THUNDER BAY – Don McLeod says he’s been many things over the years.
He’s delivered bread to the people of Thunder Bay, installed their windows and doors, taught others to ride a motorcycle, and more recently, as a part-time school-bus driver, been entrusted with the safety of the city’s children.
At 67, he’s also held a keen interest in politics, particularly at the local level.
So in 2018, rather than simply watching from the sidelines, McLeod decided to take a chance to put his name into a wide-open McKellar Ward contest, where outgoing Coun. Paul Pugh decided not to seek re-election.
McLeod is one of four candidates in the race and said he’s running because he’s very concerned about the state of Thunder Bay.
“I think that it’s time to try to fix this,” McLeod said.
First and foremost there needs to be a little more civic pride. McLeod would like to see many of the derelict spaces in the city cleaned up.
Appearances are important, he said.
“I think to get the people to come to Thunder Bay, we have to clean it up, make it welcoming,” he said.
It’ll only work if the city is truly open for business, McLeod added.
“I know there’s a big controversy with (Premier) Doug Ford saying Ontario is open for business. Well, prove it,” McLeod said. “Help Thunder Bay do the same thing.”
Like many candidates, McLeod said the top complaint he’s hearing knocking on doors in the ward are the high state of the city’s tax rate.
“At budget time they have to go through it line by line and see where they’re spending the money. That’s not an easy answer because we’ve lost such a big tax base in our city, with the elevators being gone, mills down. People aren’t working … so we have to either downsize to eliminate the taxes, or we have to bring businesses in to minimize the tax burden on the people,” McLeod said.
With drug use increasing, people also need to feel safe in their neighourhoods, he added.
McLeod likes the improvements he’s seen in the downtown north core, but would like to see a similar approach on the south side.
“The downtown core of the old Fort William needs to be rejuvenated,” he said.
