Colin Burridge is the first to admit he doesn’t have much political experience.
A naval veteran who left Thunder Bay for several years to seek his fortune in the Canadian military, before returning home for a stint as taxi driver and eventually to a job in the retail sector, the 40-year-old mayoralty candidate says he’s running simply because he loves the city.
“Thunder Bay has everything to offer. This is an awesome city. We have so much here. But we’re 20 years behind the eight-ball in tourism. So many things have gone wrong lately, and I think – and I hope – that I will stand up for the public, because it’s the public that I’m here to serve,” Burridge said.
Like most of the voting public, Burridge said he’s got plenty of concerns about Thunder Bay and the way things have been handled in council chambers for much of the past decade.
“My concerns are your concerns,” he said during Tuesday’s mayoralty candidate’s debate. “Why are the roads so horrible? Why are the taxpayers being ignored?”
Though not completely opposed to the waterfront project, Burridge believes the city was sold a bill of goods the developers will never deliver.
It worries him.
“We’re not going to get what they sold us,” said Burridge, in favour of all major projects going to a citywide plebiscite. “There’s no more water park. Now we’re in a money pit … I’m a little confused about how it was gone about. We rely (too much) on administration to give us the goods.”
Overspending seems to be a common trend at council, something he’d like to rein in should he be elected. He does understand, however, that some expenses couldn’t be avoided.
“I do agree we have to spend money to make money in some cases, but we have to do it reasonably. We can’t do too many big projects at the same time. We have to get one done, get it down, then work on something else. And, when it comes to building something, we have to make sure it is adaptable and expandable,” Burridge said.
Like his fellow candidates, he’d like to find a way to bring back jobs lost during the forestry collapse. While he sees that as inevitable, it’s the lack of foresight from councils past that has him fuming.
“We were never getting prepared for the loss of those businesses, even though we saw it coming. Like I said, we’re 20 years behind doing what they’ve done in the States. Look at what Duluth has done. They were losing the same things at the same time as we did. They focused on tourism and look at that city now.”
The youngest of the six candidates on the ballot, Burridge says that counts for a lot these days.
“I’m the next generation. I’m the one with the new ideas.”
A naval veteran who left Thunder Bay for several years to seek his fortune in the Canadian military, before returning home for a stint as taxi driver and eventually to a job in the retail sector, the 40-year-old mayoralty candidate says he’s running simply because he loves the city.
“Thunder Bay has everything to offer. This is an awesome city. We have so much here. But we’re 20 years behind the eight-ball in tourism. So many things have gone wrong lately, and I think – and I hope – that I will stand up for the public, because it’s the public that I’m here to serve,” Burridge said.
Like most of the voting public, Burridge said he’s got plenty of concerns about Thunder Bay and the way things have been handled in council chambers for much of the past decade.
“My concerns are your concerns,” he said during Tuesday’s mayoralty candidate’s debate. “Why are the roads so horrible? Why are the taxpayers being ignored?”
Though not completely opposed to the waterfront project, Burridge believes the city was sold a bill of goods the developers will never deliver.
It worries him.
“We’re not going to get what they sold us,” said Burridge, in favour of all major projects going to a citywide plebiscite. “There’s no more water park. Now we’re in a money pit … I’m a little confused about how it was gone about. We rely (too much) on administration to give us the goods.”
Overspending seems to be a common trend at council, something he’d like to rein in should he be elected. He does understand, however, that some expenses couldn’t be avoided.
“I do agree we have to spend money to make money in some cases, but we have to do it reasonably. We can’t do too many big projects at the same time. We have to get one done, get it down, then work on something else. And, when it comes to building something, we have to make sure it is adaptable and expandable,” Burridge said.
Like his fellow candidates, he’d like to find a way to bring back jobs lost during the forestry collapse. While he sees that as inevitable, it’s the lack of foresight from councils past that has him fuming.
“We were never getting prepared for the loss of those businesses, even though we saw it coming. Like I said, we’re 20 years behind doing what they’ve done in the States. Look at what Duluth has done. They were losing the same things at the same time as we did. They focused on tourism and look at that city now.”
The youngest of the six candidates on the ballot, Burridge says that counts for a lot these days.
“I’m the next generation. I’m the one with the new ideas.”
