Monday, September 21, 2026, Mary J.L. Black Library
Candidates attending
Westfort Ward: Angel Gamble, Clint Harris, Stephen Margarit
Neebing Ward: John Beals, Greg Johnsen
A note from the event organizers:
Regretfully we were unable to obtain approval from two of the three Westfort Ward candidates and one of the two Neebing Ward candidates. The transcribed responses below have been approved for publication.
Format
The question list was shared with all candidates in advance. Candidates did not know which question they would be asked. Each candidate answered one question per round, with two minutes per answer. Answers below are transcribed from the recording of the event and are presented as spoken, lightly edited for readability: obvious transcription errors are corrected, and repeated words and false starts have been removed. No words have been added and no answer has been shortened or reordered beyond that. Where a word could not be made out on the recording it is marked [unclear].
Opening statements
Stephen Margarit
Well, good evening, everyone, and thanks to the library for hosting this event, and thanks to each and every one of you for coming out tonight. It's so great to see such a large group out and that engagement from the community. So, for those of you who don't know me, my name's Stephen Margarit. I've been a proud Westfort resident since I was eight years old. I graduated from Lakehead University with a degree in history and political science, and then I got a job working for MPP Michael Gravelle, where I helped constituents solve their issues with the provincial government. I then worked for the general manager of Bombardier, Thunder Bay's largest private sector employer and saw the benefits of large industry on the local economy. When the plant had large layoffs in 2019, I worked as the coordinator of the local labour action centre, helping affected workers find new training and job opportunities. Currently, I work as a fundraiser for George Jeffrey Children's Foundation. I've chaired two city committees, including the Clean, Green, and Beautiful and the Downtown Fort William Revitalization Committee, Westfort is a great neighbourhood, but we have our challenges, and we need a new generation of councillors to address these challenges. Thank you.
Greg Johnsen
Well, good evening, everybody. Greg Johnsen, running for the Neebing Ward. Thanks for being here. It's a lot nicer to answer really hard questions with a packed room than an empty room. So I appreciate your efforts to be here. Born and raised in Thunder Bay, and moved out to the Neebing Ward around 2011. My day job: I'm an educator. And fun fact, I recently got engaged. My girlfriend and her two kids moved in with me about two years ago. Henrik's 12, plays baseball and hockey. Lenny, as they say, is nine turning 19. So it's been a really interesting change for me and a fun change. For the most part, my stance on things hasn't changed in the four years since being on the council. Strong advocate for safe walking places. Strong advocate for our road system. Strong advocate for our ditching system. I serve on a number of boards within the city council, Lakehead Region Conservation Authority, the Thunder Bay DSSAB. I have five seconds remaining. I'm not done learning and listening and working hard, so I appreciate your support. Thank you.
Questions & Answers
Question 1: Public safety affects everyone, and local business is perhaps most sensitive to crime and disorder. What strategies or funding would you create to help address safety in our downtown areas?
Stephen Margarit
Well, thank you for the question. And if I can go a little off script, it's not just the downtown areas. I think those of us who live in Westfort, in some of the residential areas, have really experienced the effects of crime. Whether it's break-ins, whether it's your deliveries getting stolen off your door, pretty much everyone now has a camera on their locks, and they're seeing this, and it's happening all too often. So I think it's a multi-pronged approach. For some people, it needs obviously more investment into treatment. There are people out there who are suffering, and there needs to be compassion for those people. And we need to make sure the province is funding more treatment spaces for those people, so they can get the treatment they need and off the street. There's also crime when it comes to guns and gangs, and unfortunately, this is coming from Toronto, and the province has sent Toronto a disproportionate amount of funding compared to the population, but those Toronto gangs are making their profits up here in the north, and we need to get our fair share so we can make sure that we properly fund police. It's also advocating both the provincial and federal government for resources. So the provincial government making sure there's more judges making sure things go through the court system quicker. And with the federal government, it's also looking at reforms to the criminal justice system because there are people out there who are criminals and they need to be prosecuted, and there needs to be consequences for those. many people in Westfort were raised in the school of hard knocks, and they know that you don't steal from other people, you want to build, rebuild your community. So I think it's a multi-pronged approach. It's also working with the police force and making sure they're properly funded. Working together with local organizations, not-for-profits, coming together as a community because that's what we'll really need to do. It's all of us working together to solve those issues, and there's some amazing community organizations out there that we can work with and assisting the police, so that we can really get to the root of the issues that are affecting crime, and those perpetrators can be prosecuted.
Question 4: Many in the community believe that taxes are too high, and historically the rate of tax increases has outpaced inflation. Can you articulate a strategy for how the City should spend and invest that recognizes the increasing cost of tax as a barrier to living and doing business in Thunder Bay?
Greg Johnsen
Thank you for the question. In my four years, it's really been a good learning opportunity, and sitting during budget time and discussing these taxes. In some ways, you'll forgive me for being flippant, but it's like I'm swimming against the current with one arm. It's incredibly challenging, incredibly hard, and I know that everybody has ideas, but a strategy beyond what we're currently doing is difficult to articulate, and I can tell you, to a man, to a person, we are trying, we are aware of these things. We are taxpayers ourselves. Our city manager has asked boards to come in at 3% and some do, some can't, some don't. City services have been capped at I think 2.6 percent. Essentially, we have to pay for fire, we have to pay for EMS, we have to pay for police services, which is around 9% The expected services that we have: snow removal, sidewalk snow removal. I don't think people want to see those things go. Parks that people love to use. I don't think people want to see those services chopped. And I think anyone who says that they have the ideas or they have the solution, well, would you trust them with your money? the answer is pretty clear. One idea I've been contemplating, and I haven't heard a lot of people talk about it though, is selling something big. And if we sell something big, will that make a difference? Again, not a lot of people have talked about it. It's a huge issue to have, a huge concern because it's a one-time, and you can't go back and come back on that. Ultimately, really though, I think it's up to residents. We need to be in conversation with residents. You need to come to ward meetings. You need to do the surveys that the city puts forward for people. Our city management has and hosts centre-based talks. People need to add their voice to what their ideas are and what they would like to see forward. Is it higher taxes? Probably not. Is it losing services? Probably not. Is it selling something big? I don't know. I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Question 6: Would you support a mayor using strong mayor powers, authority that lets a mayor push through certain decisions without needing full Council approval? And if so, under what conditions?
Stephen Margarit
So I'm running to be a strong Westfort councillor to make sure that I'm listening to the people of Westfort and champion their causes at City Hall. Now, back in the day, we didn't have strong mayor powers, and things were able to get done. So, I think we can still work together as a collabourative team and get things done together without having one person with a higher amount of authority. You know, it's respecting the voters. So, you get to vote for a mayor, five at large councillors, and your ward, and each of us should have a say, and each of us are a part of a team. And I think when teams work collabouratively together, you can get a lot done. That's not to say that there won't be differences. That's not to say that there'll be competing interests. But I think it's about you, the voter, respecting your vote that you get to pick those people, and we got to find a way of working together to move this city forward. Now again, there will be some people who say there'll be extraordinary conditions. You could work together to find seven people if you want to pass a budget, if you want to fire someone. But I think it's also working together on that budget together, listening to the voters because when you look around Thunder Bay, it's not just Westfort. Some of those core ideas, whether it's tackling crime, whether it's supporting the infrastructure gap, whether it's making sure that we have an affordable city that invests in growth, that invests in housing, you could see that all over the community, and we can work together to prioritize those things and not make sure that we have one person with too much power. So we respect the voters. So I won't be supporting it, and I'll be looking to work together. Whoever the other 12 councillors are you elect, and working together as a team. Because again, at the end of the day, it's city council as a team for all of Thunder Bay.
Question 9: Thunder Bay has a widely publicized infrastructure gap of over $30 million annually, meaning that every year we fall $30 million more behind in maintaining our assets. How would you seek to close that gap and ensure the community has well maintained, high quality infrastructure?
Greg Johnsen
Thank you. Well, yeah, it does seem like we really are playing catch up on this one. It's scary when you really start to look at the money. However, I think Council has worked with administration in focusing in on an 80/20 rule, essentially trying to pay for the things we already have with a little bit of ideas on some of the newer things. We have an asset management plan that tries to map out every asset. What's its lifespan? What's it going to need in a couple years? Where are we headed with these things? We have prepared budgeting. We are seeking funding from provincial and federal partners. And recently, we also passed the Smart Growth Action Plan, which also is a very important policy that looks to help in a lot of ways, in May I held a roads information evening. We had the Manager of Roads and the Director of Engineering. We were at the West Arthur Community Centre. Maybe a couple of people in the room were there that night. I thought it was a fantastic opportunity to get information. Now, not a lot of solutions were provided, but at least residents were able to ask their questions, and they got the information. And whether they liked it or not, the fact is it's kind of what I was referring to in my previous answer. Coming out to things, sending emails to myself or other people on council, making those phone calls can go a long way in helping us all understand the issue, some of this is incredibly complicated, like some of these questions tonight. It also leans into some of the other things I was talking about for my previous answer. Increased taxes are probably not a way to go for most people. Losing services are not the way to go for most people. Maybe we sell something. I can also articulate. I'm very excited. Recently, we began to look at naming rights. Maybe you heard of the indoor turf facility is now something akin to the Tbaytel turf facility. What a what a great idea to give us some money for the things that we have already. Current River Arena has a new name, so in some cases these are small monies. In some cases they're big monies, and all these monies can help.
Question 10: The CEDC reports that Indigenous economic activity contributes almost $700 million to our local GDP and has $1.55 billion in economic impact. At the same time, our city often has a reputation for racism and discrimination. How would you support Indigenous residents and attract Indigenous businesses to Thunder Bay?
Question 11: The Smart Growth Action Plan and other City documents actively promote infill and densification as part of the growth strategy. Do you believe the City is on the right track with its approach, and how would you like to see development occur in Thunder Bay?
Stephen Margarit
I do believe one of the key priorities for the next council is to work with the Smart Growth Action plan and to grow the city, we need to have more housing opportunities, more affordable rental units, and to really grow that tax base. So we don't have a shrinking tax base and then increasing taxes for the residents. One of the things, as someone younger, a lot of my friends moved away for school, and what brings them back to Thunder Bay is the quality of life here, and that's something we do really well, although housing prices have gone really high for us in Thunder Bay comparatively to other places across the province. It's still very affordable, and they're coming back to Thunder Bay for the quality of life for our green space. Also, if you drive in Thunder Bay, usually have to wait one red light compared to downtown Toronto. It's a major win. Although I think we could do some improvements with the synchronization on Arthur Street for those driving. So I used to be the chair of the Downtown Fort William Revitalization Committee, and I'm very excited. Although I'm from the generation that only knows Victoriaville, I'm excited to see that structure come down and to open up the street again. We're going to get people moving in there. We're going to have new opportunities for business. But the second pillar of that plan was creating infill intensification in downtown Fort William. So about 1% of the population of the city lives in downtown Fort William, and that can grow. And there's a lot of brownfield sites. So it's working with the provincial and federal government who are really investing into housing right now, and to using some of those funds to improve those brownfield sites, so we can densify the downtown cores, and we can also preserve the green space, which people really do cherish in our community. Because Thunder Bay is a great city, and it's about preserving what's best about our city and fixing the challenges that we have.
Question 14: The City has adopted a target-based approach to tax increases. The aim is for the rate of tax increases to roughly match the pace of inflation. Do you agree with this approach, and under what circumstances should Council approve higher tax rates?
Greg Johnsen
Thank you for all the tax questions. I will answer, but I did want to touch upon topic number eight. It's interesting too when we have these discussions. I'm sure there's a few people from the Neebing ward here. Often I get: Greg, I pay a lot for taxes. Why? Why are my roads not getting repaired? Or why don't I have sidewalks? Or why don't they have safe walking spaces? You know the infrastructure that is there is deemed by some lacking. We have ditching problems in the in the spring and in the fall as well, and a lot of those phone calls as the snow melts are there as well. So although I agree that definitely new subdivisions and affordability are key, really important issues. It is interesting that other people around the city have different perspectives about where they live. So I just wanted to touch upon that. I did mention in previous answers about a tax rate, and that administration did come in at a 2.6, and our city manager has asked boards to come in at 3% both last year and this year. In some cases, you look at like what the police have asked for, and certainly important things to run their foot patrols and run their initiatives. Maybe it's not necessarily a reality. I would again emphasize, though, I think the naming rights thing is something that really needs to be worked on more. I certainly support that as it goes forward because I really think it can help to ease some of the tensions that we're all feeling when we go to the grocery store and when that property tax bill comes forward. So, again, thank you, Richard, for that tax question.
Question 16: Thunder Bay is projected to have a labour shortage in the near future, and many businesses complain about getting the skilled labour they need to grow. What is your plan to attract the labour force we need to Thunder Bay?
Stephen Margarit
There's a few things that we can do as City Council. So one, it's making sure that there's opportunities for youth. So to make sure that when our youth graduate from high school and post-secondary, that they stay in the community, and so it's working with our partner organizations like Lakehead University and Confederation College to make sure they offer the programs for the jobs that are going to be here in the future of Thunder Bay, like manufacturing, like forestry and mines. The other thing too, it's really working with the provincial and federal government to make life more affordable. So with the younger generations now, they're staying home longer because housing is getting unaffordable. There's not enough daycare spots, so that precludes people from getting it into full workforce because they have to stay home with their kids. So it's making sure that there's daycare opportunities to keep those people here and retain them, and also to make sure it is affordable to have more kids because my generation has a lot less kids than my parents' and grandparents' generation, and we need to make sure we're encouraging that we have an affordable, livable city. So for the next generation, but it's also really promoting what's best about Thunder Bay and attracting people here. So we have the CEDC and other organizations that are really working to highlight that. So again, like I said previously, Thunder Bay has some amazing quality of life. We have a great restaurant scene. You can tell I love food, and it's one thing that attracts people here. You know, it's that quality of life, and really looking towards people across the province and across the country, and bringing that talent here because we do need those skilled trades labour. We also need to make sure that there's opportunities for people. Like I saw when Bombardier laid off a lot of people, we need to make sure there's programs like Second Career that people can get that training. So you might have been trained in one field, but you can go back to school, and the government helps you out with that. So you can be a part of that skilled workforce to make sure that we employ those jobs and get Thunder Bay moving.
Question 19: The City's temporary shelter village and encampment response plan are intended to address homelessness in Thunder Bay. Do you support the current approach, and what long-term strategy would you pursue to help address this crisis?
Greg Johnsen
Yes, I do support this approach, and I supported it throughout a couple of years. Council had to weigh in on this and try to determine and figure out. And it was a difficult process, but ultimately, maybe my ideas for supporting are a little bit different than others. My ideas for supporting is because people on all sides were saying, "Do something. People were looking outside their houses or in behind their apartments and seeing things that they didn't want to see, and also people on the street or experiencing homelessness were looking for help as well, and so it's an opportunity to do something. And to be honest, I'd rather try and do something than not. It is temporary; it's for five years. This is not a city file, so to speak. It's a provincial. It's a federal issue, and there are over 1000 people that are experiencing homelessness every night. Over 1000 people. I sit on the DSSAB board, and I've also been part of the homelessness prevention committee within the DSSAB. Units are coming. Units are coming. It takes time to build four walls and a roof. A couple of hundred are already on their way. The wait lists for homes are reducing. So the problem is, hopefully, with more provincial and federal funding, going to be less and less. Shelters don't take everybody. They don't take pets. They don't take partners. We have these facilities, but ultimately, I think if people are strongly against this, they're saying they don't want to necessarily do something. And I'm of the opposite opinion. I'm hoping that definitely that more solutions come forward with provincial and federal funding. Residents are struggling with this because it's new. It's wait a second. We're doing what? It's brand new to Thunder Bay. It's brand new to many cities in Ontario, throughout Canada as well. And I think long term we need some patience. We're not asking to solve poverty. We're not asking to solve homelessness. We're just asking for help. And I really do believe help is on its way.