To hear Mayor Tim Johnston tell it, the easiest way to understand the differences between the Thompson of today and the Thompson he envisions for 2014 is to take a trip into town from the airport, and then around Thompson Drive.
"I see people coming in across the Miles Hart Bridge from the airport, and as you come in from the airport, I see an opportunity for people - especially people that want to remain in Northern Manitoba - to have half-acre lots and hobby lots," Johnston told the Thompson Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 3. "I see a subdivision at the golf course that will enable people to have homes adjacent to that course. I don't see the City of Thompson necessarily investing in that, nor do I see the infrastructure. I see private investment."
"As you cross the bridge, I think you're going to look to the left, and I think you're going to see the next commercial development in Thompson, on land secured by the city in the Yale-Newman subdivision," he added. "I know there's investment that wants to come to Thompson with commercial and retail."
"You're going to look to your right as you cross the bridge, and I think we're going to see that school of art," Johnston continued. "I think it's critical that we continue to promote the culture of the community. You're going to come by the recreation centre and you're going to look in there, and you're going to see a new subdivision. That neighbourhood's going to have affordable housing, and it's going to be student housing and it's going to be family housing."
"If you choose to go through the Burntwood Trailer Court, you're going to get to see - for the first time in 50 years - a commitment by the City of Thompson to make that every bit the equal of any other neighbourhood in Thompson," he said. "We have an obligation to make sure we go in there and put proper streets in there."
The quick tour of the city was only a small part of Johnston's 30-minute presentation to the Chamber. He also touched on a number of hot-button issues, including behavioural issues in the downtown, an oft-talked about potential detox centre, and his reflections on his first four years as mayor.
"This term of council is going to be fundamentally different from the last term of council," he said. "It's going to be the role of this council to manage the City of Thompson to maximize the opportunities that have been created by the change and the work of previous councils. What we have to think about is where we want to take this community in four years."
Johnston said that one of the first things he wants to see the new council tackle is a strategic plan to guide them through their four-year term, something which took nearly two years to come to fruition under the last council. He hopes to have that plan completed within three to six months this time around.
Speaking about his first term, particularly the fast-paced council movements of the past year on issues such as the University College of the North (UCN) and the water utility, Johnston admitted that "we tried to do too much in too short a period of time." When campaigning, Johnston said, one of the initiatives voters told him they were happiest about were the new-look garbage cans - even though when they were first announced, many people were deeply upset by the idea. "We were so tied up in doing it, and realizing ourselves that it was the right thing to do, that we forgot to communicate what we were doing," he said of many of the city's most recent initiatives.
"You're going to come into the community, and you're going to come into what was and still is a strong community with a rich and proud mining history, but as you cross that bridge, you're going to come into a service centre," said Johnston, repeating a line he used during the election campaign about how Brandon previously underwent a similar transition from a wholly agricultural city into a service centre with an agricultural background.
On the issue of how the new UCN campus will affect existing facilities in the area of the rec centre, Johnston was optimistic. "You're not going to see a single facility that exists on the current sites displaced unless they want it," he said.
Johnston, who reaffirmed his intention to not run for a third term, noted that he was particularly pleased to have been re-elected considering "the winds of change were blowing" in the North, with Johnston and Michael Spence of Churchill being the only NorMan mayors re-elected this year.
"Four years ago, when I made the turn from Thompson Drive onto Riverside, I couldn't see anything beyond the bush," said Johnston. But I could make out that there was a tree down, and there were people in there, and they were doing things that I think we unacceptable. We went in and thinned out that bush. We didn't stop that problem; we began to manage it."
Johnston reiterated his pledge to land Thompson a detox centre, noting that the city will not spend property tax revenue on the centre, but will make land available and will partially fund the endeavour through money received under the Municipal Revenues Act accommodation tax.
"I see vibrancy, I see people," said Johnston in response to a question about what he sees from the Canadian Tire parking lot. "We can't stop having people downtown. I see people respecting our community. We face tremendous social issues, as any community does. It drives me absolutely crazy that many people's opinion of Thompson is based on a one-block area of a parking lot."
Johnston noted that he would like to see better enforcement of the city's behavioural bylaw, potentially through his election promise of a four-person municipally-run bylaw enforcement division. The difference between this group and Prairie Bylaw, he explained, would be that these officers would have the authority to enforce the Manitoba Liquor Control Act. Johnston said that the city has set up a meeting with provincial Justice Minister Andrew Swan to find out what the city has to do to make that idea possible. He also pointed to the hiring of two new RCMP officers for Thompson, which brings the city's full complement to 40 officers.
