How long have you been living in Thompson?
I grew up in Thompson. My mother and I moved here from Wabowden when I was in Grade 4. I lived here until I went to university in 1990 and after that I worked in The Pas for a couple of years and decided to come home.
What do you do for a living?
When I moved back home I started working for … Northern Affairs. Infrastructure in the north needed some help with water treatment [plants]. My job was to … assist the small communities to find the funding to build [them].
Why do you want to be on city council?
I’ve seen some issues with council where there’s fighting or infighting and things not going the right way and I can help with that. When things are going wrong or there’s something you want to change, I always say … if there’s nothing you can do about it, why are you worried about it or complaining about it unless you’re going to try and do something? I’ve got a lot from the city so I think it’s about time I tried to help.
What is the biggest local issue that you want to address if you’re elected?
As a councillor, you’re one of, really ,nine voices because there’s a mayor and there’s eight councillors. We’ve got to put all our hopes or wishes forward at the beginning … once we’re together, and decide on what our biggest priorities are. Maybe we all want the same thing but right now I don’t see the benefit of saying this is … the focus when it’s none of the other candidates’ number one.
Why should someone vote for you over the other candidates?
I know that all of my work with municipal development and all these outlying communities will help the city. When I deal with the public or people that are asking me questions, I try to listen more than talk. I’m not going to lie about anything. Hopefully we get some more investment up here and we can make the city a place where people want to stay, especially when they retire. I have a lot of friends the same age as me, they’re retiring as we speak, and it would be nice if they wanted to stick around and I’m hoping that that’ll be the case more often than not.
