s no fan of what the current council has already embarked on, particularly the waterfront development at Prince Arthur’s Landing.
“We had a working marina, we had a city park. Somebody came along with the bright idea to put a housing development in the middle of it all. So we kicked all the boaters out and we basically shut down the park,” Irwin said.
“If you take a look at the park …. I don’t see that as being a destination. So we spent millions of dollars and we haven’t created a destination, something like a Whistler-Blackcombe or a Mont St. Anne.”
Irwin also isn’t happy with the way the city is run, saying if elected he would push for a change in council’s make-up.
“We’re trying to run it with 12 board of directors and that just doesn’t work. We’ve got part-time councillors who have stepped forward, and it’s a noble cause to be a councillor, however we need to change that part-time position to a full-time position,” he said.
“So we need to eliminate six of those 12 people, we need to pay them full-time wages so they can be fully informed.”
He added too many councillors rely too much on administration for direction.
“If we had six board of directors, then it would act more like a corporation and at the end of the day, this is a business and it needs to be run like a business. If we don’t start running it like a business, things will only get worse, they won’t get better.”
The 25-year plan would give everyone a game plan, something to shoot for, said Irwin, an energy consultant.
“We need to effectively communicate to them what we’re trying to do, where we’re trying to go. Look at how much time an effort has been expended by city council and all its citizens in Neebing,” he said, alluding to the wind farm, which city council on Monday approved only a portion of, leading to a $126-million lawsuit against the city.
“That’s going to affect everybody in the entire city and people don’t realize that. Everybody in the entire city is going to pay for connection costs. That’s going to add up to millions of dollars. Everybody in the city is going to pay the decommissioning costs. That’s going to add up to millions and millions of dollars. And we’re going to take a protected watershed, and in my opinion, we’re going to destroy it.”
Irwin said if elected he would also lobby for a bigger share of the Ontario Lottery Corporation’s charity casino receipts, which would mean the city might not have to go to the federal and provincial governments looking for near as many handouts.
At the same time he wants to make it easier for businesses to set up shop, saying seven of 10 businesses in the city are reliant on government funding , far too much in a capitalistic society.
For more information, visit www.yournextmayor.ca.
It’s one of a number of fundamental problems with the city he believes need to be fixed, problems that have been ignored by the present council and mayor for far too long. Irwin said he thinks he’s got viable solutions that would put Thunder Bay back on the right track.
They’ve got to be better than what the city has faced for the past four years,” said Irwin, who vehemently opposes Horizon Wind’s planned wind farm on the Nor’Wester Mountain Range, thinks the waterfront development as it stands is not the right course of action and wants the city to get its books in order before embarking on any major future projects.
He’s no fan of what the current council has already embarked on, particularly the waterfront development at Prince Arthur’s Landing.
“We had a working marina, we had a city park. Somebody came along with the bright idea to put a housing development in the middle of it all. So we kicked all the boaters out and we basically shut down the park,” Irwin said.
“If you take a look at the park …. I don’t see that as being a destination. So we spent millions of dollars and we haven’t created a destination, something like a Whistler-Blackcombe or a Mont St. Anne.”
Irwin also isn’t happy with the way the city is run, saying if elected he would push for a change in council’s make-up.
“We’re trying to run it with 12 board of directors and that just doesn’t work. We’ve got part-time councillors who have stepped forward, and it’s a noble cause to be a councillor, however we need to change that part-time position to a full-time position,” he said.
“So we need to eliminate six of those 12 people, we need to pay them full-time wages so they can be fully informed.”
He added too many councillors rely too much on administration for direction.
“If we had six board of directors, then it would act more like a corporation and at the end of the day, this is a business and it needs to be run like a business. If we don’t start running it like a business, things will only get worse, they won’t get better.”
The 25-year plan would give everyone a game plan, something to shoot for, said Irwin, an energy consultant.
“We need to effectively communicate to them what we’re trying to do, where we’re trying to go. Look at how much time an effort has been expended by city council and all its citizens in Neebing,” he said, alluding to the wind farm, which city council on Monday approved only a portion of, leading to a $126-million lawsuit against the city.
“That’s going to affect everybody in the entire city and people don’t realize that. Everybody in the entire city is going to pay for connection costs. That’s going to add up to millions of dollars. Everybody in the city is going to pay the decommissioning costs. That’s going to add up to millions and millions of dollars. And we’re going to take a protected watershed, and in my opinion, we’re going to destroy it.”
Irwin said if elected he would also lobby for a bigger share of the Ontario Lottery Corporation’s charity casino receipts, which would mean the city might not have to go to the federal and provincial governments looking for near as many handouts.
At the same time he wants to make it easier for businesses to set up shop, saying seven of 10 businesses in the city are reliant on government funding , far too much in a capitalistic society.
For more information, visit www.yournextmayor.ca.
