Event held Tuesday, September 15 at Waverley Library
Candidates attending: Cory Bagdon, Michael Giardetti, Jamie Scrimger and John Murray. Dino Cicchitano was unable to attend.
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
John Murray
Hello. Well, I want to first off thank Raili and Charmaine and all the staff here at Waverley Library for giving us this opportunity. I'd like to introduce myself. My name is John Murray. Why am I running for city council? The more I reflect on that question, I started to think back on my grandfather, John McDonald, who was a city clerk in Fort William. He would frequently take me to political campaign offices, rallies, and events. The more I think about it, local politics is in my blood. I attended Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, where I pursued a double major in political science and economics. I then entered into the restaurant industry in London, England. After eight years, I departed London as chef de cuisine of multiple different restaurants. My two plus decades of experience in hardworking, fast-paced kitchens instilled in me discipline, tenacity, and an unwavering work ethic-the kind of tireless work ethic, precisely what you want represented in your Red River Ward. So, what makes me qualify to be on City Council? I've been involved in countless city organizations that can be real-world experience. I have several. I've served as Board Chair of the Waterfront District BIA. As Board Chair, I've presented several BIA budgets for approval in Council Chambers. I also sit on Thunder Bay's Tourism Investment Committee, where I deliberated on strategic investments that are designed to maximize the economic impact of visitor economy on our city. I also sit on the Thunder Bay Shelter House Board, and I am looking forward to answering all your questions.
Jamie Scrimger
So good evening. I'm Jamie Scrimger. First off, I just want to thank everyone for showing up. I mean, what a turnout, jeez! This is fantastic. Also, want to thank the library for having us. This is a great forum for a great service to the community. So Thunder Bay has been my home since 2009. This is where I built my life, made friendships, and I've put down roots. Thunder Bay has been so good to me. I'm just looking for a way to give back to the community. For more than 15 years, I've worked in emergency management alongside governments, emergency services, First Nations, and community leaders. I also hold a master's degree in disaster emergency management. Some will call me a master of disaster, but about every year to run on that. But what that experience has really taught me is how I want to lead. So listening first, asking questions, really understanding the facts, and finding solutions that are evidence based. And that's the kind of counselor I want to be. So again, thank you all for coming out. I look forward to answering your questions tonight.
Cory Bagdon
Hi, my name is Corey. Cory Bagdon, also running obviously in the Red River Ward. I grew up in the Red River Ward. Spent my entire life here in Thunder Bay. I left Thunder Bay briefly to attend post-secondary studies. I got a degree in astrophysics and a degree in ecological economics and a teaching degree, so I have a lot of variety and a lot of diversity. I'm really focused on building our community together, building our community stronger, and that's achieved when we all work together, when we cooperate. And so I like to take a deliberative approach to democracy, where we all can coordinate around solutions to problems that impact all of us. Go check out the website to get more information. [end of remark unclear in the recording]
Michael Giardetti
Okay. Good evening, everybody. Thanks to everybody for coming out in the library for hosting this event. My name is Mike Giardetti. I'm running for Red River Ward City Council, I've called Red River Ward home for almost 40 years. I did leave for a little bit to pursue academics. Of course, I came back like many do. I'm running because I've spent most of my career, if not all of my career, dealing with major capital projects within the public sector, accountability for funding, dealing with funding partners, finding those funding partners that are responsible for funding different projects, and making sure that we get the most out of those funding partners. And so, I feel like there's a great opportunity within City Council to pursue some of those avenues where I've spent most of my professional career. And so, my platform is to really extract as much value from those strengths of mine in my professional career as I can. I also believe there's more of an opportunity to work more collaboratively, both with City Council but also with our community members, listening to the concerns of the community and bringing those back to Council for valuable contribution. Thank you.
Question 1: 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?
Michael Giardetti
Thank you. So, great question, and I know it's a question that is near and dear to most taxpayers in the city. The rate at which taxes are going up. I believe that taxes should be curbed at around inflation or less, and that it should require special situations when we go above, i.e. there's a major disaster, and we need to obviously, you know, pursue a solution to it that may push taxes and the increases over that threshold. But if I was elected, I would pursue a strict three and a half percent inflationary increase year over year or less, and manage our budgets toward that. So that means looking line by line at every budget submission, where there are opportunities to right size our budgets, where there are opportunities not necessarily to cut, but to find solutions to get better value for the money we are spending. Throughout my career, that's what I've done: is ensure that we're getting value for money. I think we are in some situations, but I think everybody here can look at a spend that we've done as a city and say maybe we didn't get value for money, and if we really want to be able to control taxes, we have to ensure that the money we are spending, we're spending it wisely, and we're getting value for money from the money that we are spending. And so, you know, if elected, that would be my major focus to curb increases, and only in special situations like disaster to move beyond that. Starting with how do we cut budget to make sure that we're fixed on that increase of inflationary cost.
Question 2: There have been criticisms of many new subdivisions as being effectively gated communities consisting of high-end homes with little affordable housing. Do you perceive this as a problem, and how would you address those concerned about these types of developments?
Cory Bagdon
Yeah, thank you very much for the question. I kind of do see this suburban sprawl that is still happening in our city today as a bit of a problem. Thunder Bay's footprint is very large. It's about the same size as Montreal's footprint, even though we have a fraction of the people to pay taxes to service that large area, and so just growing out these subdivisions that don't really address the housing crisis in a way that it's effective. I think kind of runs against some of our what our priorities should be in being efficient with our tax dollars. So I think we have to do more to focus on density in our urban cores, and that's it's in that density where we're going to find more affordable housing, so they're less luxurious homes, but more people can afford them, and that's the biggest problem that we're dealing with in terms of our housing crisis here in Thunder Bay. The housing crisis is quite different than it is in southern Ontario, for example, where in southern Ontario they don't have place to put physical buildings. That's very different here in Thunder Bay. We have lots of room. We just don't have any housing that's affordable for the people who live here, and I think that should be a priority in terms of housing. I also think we have to connect those people together. Even we do have these subdivisions. I think getting them connected to our city centers will help our businesses downtown. And I think our city transit system needs a lot of work. I think it could be very valuable in connecting all of these different subdivisions, connecting these neighborhoods, and connecting all of the different communities that make up Thunder Bay. Thank you.
Question 3: The Thunder Bay Public Library has adopted a social procurement policy, which sets spending targets for purchasing from local businesses and Indigenous-owned businesses. The Chamber of Commerce is now advocating for similar buy-local policies for the City. Would you support the City adopting buy-local programs that aim to support local businesses, even if it may mean paying higher prices?
Jamie Scrimger
Thank you for the question. Yeah, I definitely think that having a procurement policy that takes up local businesses is really important in Thunder Bay. One of the things is keeping that money in the community. When we hire big companies or outside of Thunder Bay, that money doesn't stay in Thunder Bay. So I think there is some disable paying a little bit extra for a service that's going to stay here because in my job in emergency management procurement, when I work for the MNR, is that value comes in all different sizes, right? It's not just that dollar value; it's reliability. It's what does that bring back to the economy. So I do think that I would support the city having a procurement policy that respects local businesses as well as First Nation businesses. But also, we have to realize that we are spending taxpayers' money, so there does have to be an accountability there. So making sure that that process is transparent, the public knows what it's about. The small businesses and First Nation businesses in the region know what it's about and how to access it. So everyone's on the same level playing field, and then having the city come up with some sort of matrix that we put together, right? Like how much is too much? Is it 10% of an increase to make that money stay local, or is it 5% Something that makes it so that we judge those bids on merit, and that this is part of the value that they add in the community. How they're going to leave that money in our in our community, support our families, and make jobs for us.
Question 4: 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?
John Murray
Thank you for the question. I was actually kind of hoping you'd ask me this one. I actually, through my work on the Waterfront District BIA board as board chair, I was actually asked to sit on the Smart Growth Action Plan's planning committee. So I have quite a bit of information and the knowledge around this document. Is it a perfect document? No, but it is definitely a great document to serve the city in a strategic way going forward for the next 10 years. So the question about densification: I believe that the city is on the right track with densification, absolutely. So densification is this notion that we're building more housing in smaller areas, and there's proof of that being a more cost-effective way of building for capital infrastructure and also ongoing, long-term maintenance needs. So it's definitely something that I would support. And what this means is finding builders and developers who specialize in this style of building. It also means that we can look at parcels of land potentially that the city owns that we could possibly look at further densification in areas that we are targeted in the smart growth plans. Thank you.
Question 5: The CEDC reports that Indigenous economic activity contributes almost $700 million to our local GDP and has a $1.55 billion economic impact. At the same time, our city has a reputation for racism and discrimination. How would you support Indigenous residents and attract Indigenous business to Thunder Bay?
Michael Giardetti
Thank you for the question. I think meaningful partnership requires actions, clear oversight, and mutually beneficial economic opportunities. Having served as the Ontario Health North executive lead during COVID, I had the opportunity to build a lot of trust and relationships with Indigenous communities across the North, providing critical supplies and support to them as they dealt with the pandemic. I have quite a bit of experience because of that, in managing through these partnerships and building on that trust, I bring that practical experience to City Hall. There's just three sort of main solutions that we can talk about. One of them is targeted Indigenous procurement. So that means that when we're issuing awards for contracts in City Hall, providing some of that allocated to Indigenous businesses within our community. Right now, I don't see much of that going on. You'll see at the federal and provincial level that they're starting to allocate a certain portion of that business to Indigenous organizations. Joint economic development, so mutually beneficial outcomes between Indigenous organizations and the city. So partnering with them, executing with them, and then seeing the results with them, and then accountable governance. So what do the results look like, and how do we measure those results through KPIs? What's working? What's not working? And what do we want to pursue further in the future? Thank you.
Question 6: Thunder Bay has a widely publicized infrastructure gap of over $30 million annually, meaning that every year we fall $30 million further behind in maintaining our assets. How would you seek to close that gap and ensure the community has well-maintained, high-quality infrastructure?
Cory Bagdon
Thank you very much for the question. Again, this kind of ties into the previous question I just had, where because our footprint is so large, we have an excess of infrastructure that we need to be able to service all of those people in that greater area, and so of course the reality is we also live in a temperature climate where it freezes and thaws several times throughout the shoulder seasons, the fall and the spring. So this creates a like a double effect on how infrastructure is going to be more expensive for us here in Thunder Bay. I kind of consider that almost like a premium, a little bit extra that we do have to pay to live here in Thunder Bay. It's a reality that there is no decision council can make that'll stop potholes from forming. My approach is probably more of a long-term strategy, where I think we should lower our dependency on our roads, for example. So again, supporting our public transit system will take more cars off the road, which will make our infrastructure last longer. We can adapt our roadways to be more biker friendly, walker friendly. So these things, just different strategies that will get more cars off the road, and then we're less dependent on that infrastructure because that infrastructure gap isn't going to go away anytime soon. That is just a reality. So a long-term strategy, I think, would be to plan, make decisions that are based on less dependency on our infrastructure, so that we can maintain it for long term.
Question 7: Thunder Bay Police have been vocal that we cannot police our way out of crime and social disorder. Rather, we need upstream investments, community-building initiatives, and pro-social infrastructure like libraries to address root causes. Can you describe in some detail what that looks like to you, and your vision for proactive upstream investments that the municipality can undertake?
Jamie Scrimger
I definitely agree that we cannot police our way out of social problems. I mean, being homeless or having you know addictions issues or anything like that-it's not a crime, right? So you need different social programming to be able to support folks in those situations. But when we talk about upstream investments, I think we just need to be specific about what that actually means. So for young people who need affordable recreation, like what we have at the complex, after-school programs, sports, mentorship programs to give youth safe places to go, positive connections, and relationships with adults in their community. Libraries, obviously, another great example. So libraries provide access to computers, internet, educational programs, employment resources, and are just a great community hub. So I definitely support in our libraries, things of those resources. For people already at risk, this is a bit of a different issue. So prevention can mean outreach teams connecting someone instead of having police that are performing enforcement. Having outreach teams that are actually supporting folks in that scenario, it also will take the strain off of our really heavily strained police services. Also, better access to mental health and addiction services. So supportive housing and programs that can help maintain housing rather than repeatedly cycling through shelters, emergency rooms, or that works the justice system. Employment skills training are also a part of prevention. So connecting young people and people facing barriers to apprenticeships, education, employment. We have a lot of organizations right now that are doing that in town. Seven Generations has some great programming. [unclear] has some [unclear] specifically. However, I think it needs to be said that the city cannot deliver all of these services ourselves, right? A lot of the solutions we're talking about, a lot of the issues we're talking about, are provincial mandates. So there has to be an advocation to our provincial partners to come to the table to fund these needed resources instead of downloading all of this responsibility onto the municipality of Thunder Bay. Our tax dollars aren't meant to provide mental health supports or anything in the healthcare field or social services. So we really need to get that provincial government back to the table.
Question 8: Some see a tension between supporting downtown revitalization and championing local business on the one hand, while at the same time encouraging the growth of big box stores and suburban sprawl. How would you address those concerns, and where do you think City resources should be focused when planning for growth?
John Murray
Thank you for the question. So first of all, I definitely support our downtown. I'm a business owner. I'm the head chef and owner of Red Lion Smokehouse. I've been a downtown business owner for 12 plus years, so I definitely believe in our downtown and our downtown economy. Our downtowns are under siege by big box stores like Amazon, you know, Costco, the like. But that doesn't mean we can't have them in our community. We have to have a mix of both, to be perfectly frank. But our downtowns are the beating heartbeat of our of our city and our local economy. So it is definitely something we need to support. I personally have supported that by sitting on the Waterfront District BIA Board since 2018, and recently become the board chair. So we represent 165 downtown local businesses, and we've gone to that by lobbying the city, lobbying the province, lobbying the federal government to support our downtown businesses. So, one of the ideas that I would have if I was voted for council is I actually like the idea of assigning every councilor a cabinet minister, both provincially and federally, to liaise with and develop these relationships with. So, a lot of these problems that we have in our municipality are not something that we can solve just with municipal tax dollars. So we need to look at the province and the federal government to assist in a lot of things with respect to developing business. Again, I would firstly want to support our downtown businesses and our local economy before we deal with big box stores. But that doesn't mean [the sound system cut out here and the candidate restarted his answer]. So, like I say, I've sat on the Waterfront District BIA board since 2018. Our Waterfront District BIA, the acronym is the Business Improvement Association. So we actually represent 165 downtown local businesses, and I've gone to bat for these businesses representing not only my business but all these businesses downtown and supporting them. So what I what would like to see is a liaison between our local governments and our provincial and federal governments. So what I would like to see is a counselor being appointed to a specific cabinet minister in the federal government, a specific cabinet minister in the provincial government. For example, Nina Tangri, who's our minister of small business affairs, I had the pleasure of sitting down with her at a roundtable discussion at our previous OBIAA conference in April, and had a chance to go to bat for our local businesses, addressing all of our concerns in the north. So that's definitely one of the approach I would take is trying to be collaborative with both the federal and provincial governments.
Question 9: 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?
Michael Giardetti
Obviously, a timely question. I think this one may have just gone to print in TBnewswatch today or yesterday. So I think collaborative leadership and council accountability is far more effective than autocratic leadership, which is to say that the city elects council members in order to have that healthy representation across our city, and my expectation is it would continue that way unless there is a strong mayor powers to be used only in exceptional circumstances, while maintaining the council's mandate. So we want to have the transparency guarantee. So require immediate, full public disclosure and rationale of any financial implications if a strong mayor powers is ever used council engagement. So we really want to champion a council that is engaged early and often, so that we're not put into the position where we have to use the strong mayor powers because time is of the essence. So let's not push ourselves down that path when we don't have to. And then accountable governance. Hold every major executive decision to the highest standard of public scrutiny and reporting. So, in other words, when we do make these decisions, how did that decision, you know, give the public all the information? Why did we have to use the strong mayor powers? What was the outcome of the use of those powers, and how can we avoid doing that in the future?
Question 10: Public safety affects everyone, and local business is most sensitive to crime and disorder. What strategies or funding would you create to help address safety in our downtown areas?
Cory Bagdon
Thank you. So, public safety is probably issue number one for a lot of us out here. To me, again, I have more of a long-term outlook on these things. To me, I think public safety will come with properly maintained public goods. If we have library system where people want to come and visit, so we can attract people there, then more people will show up. This is wonderful. I've never seen you know this many people in the library before. More people will show up. So maybe we need to have a library branch in every ward, I know Red River Ward doesn't have a library branch, so that's the kind of thing that brings our community together and makes us feel safer. Another big issue with public safety comes to how we live with the community that we're in, and the ecosystem that we're all part of, and so building on the connections that we have to the land, for example, to our green spaces, to our recreation areas where we where we live our lives, I think building up on those incredible valuable resources will help us build a strong community together. Will help us feel safe in our communities, and will help us interact face to face with each other more. I really do think that's something that's a little bit less prominent in our day and age than it has been in the past. We tend to interact with each other through devices these days. I think we will feel safer when we when we get to know our neighbors' needs. So building that public infrastructure, investing in our public goods, our public spaces, our transit system, our library systems. These are the places where we come together, and in the long run, that's how we're going to feel safer in our in our neighborhoods. Thank you.
Question 11: Indigenous residents of Thunder Bay are an important part of our future. They represent a major source of new entrepreneurs, business owners, and workers, as well as bringing valuable cultural and social benefits to our community. How would you ensure that Thunder Bay becomes a major hub for Indigenous-led economic growth?
Jamie Scrimger
Thank you. For sure, I think one of the other questions that we just had said it was what 1.55 billion dollars is coming into Thunder Bay for First Nation organizations. Like this is huge economic development. The First Nations are bringing not just finances to the community, but the culture and community. I think Thunder Bay is uniquely positioned to become one of Canada's leading centers for Indigenous economic growth. I mean, we're already a major service center, right? Like we're the hub of the North. We transportation, education, and business centers for Northwestern Ontario are already here. So my experience working for six years in the tribal council locally here taught me the importance of building relationships before you need something from one another. So really approaching the communities before we start developing this plan to be at the table to help us figure out how to attract these businesses to Thunder Bay. So I think I work closely, particularly with Fort William First Nation, our neighbor, regional First Nations, so the First Nations in the area, Indigenous economic development organizations, the educational institutions that exist here. Seven Generations would be an example of that, and local entrepreneurs. I think we've got some great [unclear] here. [unclear]. There's some great businesses already existing locally, and figuring out the barriers that we can tear down to make sure that these businesses can operate and are attracted to Thunder Bay. So it could include procurement opportunities. I know we talked about that earlier. Workforce development, entrepreneurship support, and making city planning and economic development easier to navigate. I want Indigenous entrepreneurs across Northwestern Ontario to look at Thunder Bay and think like this is where I want to be, right? Like this is where I grow my business, and I think we need to create that environment. It also requires them addressing that community safety and making sure that that people of a diverse background do feel welcome here, and that we're figuring out how to support. Thunder Bay does have a mixed reputation there, and I think we've done a long way to work on that. There's just some more work to do, so I think this is both the right thing to do and smart economic policy.
Question 12: Many community groups have called on the City to invest in an ever-increasing list of services, including sports facilities, entertainment venues, arts and culture opportunities, and more. These often come with large price tags and debt obligations that the City may bear for years. What responsibility does municipal government have in improving quality of life beyond delivering basic municipal services?
John Murray
Thank you for the question, Charmaine. Having attractions, culture, sports, and entertainment districts also attracts out-of-town visitors who spend more money in our local economy. I definitely support all of these things. I recently have sat on the tourism investment committee with Charmaine here, and I have actually voted in favor of all of these initiatives. So it's definitely something that I support. But again, this is a perfect example of where we need to approach and collaborate with both the province and the federal government to have them pony up similar dollars for these infrastructure projects. A lot of these barriers for some of these construction projects are because of gaps in funding from these other levels of government. So I will definitely want to champion that from our city council point of view, and again, we have a federal cabinet minister responsible for northern economic development. So we want to be you know banging down Patty Hajdu's door every day and calling her every day, trying to support our city and our province and our region. So again, trying to collaborate with the with all levels of government, I think are ways that we can actually bring some of these community projects to bear. But again, having a healthy, thriving city that has you know sports, culture, art-that's definitely something that I support for sure.
Question 13: Studies show that walkable neighbourhoods are better for small local businesses, but many new developments in Thunder Bay have favoured big box stores with large parking lots instead. Would you support redesigning City planning rules to encourage smaller, locally owned businesses over large corporate chains?
Michael Giardetti
Thank you for the question. Yeah, so I'm a small business owner in town as well, and you know I'm very much in support of city policy to encourage small business small business employs two thirds of our community, so it's very important lever, both from an economic standpoint, but also for a quality of life standpoint for our community. I certainly do support anything that our municipality and council can do to support opportunities for more small business, make it easier. We reduce the barriers for opening business, and you know, not always just turning to the big box stores. We do have a tendency to do that. Everybody sort of look around our community and see the change. Everybody knows somebody who's had to close their doors because they've had to compete directly with a Walmart or another big box store, and that's difficult. It's part of life, but there's also things we can do as a community, as a council, to remove barriers and make it easier for small business to flourish within our community. And I'm supportive of any of those actions.
Question 14: 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 taxes as a barrier to living and doing business in Thunder Bay?
Cory Bagdon
Yeah, the municipal tax system is intricate. It's complicated, and it's really important for all of us. I'm not going to pretend like I'm a tax expert. I don't have a magic answer that'll make our taxes go down and our services go up. I know we would all like something like that to happen, but unfortunately, again, as I was mentioning earlier, we've made some choices to live here in Thunder Bay. I think Thunder Bay is the best place in the world to live because it offers so much of all these things that matter to me. But because of our climate, our roads are more expensive to maintain. Because of our footprint, our water infrastructure and our plows have to run more to cover all this, so we make a choice to live here in Thunder Bay, and we have to you know support the city, support the community any way we can. I don't think any individual councilor will ever have the power to just lower your taxes. The tax system doesn't really work like that, so unfortunately, I can't offer a specific solution that will that will make everybody feel better about having lower taxes. I think the way I see it, I look at taxes as a maintenance cost. When I have my truck, for example, if I have to keep it running, I have to buy oil. I have to get the rust cleaned off every now and then. I have to take it to the mechanic. So these are costs that I have to pay. These are these are maintenance costs that I have to pay to keep my truck running. And taxes I see as a maintenance cost that we have to pay to keep our city running and to keep our people safe. Thanks.
Question 15: City Council appoints the majority of the Police Service Board, and councillors actively serve on the Police Board as well. There have been concerns raised in the community about police accountability and public trust, and many Indigenous community leaders have been advocating for systemic change for years. What governance or operational changes would you advocate for at the Police Service Board to address both crime reduction and increasing public trust in our local police service?
Jamie Scrimger
I mean, I think we have to begin by acknowledging that the Thunder Bay Police Service Board has had a difficult history, and that public confidence has been damaged. I mean, there's been a lot of work going into increasing that confidence, and we have a lot more work to do with that. There have been reviews, investigations, provincial oversight, and serious questions about the governance of this board. We can't simply tell the public to trust the system again, but trust has to be earned through transparency, accountability, and results. So that's where I would start. If I were appointed to the police service board, the first change I would push for is greater transparency, as much board business as legally possible should happen publicly. Obviously, there are some sensitive issues that we can't always air publicly. So residents should be able to understand the decisions that are being made by the board, the reason behind them, and how board members are holding that police services accountable. Second, I want measurable performance reporting. So that's a trend for me. I think that you know, in order to make sure our dollars and that we're doing the right thing. There has to be some way to measure that, and we would need that in this case as well. So the board establishes priorities, so it should regularly report publicly on whether those priorities are being achieved. So crime trends, response times, progress of the recommendations that have been put, like how are we doing and how are we moving forward. The third would be strengthen community participation. So, as the question does say, we've got some Indigenous communities really struggling with this board. So, really making sure that we have regular opportunities for residents, businesses, in particular Indigenous leaders and organizations to speak directly to the board about their experiences and concerns, and the board to demonstrate again what it's done with that information and how it's acted upon it. I would also insist on clear conflict of interest rules. I think that's really important when you're governing. So strong governance policies and appropriate independent expertise when concerns arise. And there needs to be a clear distinction between governance and operations. So the board shouldn't be directing individual police investigations. Its responsibility is to establish priorities, ask difficult questions and hold that leadership body accountable for the performance and culture of that organization. Thanks.
Question 16: The City's temporary shelter village and encampment response plan are intended to help address homelessness in Thunder Bay. Do you support the current approach, and what long-term strategy would you pursue to address the crisis?
John Murray
Thank you, Chairman. I do support the current plan for the temporary village that's getting installed at the [unclear] Place, with potentially up to 80 units up and running. It would add more shelter beds and more housing for the unhoused. What I would like to see done is the removal of tent cities that haven't been approved by the city. So there are three sites that have been approved, as well as a new temporary shelter being built. A long-term strategy that I think we should also be looking at is the Thunder Bay DSSAB, our district's social services board. I think that there are some examples of some vacant units that can be maintained better to come online. So I would look to our own inventory that hasn't been managed properly to actually add more shelter beds as well. So I would like to see humane housing for people that are living in tents. I think having a temporary village with 80 new units is a great start, and I just don't think people should be sleeping in tents in winter time. It's not really the most humane thing. I would like to also cite my experience sitting on the shelter house board. So I've sat on the Thunder Bay Shelter House board for about two years now in order to get more understanding about the nuances and the demands on our shelter system. So it's something that I have. It's been near and dear to my heart for quite a while, and something that I've tried to become more informed about. But I definitely think that you know we look at other municipalities have had success with having temporary villages installed in order to remove these encampments. So that is something that you know I'm not going to mince words. It is something I support.
Question 17: Affordable housing is increasingly out of reach for many Thunder Bay workers. What specific tools would you use as a councillor to increase the supply of affordable rental and ownership housing?
Michael Giardetti
Yeah, thank you. Getting a housing built requires strong project management, streamlined municipal approvals, and rigorous contract oversight. These are the three pillars that have sort of walked me through my career. This is what I've done most of my career. My background in procurement and major projects have a heavy focus. Look around our community, cardiovascular expansion at the hospital. Big project I've been involved with, and it really takes removing the red tape from the process. You talk to builders around our city that may be interested in building affordable housing, and they'll talk to you about how difficult it is to navigate the licensing and approval process to get approved to build those housing starts. And so, if elected to council, I would try to bring that lens of let's remove that red tape. Let's make it easier for them to get approval to build affordable housing, and with that, you'll have the opportunity to have more availability of rental units, have more availability of affordable housing. So, how do we do that? Well, there's performance-based incentives. So, implement strict development agreements with clawback clauses, if promised affordable housing units are not delivered, streamline approval, speed up zoning and land process for secondary suites, townhouses, and infill developments, and then asset optimization. So leverage surplus municipal land. There's a fair bit of it out there to lower development costs to deliver measurable housing results for the Red River Ward and our community abroad.
Question 18: Many parents struggle to secure spots in child care facilities, which prevents them from returning to the workforce. Would you endorse an increase in the City's child care programs, and how would you deal with the cost of raising a child for Thunder Bay parents?
Cory Bagdon
Thank you. Yeah, you know, being my age, a lot of my friends, my social group, are trying to struggle with putting their kids to school and child care and things like that. I've heard a lot of really interesting solutions to these problems. I think some of the best solutions to child care is to have smaller neighborhood shop drop-off areas. So I think we should be more decentralized. I don't think investing in larger facilities where we're trying to take on more kids. I don't think we should focus on the number of kids that are in child care. I think we have to focus on how we can get more people willing to give child care because that'll create more opportunities for more kids to be able to get on board. So we have to think about strategies that will encourage people to become community child caregivers. You know, so groups of friends. Again, when we know each other, when we know our neighbors, we can get together and come up with a system that is that is safe for everybody. I think you know that's one approach. Another approach that the city is doing, we should find ways to make this work. And it does have to be collaborative. It does have to be something that can cooperate with business owners, with our employers. I think they also have a role to play here in allowing you know child care opportunities for their employees. So there are lots of different opportunities to take care of this issue, but really we have to we have to want to solve the problem. We have to look beyond just what the numbers say. We have to look: okay, how are we going to get more kids looked after? And I think looking towards our community will be the best approach. Thank
Question 19: Small businesses employ about two thirds of the Canadian workforce and are a critical part of our neighbourhoods and communities. How would you use City resources to support the local small business community?
Jamie Scrimger
Small businesses are incredibly important in Thunder Bay, right? They give us more identity. They create jobs, support community organizations. I mean, how many sports teams did you play on that a small business supported? I think one of the most important things the city can do is support the businesses that have already chosen to invest in Thunder Bay. A lot of times we talk about a tracking business, but there are so many businesses here that are already thriving and doing really great things in Thunder Bay. How do we grow them? And start by listening to my favorite local business owners, which there's several in the room today. So if you want to chat afterwards, please feel free. Several owners and asking a straightforward question. So, what is the city doing that makes it unnecessarily difficult for you to operate, invest, or grow here? You know, what are the barriers that are up for you? With that feedback, I would look at our planning, permitting, approval processes to make sure that they are straightforward. A small business operator already has a lot on their plate. They don't need the city to be another obstacle for them. We should also build on the work already being done through the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission and the Thunder Bay District Entrepreneur Center. So these organizations already provide advice, mentoring, training, supports for those younger businesses. I'd rather strengthen and promote those resources than building new ones. We already have something that's working. Let's figure out how to support it and get it functioning better. I also support exploring responsible viable permanent procurement policies that we talked about earlier. So when Thunder Bay visits can competitively provide goods or services to the city, I think they need to be at the table. So have a fair opportunity to compete for that work. So keeping more municipal spending once again in the city of Thunder Bay instead of going out to those businesses that don't give back to our community. Infrastructure is another major responsibility, and as an emergency manager, critical infrastructure is huge thing on my mind. One of the main things that I think is directly affecting our businesses is when we're doing construction. Are we informing those businesses? Are we working with those businesses? A small business out of the road closed off to them for a long period of time can be detrimental to their business. So economic development isn't only about attracting those big companies into the community. It's about creating jobs, expanding our tax rates, and keeping more money circulating within our community.
Question 20: 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?
John Murray
Thank you for the question. First of all, I would like to actually encourage colleges, the college and university, to target more local and regional enrollment. I know for a long time the colleges were looking at foreign students just to help out the budget. So foreign students pay two to three times more tuition as local residents, and the college actually cited the closing of some of these programs last year due to that reason. So we have to really encourage local enrollment to keep people who live in the city here at school and to encourage them to pursue higher education and better-paying jobs, I would also look to lean into programs like the RNIP program or the RCIP program, which is the Rural Northern Immigration Pilot Program. I actually personally put two employees through this program last year, and what it is is designed to help retain qualified and quality staff in our region. So, with these two employees that I put through this program, they both live and work in Thunder Bay. One of them has started a new food service business in downtown at Goods and Co. Actually, and the other employee is an employee at Alstom, and finished his aviation degree at the college. So we really need to be looking at attracting highly skilled labor. We need to be looking at attracting people to attend our colleges and universities. And then we also have to stress we want to make Thunder Bay an attractive place to live. So, in order to keep and retain highly skilled workers like that, you know, you want to be able to go out to an art gallery. You want to be able to go out to, you know, a museum. You want to be able to go out to see some sports teams. You know, you want some arts and culture in a city, and that's a really clear way to, you know, not only attract but retain skilled labor force. Thank you.
Closing statements
Michael Giardetti
So yeah, I just want to thank everybody for coming out. I echo the comments of other candidates on stage when I say it's a great turnout. I appreciate your time. I just want to leave you with a couple of thoughts on my record. I think for people my age is the most important election of our lifetime with the things that are facing both the Red River Ward and our city. I have experience in dealing with the major capital projects, public sector funders across both the province and Canada, whether that's in healthcare, municipal, or education sector, I've been involved dealing directly with prime ministers, our provincial leaders, in getting that funding where we need it, when we need it, and ensuring that our proper funding partners providing the resources in the right areas to help municipalities deal with the issues that are prevalent in their municipalities, I would bring that to City Council along with the lens of listening and being respectful to my constituents. Thank you very much.
Cory Bagdon
Yeah, so I'm gonna again thank you all for showing up. I'm gonna hang around here a little bit afterwards. I still have some more little flyers over there. If you want, if you didn't get a chance to pick one up on your way in, grab one on your way out, or come see me. Again, I believe in building community through connections, and there are three ways we can achieve that. We can support our public library system, improve our transit system and our roadways, and develop a real sense of place here in Thunder Bay, like a connection to the land, and to you know get that nostalgic feeling again of why Thunder Bay is so important, why this neighborhood is so important? Why this community is so important? That sense of place really matters in our day-to-day lives, and I think that's something that we should pay attention to when we go to make decisions that affect our day-to-day lives. Thank you.
Jamie Scrimger
I'd just like to thank everybody for coming out. This is a fantastic turnout. My background, I think, really lends itself to community governance. So, emergency management is something that's been lacking at the table for a while. So that's taking care of our critical infrastructure, making sure that we are able to deal with situations, disasters when they arrive in Thunder Bay. Right now, you know, with global warming and everything, we've got even more emergencies happening in our communities. We've been seeing them with forest fires, flooding, storms, things like that. I think having someone at the table that understands how to respond to those things has the education to back it up. I also have a lot of experience working at the ministry level in emergency management, working for First Nations, and at the end of the day, a relationship builder. I think that's really important in emergency management. I don't have all the answers, but I can certainly get the subject matter experts to the table to give us some of those answers and have us educated. Making those decisions need to be from best practices. We need to make educated decisions that are that are long term for our community. So we're not building infrastructure or things like that, that are going to be liabilities for us in the future. But I'll be around too, so please stop me. I'd love to have one-on-one conversations. Thanks a lot.
John Murray
Thank you very much. Yeah, trying to introduce myself in under a minute flat was definitely difficult. So I actually do have a handout if anybody would like just to get a bit more background about myself. So again, I've been a business owner for 12 years and a major employer in downtown Thunder Bay. I've been civically engaged and civically minded for many, many years. I have business expertise and acumen, and also, if you read the handouts, I also became a developer in 2018 when I bought a commercial building downtown and converted the space to house five different retail units in our downtown core at 16 Cumberland Street South. So again, come see me after. And again, thank you so much for all your time and attention. Thank you.