At last night's city council meeting the City of Thompson experienced a bittersweet moment in bidding farewell to councillor Cory Young, who has served three years in council chambers.
Young is leaving Thompson to move to Winnipeg, where he will take on his new role of agreements coordinator with Aboriginal and Northern Affairs. In Thompson, Young worked for the same organization as regional director for the Northern region.
During his time on council, Young brought a clarity of vision and the right mix of passion and logic to see real changes made. His voice was strongly behind projects such as neighbourhood meetings to discuss important issues such as the city's financial plan; ensuring the City of Thompson hired a communications director to increase transparency; the municipal act; expanded bylaw enforcement; infrastructure and downtown renewal; the refurbished C. A. Nesbitt Arena; the sustainable community study and much, much more.
Councillor Harold Smith, who worked with young on the overhauling of the city's financial plan and other projects, says working with Young has shown him what it means to be a dedicated member of city council.
"I see it as the job of a councillor to bring energy and ideas to this table and to take responsibility to do work and interact with the community, and I've got to say that from where I'm sitting and the committees I've worked with Cory on, that he's by far met that standard."
Mayor Tim Johnston also expressed his thankfulness for having been able to have Young as an integral part of city council. He says Young's wide array of knowledge and his professional approach to issues was a great addition to council chambers.
"I want to thank you for bringing that to council and I am extremely proud not just of the accomplishments this council has made but really the process that's been put into place to realize those, and you have played a huge part in bringing structure to this organization and did it in a manner that made sure people came to the table. There was a comfort level and we got through it," Johnston told Young at the meeting. "You did it in a way that really should be promoted - you appeared before council before, asked some real good honest questions of it, and then said 'I'm not going to sit outside and take shots or make comments, I'm going to get involved and make changes' and I think that's a legacy you certainly proved."
Johnston went on to say that Young's example while working with the City of Thompson shows that people really can make a difference in their communities.
Young says leaving Thompson was a tough decision, and that the North will always remain in his heart.
"I will miss the good people of council and I've enjoyed serving. I think Thompson has an extremely bright future and I think there are dedicated people involved on council right now to see Thompson succeed," he says. "I encourage those that have an interest in becoming involved to get involved and make a positive difference and build on some of the success that we've been able to develop here."
Young is happy that his job with Aboriginal and Northern Affairs will have him continue to work in some way with the North, dealing with treaty land entitlement and other Northern matters.
