Kenora wants to see change after Councillors’ debate

A wide range of Kenora’s community members came out to Seven Generations Wednesday night to hear a variety of solutions being presented by the upcoming batch of city councillors – the first of Kenora’s three All Candidate Debates ahead of the municipal election.

The major message behind this year’s election was strewn throughout each candidate’s presentation – Kenora wants to see change at City Hall.

Each candidate was given five minutes to present their platforms before an informal meet and greet with the public. The event was hosted by the Kenora & District Chamber of Commerce and emceed by Tim Warkentin, who began the evening with a traditional Treaty #3 land acknowledgment.

After a random drawing of names, Lisa Moncrief began the night emphasizing the need for strategic voting to implement change in the community, as well as the high degree of accountability expected of a municipal councillor.

“During the past four years, Kenora has faced many challenges. Many of these are not necessarily the direct responsibility of municipal council – health services, housing, justice, employee shortages and even weather – but the fallout from not effectively solving these issues has made residents feel under-serviced, unsafe, has shuttered businesses and has changed the downtown core.”

Chris Poate spent much of his time humoring the crowd before he began speaking about one of Kenora’s longest serving politicians – Kelvin Winkler. Poate says Winkler, who passed in 2005, was a key driver behind the Harbourfront and Greenbelt redevelopment projects, and was a politician he aims to model himself after.

“His administration can take credit for a beautiful Greenbelt. They can take credit for the Harbourfront, Market Square and Downtown Beautification. He and I didn’t get along that well in business. He was smart, hard working and he looked after us. That’s the kind of Mayor I will be looking for tomorrow night.”

Former municipal employee Barb Manson took time to detail her work over her 30-year career split between the Town of Keewatin and the City of Kenora, including beginning the annual Festival of Lights, and stressed the importance of supporting housing developments for the community.

“I used to be proud to say that I’m from Kenora. We need to be able to say that again. I am here for the whole of Kenora and all of its neighbourhoods. I’ve worked in almost every department in this city. I know the ins and outs behind the scenes, and I have left every department I’ve worked in, in a better position and shape. That is what I would like to do with the City of Kenora.

Next, local financial advisor, Kelsie Van Belleghem, stressed the importance of strong and diverse municipal investments, as well as the need for diversification within council’s chambers and the sustainability of Kenora in the years to come.

“If elected, I would be one of the seven members of this community tasked with making this community sustainable. All investments hold risk. The key to mitigating risks is to diversify your portfolio. This is especially true when it comes to representation. If you have different people sitting at the table, they will be able to bring different perspectives that will lead to more creative solutions.”

Mort Goss was the first incumbent councillor to take the Seven Generations’ stage Wednesday evening. The two-term councillor and long-time downtown business owner says he’d like to finish what he started with his previous two terms, and detailed a number of upcoming housing developments that Kenora can look forward to – with the hope that even more projects will be on the way soon.

“I know that I have the passion, skills, drive and mindset of an effective councillor. I am driven to get things done. I prefer to cut to the chase and get to the business at hand. I want to return to council and finish the work that I started along with this current council. Despite getting knocked back by two years of COVID, short-staffing and historic flooding – this council has made major progress on housing and economic priorities. The city is on the cusp of big things.”

Louis Roussin, a former city councillor, spoke about a general need for ‘change’ in Kenora.

“I’m committed to working to bring well thought-out, effective and responsible change. We can talk about issues in Kenora endlessly. But to take it to beyond talk, to decision, a plan, actions and results, requires councilors who are well-prepared, accountable, democratic and prepared to work.”

Mark LaBelle says while he’s only lived in the community for six years, he’s been visiting the area for over 30 years – watching Kenora evolve and grow. Although, he explains that once he moved here permanently – he’s since had a different view on some of the city’s issues – issues he’s hoping to address and get involved with personally.

“Through my father-in-law, I began to discover what Kenora was and what Kenora was to him. He was involved in everything in the community. He would tell me stories about the things he remembered about Kenora. But when I moved here, I realized that Kenora wasn’t necessarily the ‘wow’ that I thought. That’s why I’m running. I want to live in a town where I can be proud to say that I’m from that town.”

Front-line crisis worker and volunteer with the Kenora Metis Council and Public Library, Logan Haney, says she would bring a strong sense of community pride and volunteerism with her if she were to be elected this fall.

“I came back to raise my son here. A lot of what I bring to the table is the stuff that I’ve learned through programs through Kenora, navigating those systems and working with a lot of different people.”

The second long-time Kenora councillor who is running for re-election this fall, Sharon Smith, emphatically ended her speech with a remark on how residential taxes have dropped over her last two terms as a city councillor, but also stressed the importance of having 12 years of experience at City Hall with councillors needing to tackle some tough budget decisions in the coming months and years.

“The first task the newly-elected council will be tasked with is the budget. Specifically, in five years, one of our bridges needs to be rehabilitated at a cost of $10 million or rebuilt at a cost of $30 million. The replacement cost of our bridges, roads and culverts alone is $468 million – a staggering figure.”

Lindsay Koch says if she’s elected, she plans to leverage provincial resources to help fill gaps and address inequities throughout the north, including tax and service equity for residents north of the by-pass, and stressed the need of instilling a stronger feeling of ‘community’ in Kenora.

“Folks are struggling to see the forest through the trees. Each election, there are issues of the day – evidenced by many questions being asked of candidates. Those issues live largely in the realm of the downtown, homelessness and addictions. Those are important things to focus on, but I don’t want us to forget everything else that contributes to a vibrant and thriving community.”

Former Beaver Brae history teacher Joel McGrath says Kenora needs to be prepared for growth with a number of large commercial developments in the area – including a lithium mine, gold mine and a potential restart of the sawmill – which would include much stronger support for housing developments.

“We’ve always had great economic activity. But we need to get our act together. We need to be ready. Why is it so difficult to build new homes in this community? As a councillor, one of my first priorities will be to find out why, and find out how we can work alongside developers to create new housing. We have to be ready.”

To close out the night, longtime Kenorite Mark Perrault touched on the need to support youth in the community who he says have a lack of access to post-secondary education opportunities in the region, as well as the need to fix some glaring issues in the justice system.

“We’re missing that demographic in our town. Who do we have for 18 to 25-year-olds coming to Kenora? The support system. It’s catch and release. We do that with the court system and leave them on our streets. There’s a huge problem in the justice system.”

Council candidates Bob Bernie, Cecile Marcino and Graham Chaze were not in attendance. You can find candidates’ profiles HERE for more information on their platforms.

There will be a second debate between Mayoral candidates Thursday night at Seven Generations, beginning at 7 p.m. with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.

David Byers-Kitt, Andrew Poirier and Andy Scribilo will be given five minutes each to present their platforms, followed by pre-selected questions from the chamber members and the community in a more-typical debate format.

Kenora Moving Forward will be hosting a third All Candidates Debate with Councillor and Mayor candidates on October 11 at the Ne-Chee Event Centre at 5 p.m. – focusing on social issues in the community.

The municipal election will take place on October 24. Advanced voting begins on October 11.