03
MAUREEN BOLDT
After being through the kind of battles that
Maureen Boldt has been through, 99.99%
of people would have been beaten into
resignation. But, here she is throwing her
hat into the ring, seeking a fifth term on city
council. Her platform is green, and business
savvy. Her stands are refreshingly principled.
Her interests in this community are closely
aligned to those of the “average person”, and
being an “average person”, I cannot think of
anyone who I would want to be fighting for
them than Maureen Boldt.
Solvent Magazine: Some people may be
surprised, that, given your headline com-
manding struggles in the past few years that
you have brazenly re-entered public life. You
don’t feel like you need to hide?
Maureen Boldt: Something historic hap-
pened as a result of me not backing down.
Ontario is the very first province in the
Canada to license and regulate paralegals.
We’re the first in North America that recog-
nizes independent paralegals, and tells them
what they are allowed to do. I’m really proud
of the fact that I had a part to play in that.
Paralegals now know what services they
can provide to the public, and the public now
knows what they can get done. I’m proud of
having been an agent of change.
S: So this has not been an entirely nega-
tive thing for you, nor for the community of
paralegals.
MB: It has not been a negative thing for the
public or the profession, but it has cost me
enormously on a personal level. But, I’m still
here, and business is good.
S: The important thing is that you have
fought for what you believe is right, and you
didn’t have an ounce of quit in you the whole
time, and good things have come out of it.
MB: Like I said, the change that has come
about is historic, and I’m hoping that every
province in Canada follows suit. It will be so
good for the public to have every person in
the Province who delivers legal services to
be licensed, trained, and insured the way we
are now in Ontario.
S: Just to be absolutely clear Maureen, have
you been convicted of any criminal offence?
MB: Absolutely not. Mine was a civil dis-
pute, and the contempt of court was for me
allegedly to have been practicing law without
a license. So no, I do not have a criminal
record.
S: For some reason, coverage of your story
has led a lot of people to believe that you
have been convicted criminally. Are you get-
ting that on the campaign trail?
MB: People love me or hate me, there is
no in between. It just befuddles me that the
media mishandled this story, and mainly the
print media was not kind to me at all.
S: During this campaign, do you say elect
Maureen Boldt, or re-elect Maureen Boldt?
04
MB: Re-elect, because this will be the 5th
time I have been on council.
S: Since you’ve been gone, what is the main
thing that you have disagreed with that has
happened on council?
MB: There are a number of things that have
been brought to my attention over the last
few years. I couldn’t not run for council.
The public have come to me over and over
again everywhere I go. Every time I go to a
grocery store, people stop me, they come to
my home, they send me emails, they phone
me. People are very much concerned with
the lack of respect for public input. That has
led to a number of issues that have bubbled
to the surface as a result. Green space is the
big one. Before Tweedsmuir Park, there was
Sweetman’s Garden. Then there was Car-
ruthers park. I heard recently that there were
thoughts of selling off Lee Park where the
baseball field is and selling it off for residen-
tial development.
S: Had you been on city council, could
Tweedsmuir Park have gone differently?
City council voted to make Tweedsmuir into
surplus land.
MB: That would have never happened with
me. I would not have supported that in any
way shape or form. In fact, I would have led
the challenge to stop it. I’ll give you some
background. Years back, one of the things
I was concerned about was that North
Bay was experiencing a lack of residential
development. Council struck a task force,
and I was on it, to meet with the develop-
ers to find out what their needs were. They
made it clear to us that there was a lack of
serviced residential land to build homes on.
So we brought this back to council, and my
recommendation was that we do an inven-
tory of all the properties in North Bay that
were serviced residential land. We found that
there were dozens and dozens of lots that
were available for development that were
owned by the city. I brought forward the sug-
gestion, and was supported by the council
of the day, that we put that property up for
development. It has been very very success-
ful, but this council has gone too far, with
the Otter Lake and the other 3 issues that I
mentioned. They are in real trouble politically
because of it.
S: You bring up the genesis of the
Tweedsmuir problem being a lack of public
consultation.
MB: The decision was already made by the
time public was informed, they tried to stop
it, but it was too late. They put the cart before
the horse. You’re supposed to ask the public
first.
S: At what point in time do you think it would
have been appropriate to tell the public? Be-
fore the land was declared surplus? It seems
like the public was fighting over a develop-
ment, but had they been informed earlier, the
fight would have been over the decision to
make it surplus.
MB: That’s what I’m hearing from the public.
Their opinion is, and I don’t disagree with
them, is that decisions are made before the
issue even hits the council floor, instead of
the other way around. In the past, when
council has considered something as huge
as that, they would say, in a public format,
what their intentions were. Then they would
send out notifications to interested parties,
and then they would hold public meetings.
As far as I know, none of that happened.
S: Another issue that you have in your
platform is social housing. We don’t hear
too much on that issue from candidates in
this election, but it is an extremely important
issue. With our vacancy rate so low, and rent
so high, a lot of people are feeling the pinch.
What role do you see the city filling in terms
of providing social housing?
MB: Councillors of the city of North Bay sit
on the board for Nipissing District Housing
Corporation. I was on the board for 7 years,
and chair for 1 year. One of my objectives
was to build not just more social housing, but
affordable single family units. At the time we
had a waiting list of over 1000 people wait-
ing for affordable living. We needed some
handicapped, some single, and some triples
– three bedroom units. Those were our
critical needs. I had a very good relationship
with the board, and I was also chair of Social
Services. We had a really good relationship
with the provincial government, and the min-
ister gave us special funding that no other
municipality got. Because of that good re-
lationship, we were able to get the funds we
needed. One of the things I was hoping to
do, was on the abandoned rail lands that the
city got for a buck, I tried to talk this council
into using part of that land for social housing.
But instead they chose to turn it into afford-
able housing, entry level homes, in the 220
thousand dollar range. That is not affordable
for many first time home owners. We need
some more bottom end social housing. But
my intention is not to ghettoize people like
that. You don’t put all the social housing in
one place, you need mixed housing. That
has been proven to have the most positive
impact on people.
S: As a former champion of social housing,
has anyone taken up that mantle on this
council since you’ve been gone?
MB: Not that I’m aware of. The next step is
taking a look at the 2 hospitals that are soon
to be vacant. There is a task force working
on that now. St. Joseph’s will most likely
be demolished, and I’d like to see social
housing on that land. I’d like to see the
Civic turned into a long-term care facility for
seniors.
S: I find it interesting that you would cam-
paign on this issue of more social housing.
Everybody knows that people on the lower
end of the socio-economic ladder do not
vote. This must be a principled decision on
your part as opposed to a political one. That
is quite refreshing.
MB: It is. My parents were NDP and were
concerned about people who needed a hand
up. What’s wrong with helping people?
S: That is something that doesn’t come up
in municipal campaigns. Who are you? Who
do you stand for? This information gets lost
in the enormous amounts of platitudes that
make up people’s platforms. I’m impressed
that not only would you campaign for social
housing, but you would want it mixed in with
other elements of the community. Some
people react against that, and don’t want it
in their backyard. That is the most principled
thing I have heard from anyone in this cam-
paign so far…
MB: I never thought of it that way,… thank
you.
S: Your platform talks about a regional recy-
cling centre.
MB: When I was last on council, I was very
assertive in insisting that we look at the
current recycling centre. The one we have
is defective, it’s dangerous, it leaks, it’s got
real serious problems. It’s just inadequate.
S: You see opportunities that make financial
sense in terms of recycling.
MB: Recycling costs us money. But, if we
had a regional recycling plant, and the
municipalities in our catchment area brought
their goodies to us, and paid us to do that,
we would have more volume, and we’d
make more money.
S: You’re saying that improving our recycling
centre would make it more cost effective,
provided that we get the jump on municipali-
ties around us.
MB: Yes, and that also ties in with us being
more environmentally friendly and con-
scious. One of the projects I promoted 5 or
6 years ago, was wind turbines, and solar
power. I didn’t have a lot of support on coun-
cil for that, but I see Al McDonald’s platform
mentions it, so I’m looking forward to being
the chair of that committee on his behalf. I’d
like to see some turbines here. I’d like to see
some solar energy. Why not?
S: Ya really, I can’t think of why not. But, I
can think of the news being dominated by a
big oil spill…
MB: In 2007, I registered a business called
“Off the Grid”, and I was going to go heavily
into that, and start by converting my home to
solar and wind power. Unfortunately, I didn’t
see the 35 thousand dollars in legal fees I
was about to incur.
S: This isn’t a terribly sexy issue, but ev-
eryone needs to talk about it. Taxes. I recall
listening to the radio debate between you
and Tanya Vrebosch, and she was very ada-
mant that she would never ever ever support
a zero tax increase. That may or may not be
reasonable, but it just seemed to be an odd
stand to take so adamantly.
MB: Ya, it just doesn’t make any sense.
There may be a day where the city has lots
of money coming in from, say the province,
if they start paying us properly. If we get a
better relationship through a council that is
more respectful of senior levels of govern-
ment, and develops better relationship, I’m
going to guess that we will see a change in
the attitude in Toronto towards North Bay.
We could get more provincial funding. If you
are adversarial towards them, they won’t be
assisting us. So, if we work on relationships,
we could probably get some money flowing
here, and maybe we wouldn’t have to raise
taxes every year.
S: So you wouldn’t totally discount a future
in which the people of North Bay would have
a year of zero tax increase?
MB: If we have enough money coming in
from assessment, and enough from pro-
vincial funding, I could see that possibly
happening.
S: Why wouldn’t council hold that up as a
possibility? As in, they could have it as a
goal, and try to achieve it.
MB: Now we have 20 million dollars in re-
serve. I think it is time for us to stop stashing
money, and to look at paying down the tax
increase.
S: The focus of your job creation plan is eco-
tourism…
MB: This is very exciting to me. I spent a
week in Alberta last month, and I looked
around carefully at the area I was in, and
realized that there was no industry. I asked
myself, “How are they getting by? Every-
body looks so wealthy, and they all look so
fit…”. They’re all driving new equipment,
the restaurants and stores are jam packed.
They were capitalizing on outdoor opportu-
nities that the area presented. There were
places to rent all the equipment you would
need to do any of it, from fly fishing rods,
to kayaks, to snow-boarding equipment, to
horses. Thousands of people came to enjoy
the outdoors in the area. North Bay could
be doing the same. What I want to do with
eco-tourism, is I want to set up a regional
meeting with all of the stakeholders who
already provide these kinds of services. I
want to see what we have, and pool their
marketing resources. It wouldn’t be expen-
sive, we already have everything we need,
we need a better plan to exploit the potential.
The Chief Commanda used to go down the
French River, it used to stop at the Keystone,
and it used to do a full day tour. That should
be something we can market. Exciting stuff
right?
S: You definitely have an ability to crystallize
environmental issues, and impose a busi-
ness plan on them, which is important. Many
people list the environment as their chief vot-
ing concern, and then turn around and vote
on other issues, because in the end, looking
out for the environment is going to cost them
in some way. Rationalizing an expanded
recycling program with the city’s financial
interests, and having eco-tourism as the
foundation of your job creation plan should
allow people to vote for the a healthy bottom
line, and the environment at the same time.
Thanks for the interview Maureen!!!
MB: Thanks alot.
05
GEORGE MAROOSIS
After 4 years on the sidelines, George
Maroosis is seeking to reclaim a seat on
council. Should he do so, he would be by
far the most experienced person in the job,
an asset to other councillors, especially the
newcomers who will be able to draw on his
experience. With a reputation for diplomacy
within the council ranks, he brings another
useful quality to the table. Solvent caught up
with the man that some call “The Wrench” for
a chat about the issues.
Solvent: Was it difficult sitting out the last 4
years watching the city function without your
guidance for the first time in 24 years?
George Maroosis: Actually, I just tried to
keep my nose out of it. Obviously, I still knew
what the issues were, and I always had
people coming in wanting some information,
and wanting to know who they should talk to,
but my philosophy was, well, I’m not there,
so let these guys do their job.
S: So you found that people still sought you
out, and still treated you like a councilor for
perspective purposes?
GM: Oh ya, I still run into people all time who
don’t even realize that I’m not on council.
S: Did you find that you had a different per-
spective on people’s discontent, so to speak,
when you were looking at it from outside of
council?
GM: When you’re on council, you get so
permeated with all of the stuff that is com-
ing at you and you have all of this extra
information, whereas you don’t have that
as a regular citizen. And, as a citizen, you
don’t get caught up on all the little issues
and skirmishes that are going on behind the
scenes. From outside of council, you see
the issues that are affecting people in a very
clear fashion.
S: In a conversation we had previously, I
asked you who your favorite councilors are,
and who your least favorite councilors are.
I was surprised that you didn’t say your
favorite councilors were the ones that are
ideologically aligned with you, you chose
your favorite councilors based on how hard
they work at the job. I thought that was very
interesting.
GM: My belief is that if you are going to do
something, you should give it your best. We
all have different philosophies, for example,
I have disagreements with other councilors
on how we might approach the budget, but
I have always had respect for the budget
chiefs I’ve sat with over the years. I’ve even
voted against budgets, but the budget chiefs
have always known it wasn’t personal. I think
that’s the way you have to deal with stuff. In-
terestingly enough, sometimes you are right,
and sometimes time shows that the opinion
you held was wrong. You have to recognize,
like a ball player, that you will never have a
perfect record. You don’t hit a home run ev-
ery time you step up to the plate. I think what
you do, is you try to do your best, you try
to listen to what people have to say. On the
06
subject of budgeting, my concern with that
is very often we are not paying attention to
community realities. In this last term, in 2008,
we had the greatest economic downturn in
my lifetime, and we still increased taxes!
S: So if you had been on council during
this last term, you would have wanted city
council’s outlook to take into account what
was happening in the real world to a greater
extent?
GM: Absolutely, and if the majority would
not be in agreement, with me, I would have
voted against that budget. I still think that
increasing taxes, above inflation, even in
good times, is hard to justify. I operate a little
business, you know, if the money isn’t com-
ing in, you delay some stuff. You patch some
stuff up rather than buying new stuff. The city
of North Bay needs to operate that way.
S: That is an interesting perspective that
you bring to city council, as a small business
owner, because cash flow isn’t guaranteed,
so when conditions change, you need to
adapt to those conditions.
GM: Over the years that I was on council
from ‘82 on, I was there when interest rates
were 20%. I was there in the early 90’s when
the GST came in and sales fell, as consum-
ers tightened up. In the late 80’s and early
90’s, real estate values in this this commu-
nity plummeted. There were times when we
had to make adjustments. I sat on councils
where we said, we’re not raising taxes this
year because times are tough. Interestingly
enough, I’ve been criticized by people who
say that “it’s your fault that we have to in-
crease taxes so much today, because in the
past, you didn’t increase taxes enough”.
S: George, was it your fault that the econo-
my wasn’t exactly perfect during the Mul-
roney years?
GM: Exactly, the GST sure wasn’t my fault,
and neither is the HST, because I wouldn’t
have either one of them.
S: I’d like to get back to a very distinguishing
characteristic that you have as a candidate. I
was speaking with Mike Anthony a few days
ago, and I expressed curiosity about the
seeming camaraderie on council. He told me
that, way back, 10 years ago, when he was
a rookie city councilor, that he learned a very
important lesson from you. Not only did he
learn some of the ropes from you, but even
though you were ideologically opposed to
him on a great many issues, he learned from
you that disagreements inside of council
chambers do not affect your relationship
outside of chambers. You put differences of
opinion aside, and didn’t take them person-
ally. You could go for a beer with someone
who had, minutes before, been on the op-
posite side of a contentious debate.
GM: That’s always been my philosophy.
We’ve had some great arguments on council
over the years. When I think of Don King, we
were the greatest of combatants on council,
but whenever it came to something like being
on a delegation to go and do something out
of town, Don and I could drive down in the
same car and we got along really well. When
I ran for provincial politics, even though Don
was ideologically aligned with my opponent,
Don supported my campaign financially, and
wished me well. You develop friendships,…
and I have a great respect for every member
of the current council, but philosophically, we
have some differences. Politics should not
be personal.
S: Would that word of advice have helped
this city council in terms of its relationship
with the provincial government, for example.
GM: I think so. How can we expect to get
things moving along in this community, if we
isolate ourselves and aggravate the other
levels of government? Not only do we have
to get along as councilors, but we have to
get along with the MP, and the MPP. That
doesn’t mean that we agree with everything
that they’re doing. We have to show respect
for them, and be willing to work for the com-
mon good.
S: Again, as a candidate, I see that as one
of your distinguishing characteristics. You
rise above the petty differences, and function
diplomatically, on a higher level. Now, the
Solvent readership is younger and consists
in large part, of the arts community. Do you
have anything to say specifically to this
demographic?
GM: I’ve been in the art business for 30
years. Artists are my friends. They are who
I do business with, and they are who I pro-
mote. The arts community, in general terms,
is very small liberal in philosophy, and very
pro environment. There is lots in my platform
for that demographic. Currently, the city does
subsidize the Capitol Centre, which is very
important. One thing the city has stopped do-
ing, was the acquisitions committee we had
for the visual arts at City Hall. Most people
aren’t aware of it, but the city has a very in-
teresting art collection. That would be a great
way to stimulate the arts in North Bay.
S: That, I agree with. That is the way I think
that the arts should be subsidized, is through
acquisitions.
GM: We need to preserve the arts for future
generations. We have to assist the arts, be
it theatre, music, or visual arts by having a
venue for it occur, but as far as putting artists
on an allowance, I can’t see that happen-
ing in my lifetime. The corporate world has
to step up and support the arts, and you
can see, by some of the sponsorships at
the Capitol Centre, that that is happening.
The movie industry has done some stuff
here, and I think that we need to encourage
more of that. If there is any way that we can
accommodate the shooting of a movie, by
cutting some red tape and making it easier
for them, then that is what we have to do.
S: You’re right, that is the strongest avenue
for growth for the North Bay arts community.
GM: … and it showcases the city. Not only
that, but it is good for business. Hotels and
restaurants do really well when those people
come to town. Our citizens get a chance to
be a part of it too, as a stand in or even in a
small part.
S: During this campaign, it seems that every
candidate is for jobs, however, not every one
has put forward a concrete set of ideas to
create these jobs we need. I heard your idea
about food packaging and distribution. How
do you city hall facilitating business locating
here for that purpose.
GM: The office of the mayor in conjunction
with city council has some recognition in this
regard. The corporate giants control the food
industry. When I was a kid, we bottled coke,
pepsi, we had 3 dairies and a couple of bak-
eries. Now these businesses have shifted to
the GTA, and every day, our supplies, such
as our buns, beer and pop show up here in
trucks. These big companies are coming up
against the law of diminishing returns. When
you get to a certain size, production isn’t
as efficient. They need to break production
into units. There are a few companies that
we need to approach to locate some of their
production to North Bay which is an ideal
shipping hub with a lower cost of living.
We’ve got a great quality of life that we need
to market to these companies. If we get one
or two of these companies to come to North
Bay, it is going to make a big difference. We
also have to co-operate with the university
and college to see if we can’t get something
like a pharmaceutical company, like Merck
or Phizer in here to do some R&D. We have
graduates that they might be interested in.
We need the companies that can hire the
graduates to stop youth out migration.
S: This is pretty common sense stuff. Why
aren’t we already doing it? Or perhaps the
changing of the times has made this ag-
gressive, go out and find the businesses we
want here approach more necessary?
GM: Yes, I think that’s true, but another
things is that at one time we had an eco-
nomic development commission that includ-
ed business people. Recently, we’ve gone
to a more conclave type of situation where
we’ve kept economic development close,
and in house. We should also be working
with our regional partners, because if they
don’t want a plant in North Bay, let them put
SELL YOUR
CDs, DVDS
and BOOKS
it in East Ferris, we still benefit. We have to be avoided if there were more councilors that
work for the big picture. This community is had an open door policy and were accessible
going to be here when you and I are long to the public?
gone. Who remembers who the mayor was
in 1942, or who was on city council in 1967? GM: I think it is very possible. This city
No one. We’re inconsequential to the history council needs to have pre-consultation, you
of this city, so we have to do the best for the can’t just throw a surprise decision at people.
city, for our children, and for our grandchil- There should have been a meeting with the
dren. We have to think 20 years down the people in that neighborhood.
road, and if we don’t start working towards
that vision now, we’ll never get there. S: When do you think that meeting should
have occurred? Perhaps before city council
S: On the radio debate, you described voted to declare Tweedsmuir Park surplus
yourself as a voice for the little guy, partly land?
because you have a business that opens
onto Main St., so people can come in and GM: Absolutely, that’s a no-brainer isn’t it? I
talk to you any time they want. How impor- don’t think that idea would have gotten very
tant do you think that voice for the little guy far at all had they done that. They would
is, and is it currently missing on council? have never gotten themselves in this trouble.
GM: I’m sure that many people on council S: If you are elected, you will be, by far, the
hear things from people, but I don’t think councilor with the most experience. That ex-
everyone is as accessible as I am. I’m right perience carries with it a long term perspec-
here, and people know where to find me. I tive on North Bay’s development and history.
really like it when people come in to talk to You would be a resource that other coun-
me, because people keep me up to date. I cilors could tap into and place the issues
can keep the pulse of this city from my store facing us into a broader historical context.
when people come in to talk to me. You have also demonstrated the ability to
rise above partisan bickering and encourage
S: You are describing a mechanism of other councilors to do the same. One might
consultation with the people of North Bay. reasonably conclude that your experience
This election is being defined in part by an and diplomacy on council are invaluable and
issue that grew out of a lack of consultation irreplaceable.
between council and the public. I’m talk-
ing about Tweedsmuir Park. There was a GM: No question about it. I sat with Merle
surprising amount of backlash there, and I Dickerson. I’ve been at this a long time, and
have to assume that council was surprised quite frankly, I have not lost my enthusiasm
by it, because if they weren’t, they probably for it. When I sat out these last 4 years, I
wouldn’t have done what they did. Is that an had to really work at keeping my nose out
example of a situation in which consultation of stuff. But I always believe in giving 100%,
was not adequate? and if I am fortunate enough to be elected,
I’ll be back in there asking the tough ques-
GM: Absolutely, and the other things was, tions, sticking up for the little guy, giving
it was a series of situations. It started with these guys history lessons, telling them what
Otter Lake, moved to Sweetman’s Garden, I’ve learned and where the minefields are.
and then it moved into Ferris. The people Sometimes you need someone who has
fighting for Tweedsmuir are not alone, the been there, and done that to point out the
people who fought for Sweetman’s Garden minefields so you don’t go getting yourself
know how they feel. Same with the people blown up. The other thing I can add is an air
that were interested in Otter Lake. Now of congeniality so that we can all get along.
people in every part of this city are worried There is nothing wrong with disagreeing in
about the green spaces in their neighbor- certain situations. Debate is healthy, in fact
hoods. The whole city is upset about this. debate is fun, and we need to have fun.
The line in the sand has been drawn, and it
has been drawn at Tweedsmuir Park. S: Perfect ending George!!!
S: Do you think this kind of situation could
BEST
PRICES
IN TOWN
07
CLAYTON WINDATT
Never underestimate a man for whom
sleeves are a nuisance. Clayton Windatt
is extremely well regarded in North Bay’s
arts community with experience serving on
the boards of both the Whitewater Gallery
and The Capitol Centre. He also volunteers
with many local community groups such as
the North Bay Art Association, the Gateway
Theatre Guild and Rep21. A family man with
roots deeply sunk in this community, Clayton
Windatt is seeking to step up his level of
contribution to North Bay’s future by running
for city council.
Solvent: I’ve heard of a lot of politicians who
say they will roll up their sleeves and get
down to some hard work, but never have I
witnessed a candidate rip his sleeves entirely
off!
Clayton Windatt: Absolutely!
S: What’s that all about?
CW: I’ve been wearing sleeveless shirts for
a while, and I had some friends ask me why
I don’t have sleeves on my shirts, and I said:
“It’s a comfort thing, when you work hard do-
ing all the different things that you do in your
day to day life, the sleeves actually chafe
your arms, so I got rid of them.
S: So you are the kind of politician that puts
productivity before such meaningless things
as fashion sense. Those sleeves got in the
way of your productivity, and now they’re
gone. That’s what happens to the obstacles
before Clayton Windatt, they disappear.
CW: Ya, when other people say they are go-
ing to roll up their sleeves and get to work, I
believe in skipping that step.
S: Ya, rolling sleeves up is a waste of time
for everyone but you. Do you think that the
sleeves on your shirts could be a metaphor
for the problems that face North Bay should
you become a councillor, in that they disap-
pear?
CW: Yes.
S: In your work, and your life, and your
concerns, do you think that you have more
in common with the average citizen than the
average city councillor does?
CW: Ya… I look at the average person here
in North Bay as people who don’t necessarily
have a million dollars worth of property. They
work hard, and they may or may not have
problems financially, so ya, I do think I can
identify with these people… and I understand
the issues that confront the average citizen
of North Bay. Not that I would turn my back
on the concerns of higher income people, it’s
just that my background is not the same as
theirs…
S: It would be a difficult thing to come right
out and say, but I think that is an important
factor for you, because you will relate to the
issues confronting a bigger portion of the
socio-economic ladder in this city than your
average “well to do” person would, and there
are a lot of “well to do” people running…
CW: I’d hate to be alienating the well off
people in this community, because statisti-
cally, a higher percentage of them actually
get out to vote…
S: Solvent readership is fairly young, and
this is also a demographic that doesn’t vote
very often, so what do you say to a young
person to motivate him or her to get out and
vote for Clayton Windatt?
CW: Well I definitely want the first piece of
advice that I give a person who doesn’t nor-
mally vote to be this: inform yourself before
voting. Take the time to find out what every
candidate is all about before making up your
mind. If a person reads my platform on my
web-site, and finds out about every other
candidate’s platform too, then regardless of
what their decision is, I respect it. I advocate
education before voting. If you have no idea
of what this election is about, if you have not
talked to any candidates at all, I would ad-
vise… don’t go and vote at all. If you do, then
you are buying into hype, you’ll see a sign,
you’ll think it’s pretty, you’ll see a bunch more
of them, then you’ll vote for that person. That
is a huge mistake.
S: Ya, you become part of the problem. The
signs are an advertising technique. Repeti-
tion is power. What does it mean when Can-
didate X has seven thousand signs around
town? Well, if they can plow their name into
your mind, and then attach even one feel
good idea to it, such as family values, or
fiscal responsibility, or green space, then
they got your vote. I like the fact that you say
educate yourself or stay home, but… once
people educate themselves about all the
candidates, what is that one thing that will
bring people who don’t normally vote, out to
vote for you?
CW: After people get informed, they should
realize that the only way they will get their
opinions heard is by electing people that
reflect their personalities, and interests in this
community, then they might want to vote for
me. If they don’t do this, they have no right
to sit back and get angry that the world isn’t
in tune with what they want. At that point, it is
their own fault, because they failed to elect
the people that would have made it that way.
S: OK, what you are saying is that a person
who informs himself or herself, will realize
that you are the candidate that will shape this
community to fit their vision a little bit better,
based on the fact that you have a lot in com-
mon with the massive majority of them.
CW: Absolutely. That’s the way I look at it.
You know, I’m an optimist almost to a fault,
but I believe that if 100% of the youth in
North Bay went out, educated themselves,
and they all voted, and I wasn’t elected I
would still be happy, because the process
is working. The will of the people would be
accurately reflected. That being said, I would
love to get in, but…
S: Haha, OK. Now, you work hard in this
city’s art community. It would be assumed
that you would be a voice for the arts on city
council. What should the city be doing to
support the arts that it is not currently doing?
CW: There are a few things that the city is
not currently doing, but hopefully it will be in
the future. They are doing cultural mapping,
which is something that a city does when it
wants to establish what is available in the
community, culture-wise. The only reason to
do this is to start funding things strategically.
It should be an assessment with intent. The
intent is not something I’ve heard very much
about from the city. I would make sure the
assessment is followed by the funding. One
thing that this city is an anomaly for, and you
don’t really get to learn about this until you
start networking with other art communities,
is that North Bay is one of the only cities that
doesn’t really have an ongoing open com-
petition for funding. Therefore, when North
Bay artists apply for funding from the large
funding bodies, such as the Ontario Arts
Council, a person on the jury will look at that
artist’s resume and see no municipal funding
at all. To us, we don’t realize that’s missing,
to them they think that money is available
here…
S: Ahh,… and that person just didn’t deserve
it, so why would the province fund an artist
that doesn’t have the stature is his or her
own community to garner funding?
CW: Yes. Now some of us know to actually
put that on our resumes, that, North Bay of-
fers no funding, but it is still a liability for us.
The jury acts surprised when they find out
there is no funding available in North Bay.
They want to know why, and we can’t really
tell them… it is a very odd situation. There
are other municipalities that have similar is-
sues, but not cities...
S: You aren’t taking campaign donations.
I wonder why that is, and would hazard a
guess that you don’t want anyone to think
that you are going to owe favours to anyone
once elected?
CW: Yes that is one reason, and another is
that I see it as a waste of money. Before tak-
ing money from someone for this campaign,
I’d suggest that it be given to a worthy cause.
I work in the not-for-profit sector, and a lot
of the funding for job creation comes from
places like Fednor. A job can be created if an
organization puts up 10% of the salary for a
given year. So when I consider that my cam-
paign spending limit is 35000$, I look at that
and I could create 7 full time jobs for a year
with that kind of cash. I just can’t see spend-
ing that kind of money on a campaign… and
it seems wasteful to me. I don’t want people
voting for me based on how many signs I put
up or how much air time I can buy.
S: Basically, you are saying that spend-
ing money on a campaign is like buying
votes, which is wrong, and wasting money
that could go to better things, which is also
wrong.
CW: That is correct, and that is why I think
it is so important for voters to inform them-
selves. I suppose other candidates, that
have a lot of signs may disagree with me and
prefer that voters don’t educate themselves
so that their signs can win votes for them. If
voters educate themselves, they might vote
based on facts and issues, and perhaps vote
for a candidate who has spent no money…
like me.
MIKE ANTHONY
When it comes to municipal elections, there
are races within the race for city council.
The first race is to get on council at all, then
there is the race to finish top 3 for the extra
responsibilities that come with that, and the
most important race is the race for first place
amongst city councillors, because the top
vote getter is deputy mayor. Mike Anthony is
right in the thick of the race for deputy mayor.
He finished 2nd in the last election, and is a
good bet to move up the ladder this time. He
is a skilled communicator with an easy way
with people – even his detractors can’t deny
he is a heck of a nice guy. His popularity is
based on his approachable nature, and the
fact that he actually listens to his constitu-
ents – hence his much discussed reversal on
Tweedsmuir Park. When you consider how
to cast your vote in the race for deputy may-
or, you must examine the available alterna-
tives, and ask yourself if the kind of guy that
will talk to you and listen to you is the kind of
guy that should be deputy mayor. If so, there
is only one alternative – Mike Anthony.
Solvent: You’ve called your campaign, the
“One Promise Campaign”, and the one
promise is “Give me your vote, and I’ll give
you my best”. How are people reacting to
that?
Mike Anthony: People understand it, and
I’m getting positive feedback for it. It basi-
cally means, “No B.S.”. You give me vote,
I’ll give you my best, is the only realistic
promise I can make. You can make big
extravagant promises, but when people get
into council, they soon realize, as I did 10
years ago, that unless everyone around the
table agrees with you, you can’t guarantee
anything. What I can promise people, is that
every vote, every issue, every time, I will do
my best to consider every angle, every piece
of input from citizens. It doesn’t mean I’ll be
able to please everybody, but I’ll do my best
to listen, and in the end I’ll do what I think is
best for the majority. That’s a promise that I
can keep.
S: That must be one of the luxuries of incum-
bency, because if you make one promise,
you can name off all of your achievements
from work on past councils, so people know
what they are getting when they vote for you.
MA: Even though I’m not going to make you
B.S. promises, or make outlandish claims,
you can look at my track record to know what
I stand for. I’m able to point out to people
some of the fiscal decisions I’ve made, deci-
sions I’ve made to support the arts, or the
decision to save Tweedsmuir Park, when I
realized that the vast majority of the public
doesn’t support reducing recreation space
for any reason.
S: Speaking of Tweedsmuir, and your rever-
sal on the issue, I kind of likened it to Nixon’s
visit to China. When Nixon went to visit Mao,
and established diplomatic ties, no one could
accuse him of being soft on communism,
because he spent his whole career fighting
communism. Likewise, when you choose
a park over a development that could help
the city’s bottom line, the fact that you have
10
played an important role on several fiscally
responsible councils prevented you from los-
ing your fiscal credibility while choosing the
environment over financial concerns.
MA: That’s very nice of you to say, first of
all. Number two, that’s a huge comparison
to Nixon, and I never would have thought of
it myself. Wow, that’s all I can say to that.
For me it’s always about trying to listen. I
answer every email, I take every call that I
can… I’m not afraid to talk to people. I am
pro development; I am a pro growth kind of
guy. In this case, I was willing to look at the
option of putting houses in there. We origi-
nally wanted 20 houses, and people kind of
pushed back, so we went to 13. What started
to break it down for me was at a planning
advisory meeting back in May, I asked about
the covenant on the land, and I never really
got an answer that satisfied me. That got me
talking to people. I talked to over 200 people
in coffee shops, on the street, wherever, and
I was amazed, but not necessarily surprised
in the end I guess, but the vast majority,
over 190, said, don’t ever reduce recreation
space, for any reason. For me, there was a
fundamental change of heart, I realized that
people did not support that development.
S: When you consider the strength of the
backlash over Tweedsmuir Park, would you
agree that prior consultation could have
avoided some of that?
MA: Oh ya, it could have been done better.
As I talked to people, I realized that. It was a
great learning experience. I will always push
for as much public consultation and public
input as possible. People in that area had
the sense that they weren’t as well informed
as they should have been.
S: Sometimes I like to imagine that I’m a city
councillor. What would be the most difficult
part of that? For me, I always think showing
up at photo ops, and assuming the persona
of a glad hand. It’s a performance to an ex-
tent. Do you think your past in radio contrib-
utes to your ability do the part of the job that
requires a persona?
MA: Working in the media really helped me
in the communication aspect, and it really
helped me in not being afraid to speak publi-
cally, and it helped me to not be intimidated
by events. The ribbon cutting stuff is impor-
tant, and it’s important to be there for special
events. I try to go to every business opening
that I can as a show of respect for someone
investing in the community. The real work is
sitting around that table making the tough
decisions; the stuff that most people would
find boring. Sitting around a table for weeks
on end battling it out over whether to put
a four way stop at a certain intersection.
There’s stuff that isn’t all that attractive to talk
about, but that’s where the real work is. For
me council was a real learning experience.
I’ve been on there for 10 years now. I was
young when I got on, I think I was one of the
youngest ever. I was about 30 or 31. It was a
big learning curve. As a reporter, I knew the
issues, but it took a lot to get up to speed,
and learn it from the inside.
S: Now that you have 10 years experience,
would you say that you find the job more
rewarding as the years go on? You must be
seeing plans that you helped form 10 years
ago coming to fruition now…
MA: Absolutely, speaking of seeds sown
10 years ago, when I was first elected in
year 2000, there was myself, Al McDonald,
Peter Chirico, who were quote, unquote, the
newcomers. We were elected because there
was a huge push in the city coming from the
taxpayers association, which is a group that
you don’t hear much from anymore, and they
opened the people’s eyes to the fact that the
city had a whole lot of expensive projects on
the go with no plan to pay for them, and the
finances were not being run very business-
like. The city was starting to carry debt with
no plan to pay it, and no plan for future
investment in infrastructure. We got in there
and really exposed that. Myself, and Peter
Chirico are still there, Al McDonald is trying
to come back as Mayor, and Susan Church
has moved on to the private sector. Over
the years we have seen change in the way
things operate. Most decisions are fiscally
based. You see real investment in the infra-
structure, we’re very aware of what the debt
is, and have a plan to pay it off. You’re right,
seeing all that come to fruition, it makes you
proud.
S: A one term councillor would never experi-
ence that.
MA: You’re right, absolutely. At this point
though, I honestly feel that I have gotten
good at the job. Being good at it doesn’t
mean you please everybody all the time. It
means I am comfortable with it, I’m capable,
I understand the issues, I can go in and get
the job done.
S: You’ve formed a knowledge base that
a newcomer would never have. One thing
that I have always observed from afar is that
there is a sense of camaraderie amongst city
councillors.
MA: I learned that early on. Myself and
George Maroosis were often on different
sides of issues, drastically opposed on some
of them. And yet, he taught me that outside
of the chambers that you could still be friend-
ly, and if you see each other you can have a
coffee or a beer. That’s a big deal, and some
councillors don’t have that. When they argue
in the chambers, afterwards, it’s like they are
public enemies with the other councillors for
weeks or months afterwards. To me that’s
silly. You do the job inside the chambers, and
then afterward, outside, you’re people again.
Chris Mayne and I have been on a differ-
ent page on a few issues, and yet, I book
vacations through him, he and I have lunch
together, we talk on the outside, because …
we’re people. Although we go in there and do
our different jobs, we might have a different
viewpoint and different stances, in the end
we recognize that we both care, we just differ
in terms of opinion.
S: If there wasn’t that kind of camaraderie,
how would the newcomers learn the ropes
from the vets?
MA: For example, Tanya Vrebosch-Merry
has done a great job of getting up to speed.
She came on in mid-term when Maureen
Boldt had to leave, and faced a huge learn-
ing curve, but she’s done a great job. She’s
learned issues, she’s become more confi-
dent, she’s become a better communicator.
S: She must have been helped by others on
council eh?
MA: Absolutely, I don’t sit beside her, so I
can’t interact with her much, but the people
on either side of her have helped her a lot.
S: In terms of your past career, and experi-
ence that would lend itself to being a city
councillor, I think being an employment
counsellor at YES Employment would have
helped. On one side you are a city councillor
helping to create jobs in the community, and
on the other, you are an employment coun-
sellor, trying to plug people into those jobs.
MA: I am extremely fortunate, in that the
work background that I’ve had has re-
ally helped me. Being in broadcasting me
helped in terms of communication skills,
and understanding issues. Then I worked
up at the college teaching broadcasting,
and I realized how much I liked working
with young people. Then I worked at YES
Employment, which I did for over 10 years.
Working as an employment counsellor, I
worked with new immigrants, I worked with
the unemployed, I worked with the part time
employed, I worked with people new to the
city… everybody. People with special needs
or challenges, and disabilities… and it really
opened my eyes to helping people.
define what your city is. The city needs to
invest in arts, just like in sports and business
development, there has to be a balance.
Also, the environment has to be invested in.
The balancing act is the fun part, juggling all
that stuff.
S: Speaking of environmental issues, you’re
going with no signs this time around? Or just
no lawn signs?
MA: Just no lawn signs. However, I just
found out from Chris Mayne that they are
getting more bio-degradable, which is really
cool, but for me, I’ve never believed in them.
I’ve been elected 3 times, but I’ve never
used a lawn sign. I didn’t like the idea of
them, I think there are too many of them. I
have a few 4 by 4 placards that I’ll place at
key intersections, and when I say a few, I
mean 10 or less. I purchase advertising, like
billboards, and on the net, stuff like that, but
I just don’t like the lawn signs.
S: Do signs even work?
MA: Yes and no. Like anything else, it takes
expertise in terms of the message you want
to deliver. Simply putting your name on a
sign, may or may not help you. It creates
name recognition. But, what I try to do is to
tie it all together. On every sign or ad that I
do, I put votemikeanthony.com, my cam-
paign is called votemikeanthony.com. The
name of the campaign, is the name of the
web-site is what I want you to do.
S: When I imagine myself as a city council-
lor,…
MA: You should run, you’ve said that 2 or 3
times now.
S: Haha, I’d just like to put myself in some-
one like your shoes, and imagine what that’s
like. When I come into a place like Twiggs, I
don’t necessarily have a connection to every
person here. You automatically do, with
everybody, because the work you do helps
shape the lives of everybody in this com-
munity. How does that affect you, having that
kind of responsibility.
MA: When I think about it sometimes, it
terrifies me. Literally, it could keep me up at
night. But being on the radio, I remember
the first time I went on the air, I got sick,
because I was so nervous. This was when
I was in my early 20’s, and it was my first
professional radio gig in Halifax, I worked for
a summer at 780 CFDR… all hit radio all hits
all the time, because that’s the way you want
it… and when I did my first newscast, I was
so nervous, I literally got sick to my stomach.
You get used to it though. You never forget it
but you learn to circumvent it. By the same
token, if I thought every moment about how
important every decision is, and that every
one of these 56 thousand people could be
affected, and that every one of them may
be angry or happy because of something
I’ve done, you just get used to it, otherwise
it would overwhelm you. You get used to
compartmentalizing it, and I don’t let it drive
me. You’re right though, when you stop and
think about it, what we do, is the closest level
of government to people’s lives. What we do
will affect your everyday life. We affect your
potholes, we affect your garbage pickup. We
affect everyday life.

S: The dual perspectives of employment

counsellor and city councillor, on the job situ-
ation especially, I see a relationship there.

MA: What really helps me with this job

though, is that I am just a regular guy. I’m
approachable. I get a lot of calls from people,
and find out that other city councillors or
city staff didn’t get the calls, and I think it’s
because people know that I’m not intimidat-
ing, I’m not going to push you around, I don’t
think I have all the answers. I’m just a regular
guy. I’m willing to listen, and even if I can’t
please you, I can look you in the eye and tell
you why I decided to do what I did. I think SAB effigy in Pembroke store window
people see that.

S: Is there anything that the city can do for

the arts that it is not already doing?

MA: For sure, if the budget was unlimited,

I would love to do everything for everybody
and make everybody happy. But, we have
done more, we just now have put money into
creating an arts, culture and heritage plan.
We’ve actually invested money, but we got
half of it from the province, because they
understand the importance of arts, culture
and heritage. We are investing in creating
an official municipal plan and policy so that
groups in the arts world can be guided by
it. They can get our help when they go for
funding from the other
SAB entertains levels
the of government,
gathered masses
soatthey’ll have a better
SABSTOCK 2010 chance of getting it. It
will help us create an inventory of what is in
the community. Your arts, your culture, and
your heritage are and
words trulyphotos
important thingsLoeffen
by Tony that

11
J A M I E
At times, this election has seemed boring,
but not because of Jamie Lyle. She has
raised some big questions, has pushed
incumbents hard on their record, and devel-
oped a reputation as a hard ass in the pro-
cess. Young, by the standards of city council,
she looks forward to representing the young
demographic which is often over-looked.
With a background in the media, she has de-
veloped a knowledge of the issues that are
facing this city. No longer content to watch
our city’s affairs unfold, she is now seeking
a seat on council so that she might have a
direct influence on the fortunes of North Bay.
Solvent: You say you are building a hard ass
reputation during this campaign…
Jamie Lyle: Absolutely. I’m the one that’s
bringing out the issues to the forefront. And
you have to, if you can’t bring the issues that
are plaguing the city out in an election, I can’t
think of a better time…
S: Well, that is what campaigning is about
isn’t it? Do you find that people are taken
aback by your forceful presentation of the
issues?
JL: I think people are surprised, but I make
no apologies for it, because I am saying
things that have to be said.
S: One issue that you have definitely taken
ownership of is the water meters issue. You
broke the story that there might have been
some improprieties with how the city studied
the issue and made its decision.
JL: Well, when I first reported the story, it
didn’t seem right to me from the beginning.
It was a closed room kind of deal, and when
they came out, they said, well, it’s passed.
I said, OK let’s talk about it, and they said,
it’s a non-issue because it is passed. That’s
not proper consultation. The reason no-
body’s talking about it, is because nobody
knows anything about it. You know, that is
when the red flags first started to raise up
for me. Then after that, I started to notice
other examples of lack of consultation, such
as the Tweedsmuir issue. That was actually
the straw that broke the camel’s back, and
that’s when I decided to run. The people
were saying “leave it alone, we don’t want it
touched”, and council was not listening. We
had councillors saying “Don’t you try to push
me around… don’t try to bully me around,
this is our decision, and I don’t care what
you people say, we’re going ahead with this.”
When it finally passed, and everyone walked
out of council chambers, I could just see total
devastation from the people. All the people
who were spearheading the campaign trying
to get it to stop, they were close to tears. It
broke my heart to see the people of North
Bay rejected like that.
S: Why do you think those people were
not able to sway council? Clearly some
minds were changed, I guess 4 minds were
changed, because 4 voted against, after,
I’m told that all 10 voted to declare the land
surplus. Why did 4 change their minds, and
not more?
12
JL: They should have consulted the public
LY L E
first, and told them what they planned to do.
Instead they had all these meetings. There
was no communication. Council’s primary
job, first and foremost, is to do what people
want.
S: This is a democracy after all… and the
strength of democracy is that it relies on the
collective wisdom of people right?
JL: Exactly, and the collective wisdom of the
people is supposed to run this city, not 10
people in their own little world. If they stop
listening to the people that they represent,
then they need to go. We need to find some
people that will be able to listen. That’s why
I’m perfect for the job.
S: You would say that you have entered this
race in order to address a deficit of democ-
racy?
JL: As a city council correspondent, there
was just so many times that I witnessed the
people not being listened to. And, as far as
the water meters, I want to make it abso-
lutely clear that I’m not against water meters,
per se,…
S: You just think the process whereby they
made the decision was flawed.
JL: The process was flawed, but not only
that. I’ve weighed the pros and cons, did my
research, and there are way more cons than
there are pros. If council would have listened
to the people, there would be no water
meters. It never would have passed. Water
meters, in a strong economy might work, but
in the end it is people living on fixed incomes
and large families that are really going to
suffer from it. I’ve done tons of research,
and I’ve put it up on my website www.best-
votejamielyle.com, I have a separate thing
called “Water Meters”, and I give facts from
the city’s own study, and the first thing they
say is that we don’t need water meters or a
second treatment plant, because the new
treatment plant will serve 80 000 people. The
population has been stagnant for 40 years,
… who do you think is coming to dinner?
S: Exaclty…
JL: Same with all of these elaborate im-
provements, they should have been putting
people to work before they started doing this.
I believe that infrastructure did need to be
fixed, but they went and cut all these govern-
ment coupons like crazy, and the end result
is that there are no new jobs, there’s no new
tourism, and we’re in the hole, by next year,
it will be 40 million dollars. They say they
have a plan to pay it down, but the plan is
they have no plan, because otherwise, they
would have told us what it is.
S: Do you think the plan to pay down the
debt is to do so through further tax increas-
es?
JL: I think that’s exactly where they are
going to go, and people can’t afford to pay
anymore. The city is in an economic crisis,
and you have to look at the people that put
us in that situation.
S: I was going to ask you about your ties to
the arts community,… you’ve been on the
board of directors for the Whitewater Gallery.
The arts community of North Bay always
complains that they are not being heard by
city council. Does your experience with the
Whitewater position you to be a voice for the
arts?
JL: Completely, because we’ve seen the
money that does and does not come in.
The city does not support the arts at all. You
know this cultural mapping thing that they
are talking about? I’m sure they have good
intentions, but, when you think about it,
“cultural mapping” is another term for “data-
base”, that’s all it is. They hired this consult-
ing firm in Toronto to make a database of
the arts in North Bay. The money could have
been used better.
S: For the money you would pay a Toronto
consulting firm to list our stuff, how many
years could you float the completely broke
Whitewater Gallery for?
JL: You could have had a meeting with local
artists, and said: “Here’s 90 thousand dol-
lars, which is how much it costs, and we’re
not hiring the consulting firm that knows
nothing about our city.” They could have
gotten the artists to make suggestions for the
use of that money.
S: It would be nice to see an addition to city
council who has the arts close to her heart.
JL: I know that Lieann Koivukoski wrote
an article in the Nugget about bringing the
movie industry back to town, because it’s
been a slow year. We had this boom, and
then pretty much nothing. She said that
someone on council has to aggressively
pursue these companies because it really is
a full time job and there is no one on council
who is willing to do it. Someone should be
on council to represent all aspects of the
city, I would be the councillor to represent
the arts, and pursue the film industry. You
need to have balance on council. This one
has too many left brain thinkers, and all they
cared about was building, building, building.
You need to have some right brain thinkers,
some creative people. People that can give
fresh ideas are seriously lacking on council
right now.
S: Speaking of last city council, who was
your favourite councillor from the last term?
JL: If I had to pick one, it would be Chris
Mayne, and the reason was that he was so
involved with environmental projects, and
that is dear to my heart. I am an environmen-
talist. I don’t want to see our green spaces
disappear. I don’t want our water to be pol-
luted. I want to see us to have a sustainable
environment. I am totally on board with Chris
with regards to that.
S: Voter turnout may be an issue in this elec-
tion. What kind of vibe are you getting from
the public? Is there interest in this election?
JL: Well, first I got the vibe from an incum-
bent, and I’ll tell you, I was talking to one of
them, and he or she goes, “Well, it’s going to
be a low voter turnout because Al is basically
going to win this election so nobody’s going
to be interested. It will be about 30% voter
turnout and all of us are getting back in.”

S: An incumbent said that to you?

JL: He or she basically told me: “Don’t

bother because we are all going to get back
in again.” They’re all endorsing each other,
and they’re knocking down the new can-
didates. Like I said, they have a collective
mindset that you can’t seem to break in to. I
think there should be a term limit of 2 terms,
because after 2 terms, that is when you
become a full-fledged politician, and that is
when you get your hand stuck in too many
political jars. You get rigid in your relation-
ships and your creativity turns right off.
That’s why we need to break up this council.
It is nothing against them personally, it’s that
I would listen to people and do what’s best
for the city.

S: In this election, you are one of the young-

est candidates. Do you feel that your age is
an important factor in this election?

JL: I’m at that wonderful age where you are

still young, and you still have all this energy,
and you still have creative ideas, and you
still have this vision. But I’m also old enough
to have experience as well; work experience
and life experience to bring to the table. On a
side note, I just read Al McDonald’s platform,
and it is very similar to mine, so I am very
flattered…

S: Ya, because yours was out first.

JL: Ya, I think he read my thoughts. No, but

it means that me and the mayor are on the
same page. We have the same vision. A lot
of candidates and incumbents are saying “I
don’t plan to promise you anything. I don’t
believe in empty promises. I’m going to do
the best I can. Well you know what? That’s
just not good enough anymore. I would
rather say, I’m going to try to do these 10
things for you. If I accomplish only 6, well at
least I tried to implement a vision with some
success. Others are saying: “I have nothing
to offer you, you’re just going to be pleasant-
ly surprised when I actually do something.”
We need change in this city. The status quo
isn’t working anymore.

S: Again on the issue of your age. You will

probably be able to connect with young vot-
ers better than some of the older candidates.
However, young people are not famous for
voting. Do you find this frustrating? And,
if you could give young people one good
reason to get out to the polls, what would
that be?

JL: Make a change, and make sure you

are represented. This is an old boy’s club. It
seems like council represents one aspect of
the community, but there are more aspects.

SOLVENT RADIO
We have tons of youth at the university, and
they have to realize, that once they are done
school, they might want to stay here, and if
there’s nobody properly representing them,
Featuring the guests and irreverance of...
then they’re going to get by-passed. They’ll
be ignored if they don’t vote. That’s why I’m
Favnutts, Kapital K, and Tony
here.
S E A N L AW L O R
Pedigree alone won’t get you a seat on
council, but it sure doesn’t hurt. Fortunately
for Sean Lawlor, he is bringing more to the
game than just his name. A history of com-
munity leadership, the esteem of people
who seem to be in the know, and a very
well organized campaign makes it seem
inevitable that Mr. Lawlor will claim a seat
on city council on October 25, 2010. Solvent
Magazine was glad to have a chance to pick
his brain on some issues...
Solvent Magazine: When you have done
interviews during this campaign, does the
first question usually have something to do
with your father?
Sean Lawlor: No.
S: Obviously, a lot of people will link your
candidacy to your father’s history in local
politics. Because he is such a well respected
member of the community, that can’t help but
be a positive thing for you. Have you spoken
about him a lot during this campaign?
SL: I haven’t spoken about his accomplish-
ments, but certainly the profile that he had
throughout his career, has been a benefit to
me.
S: I’m looking at your website right now,
where you say “getting involved and listen-
ing to people is the only way to ensure that
you are truly reflecting, representing, and
working in the best interests of people.” As
a councilor, what mechanism of listening to
people would you employ? Let’s say, that I’m
a city councilor and all of my friends hang out
in one place and play snooker. I would be
consulting primarily with the snooker players
of North Bay for example. How would you
consult with the widest cross section of North
Bay to ensure you work in their interest.
SL: I think, certainly, using technology such
as facebook, and web sites to allow ques-
tions and concerns to be raised, is one way
that can be done. There are policies in place
for the type of consultation that’s required
for various things such as re-zonings. I don’t
think there would be any harm in expanding
that type of consultation. Tweedsmuir Park is
a perfect example of a situation where there
was a lack of consultation.
S: What do you think could be have been
done better to consult with people on the
Tweedsmuir issue?
SL: I think that they could have at least sent
notice out to the neighbors to let them know
what was going on ahead of time. Many of
the residents found out in the newspaper.
S: Given that North Bay has a low vacancy
rate, no one would disagree that North Bay
needs more housing. Do you see North Bay
growing upward? Do you see it grow out-
ward? How do we get more housing?
SL: The Cedar Heights area has been
identified as the growth area of our commu-
nity. There is enough room for thousands of
homes up there. It needs to be serviced. City
14
council has just decided to move forward
with a water tower up there to accommodate
that growth. I think that’s where the growth
needs to occur.
S: So you don’t see any problem for North
Bay achieving its growth potential while pre-
serving its green spaces?
SL: I don’t see any need to sell off parkland
to deal with our issues of a low vacancy rate.
Supporting the programs such as the afford-
able housing programs that were recently
announced is a positive step. We’ve seen
some growth in affordable housing in the last
year two, and we’ve got to keep working at
that. But, we can’t sacrifice what is one of
the main attractions in this community which
is parkland, and quality of life. That is short-
sighted.
S: In terms of your candidacy, if one takes a
quick look back over your career, it seems
that it has been perfectly tailored for this mo-
ment, for you to enter local politics. Does this
mean that you’ve always intended to run, or
was this a recent decision?
SL: I wouldn’t say it was a recent decision.
I’ve been thinking about it for years. Over the
past 6 months or a year, people have been
asking me, so it was on my mind. I wouldn’t
say that it is something that I set out to do,
and laid out a course to make it happen. My
role with the Chamber of Commerce has
given me a lot of insight into the issues in the
community, so it has been a good stepping
stone.
S: If you win, this will be your first term.
There is a steep learning curve that faces
first term councilors. Do you find that your
experience with the Chamber, with Lawlor
and Associates, and the experience that is
associated with your family ties, do you think
that you’ll have an easier adjustment for
you?
SL: I’m sure I’ll have a bit of a learning
curve. Again, I’ve been involved at budget
time over the last 4 or 5 years, sitting in at
meetings, providing information, doing pre-
sentations. Certainly that will assist me with
my learning curve, but I’m sure I will learn a
lot.
S: Youth out migration is an issue that
always gets a lot of lip service at elec-
tion time in North Bay, but it’s just such a
tricky nebulous thing, because what does
it depend on? Does it depend on quality of
life, recreation, does it depend on jobs or the
general economic climate? What does youth
out migration hinge on most, in your mind?
SL: You hit on them all. It’s a combination
of all those factors. The most critical thing I
think is supporting our youth. The Chamber
of Commerce, 3 years ago, Glen Cundari
was president, and we implemented a young
professionals category within the Chamber.
We created a new position on the board of
directors to represent the young profession-
als. We went from 2% of our membership
being under 30, to 7% in 3 years. Support-
ing and recognizing youth in our community
is certainly a good start. But you’ve got to
have the jobs here, and you’ve got to be able
to attract people here. The way to do that
is to support the needs of small business,
because small business
TONY generates
LOEFFEN80% of
the new jobs in our economy. We need to
pay more attention to making North Bay a
more attractive place to start up businesses,
and move here. Attracting growth here, and
growing our population will reduce the aver-
age tax burden.
S: I noticed on your site that you were pro-
gramming chair of Summer in the Park, and
that one of your goals was to incorporate
local musicians into the line up.
SL: When the Heritage Festival first got
started in 1984, local entertainment was the
cornerstone…
S: … and your dad was Mayor at the time…
SL: He was. Over the years, somehow,
some way, the local flavour got lost. 4 years
ago, the festival got cancelled, and Summer
in the Park got started. I got involved in the
2nd year, with the focus of bringing the local
flavour back. It started with music in the first
year, in the second year we expanded the
music and added art in the park to incorpo-
rate artists, to give them the opportunity to
sell some stuff and put on some workshops.
We’ve incorporated Dreamcoat Theatre and
groups like that to give it more of a commu-
nity flavour.
S: You are taking Summer in the Park and
steering it to honour the same values that
the Heritage Festival had originally, when
your father was mayor. Family oriented, local
content, etc.
SL: Yes…
S: Coincidentally, as a councilor, you will
have the opportunity to continue some of the
work that was begun when your father was in
politics. For example, shaping the waterfront,
which was one of the city’s initiatives when
he was mayor I believe.
SL: That got started with Bruce Goulet, the
original vision, but he was mayor when some
of the work was done. With him being in-
volved in some projects, it would be interest-
ing, if I’m fortunate enough to be elected, to
continue on with some of them.
S: Does that give you a sense of family
pride? Most politicians will say they want to
make the community a better place for their
children. In all likelihood, your father would
have said something similar back in the day.
Your father’s work helped create the commu-
nity that you will now help to shape for your
children.
SL: Well certainly, it’s nice to be involved in
something that my father might have been
involved in years ago.
S: Thanks for taking the time Sean, good
luck in the campaign.
Every politician, when asked, will identify “serving the
community” as his motive for entering politics. I can’t
remember the last time I believed fully it, therefore
I can’t believe I bothered to ask Craig Bridges that
question. But I did, I got the answer, and surprisingly, I
believed it. Two days later, I still believe it. Go figure.
This is what he said: “I actually want to do something
worthwhile for this community. This is my home, and
I want to make sure that, when my kids finish school,
they will want to live here. When I finished high school,
I ran, and I was never going to come back. I was gone
for 15 years, and I lived all over the world. All of a sud-
den, my wife and I started having a conversation about
children, and where we should raise them. I told her
there is this little place called North Bay, and it is great
for raising kids. But, North Bay has to be more than
that, it has to be a place you want to stay, or come
back to after university or college.”
I met Craig at City Hall to discuss his candidacy, who
he is, and some local issues. The life he leads, the
values he champions, and his informed, open-minded
viewpoint, left me impressed.
Craig was born and raised in North Bay, but left after
graduating from West Ferris Secondary School. He
returned in 2001, with his wife, with whom he has two
sons, because North Bay is a great place to raise
children. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, a
Bachelor or Education, and Masters Degree in Envi-
ronmental Studies.
Here are some highlights of his career and com-
munity involvement: he is a teacher with the Near
North School Board, the past President of Greening
Nipissing, Project Co-ordinator with the Home Owner-
ship Affordability Partnership, a Public Member of the
College of Optometrists of Ontario, a small business
owner, and a youth soccer coach.
Basically, Craig Bridges is involved in the community,
in the right way, for the right reasons. He is the kind of
person that makes the ideal neighbour, and if you find
yourself drowning in a lake, he’s also not a bad guy to
SOLVENT RADIO EVENTS LISTINGS IDEABONG
www.solventmagazine.com
LOCAL NEWS SOLVENT TV
have around.
Last spring, Craig, and his nephew Brendan Demaline,
rescued two people and their dog from the extremely
frigid waters of Lake Nipissing. It’s not something that
he is likely to bring up on his own, but I read about it in
the Nugget, so I asked him if the type of person who
risks his life to save two other people’s lives is the kind
of person people should want as a city councillor. With
characteristic modesty, Craig replied: “No, that’s just
the kind of person who happens to live on the beach
and watches stuff.” The fact that the two people whose
lives Craig saved are out knocking on doors with him
during this campaign says it all though.
This is not the first time that Craig has run for public
office. He ran under the Green Party banner in the
last federal election. When asked if the fact that his
name has been planted in the public mind, and his
environmental credentials established in that last elec-
tion, represent an advantage for him, he responded
that it shouldn’t as there are no parties in municipal
politics. He is quick to point out that he has friends
of every political stripe, from staunch conservative to
NDP supporters, in addition to his Green Party friends.
Craig believes that even people from different parties
tend to agree on many more things than they disagree
on, and especially in municipal politics it is important to
put those ideological differences aside and work with
people from the other levels of government.
“I think this last city council could have had a better
relationship with the provincial government. There
seems to be a lot of stone throwing. To me, that is
not productive, and it certainly has not benefited this
community. City council’s job is to look out for the best
interests of our city, and if that means shaking hands
with someone you would never vote for, then shake
hands”, Craig says.
When speaking of his run for the Green Party, Craig
wants to make it very clear that his environmentalism
is pragmatic and business friendly. He points out that
his Masters degree in Environmental Studies has a
focus on corporate management and finance, and
SOLVENT CONTRA NUGGET
ARTS AND CULTURE SCENE
www.wearechangenorthbay.org
therefore fits nicely with his Bachelor of Economics.
He says: “If you tell people they have to be broke to
save the planet, they say, great, but not me first.”
Further on the subject of the last city council, and
environmental issues, Craig has an interesting
perspective on the Tweedsmuir Park compromise,
which did nothing to satisfy the neighbours of the soon
to be diminished park. “The original plan was terrible,
and they got guilted into changing it, but it is still ter-
rible. When you design a park, that is closed off from
all streets, and has no sight lines, and can only be
accessed through three narrow pathways, that is not a
very good park. No one designs a park like that these
days. They are not safe. When people realize that this
park is a disaster, it will be too late to make it surplus
land and sold off because there is no access to it. So,
this plan not only destroys the present park, it destroys
future options.”
Craig thinks that public consultation should be done
prior to making a decision; you don’t just make a
decision and then decide to follow through with it only
if the amount of animosity it generates stays below
acceptable levels.
The one thing that struck me the most, and it only
occurred to me after my conversation with Craig
had been concluded, was that when I asked Craig a
question about local issues, I did not get some kind
of bottled, generic answer. He showed no inclination
to boil a complicated issue down to a slogan that he
could use to sell me an over-simplified idea he has
about it. I don’t doubt that he when he says it is appro-
priate to consult the public before making a decision,
that he means it. When I asked him a question about
an issue, I wound up in a conversation with him about
it, and he was just as curious about my ideas, as I was
about his. This was extremely refreshing. Not only do
I now believe it is possible for a person want to enter
politics to serve the community, but Craig Bridges has
defied a lot of the other assumptions I have about
politicians as well.
Tony Loeffen
OPINION