How long have you been living in Thompson?
I think I’m going on five years now. But off and on since I was a kid. I have grandparents that live here. My dad and brother and all them were born here.
What do you do for a living?
I work for Smook’s and I work out at Vale. I operate heavy equipment. I do labour work, I get sent out to road jobs.
Why do you want to be mayor?
I want to make Thompson a better place for everyone. Right now, people are moving away. They don’t want to live here, they don’t want to work here, they’re selling their homes. Ever since Birchtree and the smelter and refinery and all that are closed down, people want to move, they want to get what they can for their house and leave. There’s all sorts of other issues, crime happening all the time especially in the spring and summer. There’s all sort of groups trying to go and patrol the streets because they know there isn’t enough RCMP to do it. People work hard for their things and I wouldn’t want my stuff stolen and being broken into. I don’t think I have all the answers for it but I’m willing to work with people on it and ask them questions especially if they have a profession in that area or a lot of experience and knowledge then I’ll ask. There’s got to be ways to do it where it’s not going to cost the City of Thompson and its taxpayers a bunch of money to get it done.
What is your vision for Thompson throughout the next four years?
Being more productive and being safer. And instead of having empty green spaces all over the place, grow food there. A lot of people need food in this town. There’s a lot of homeless people, there’s a lot of kids going without so why not do something to change that? Something that I think every town should have is a community garden in their neighbourhood or in a certain area and then whoever wants a bed in there they can go grow their own stuff. We have one at the Boreal Discovery Centre but that’s kind of far away for people at the other end of town. If there’s a spot in each area the people could go there and then it also brings the community closer together.
How do you plan on contending with the ongoing economic issues that have been plaguing Thompson lately?
I’m not really too sure on how we can bring more money in, support local businesses and stuff and make it easier for smaller businesses to start up and bring in goods and services that we have here. You go to Winnipeg, you go to Brandon, you go to some other smaller cities about this size or a little bit bigger and they have more than us. Thompson would do better if there were more options like different restaurants.
Why should someone vote for you over the other candidates?
I say just vote for who you want. It’s my first year voting. I’ve never voted. I’ve been eligible for 11 years and before no one was ever worth my vote, not for prime minister, not for mayor, not for anything. If no one’s worth my vote then how can I make a change? So I figured, go for mayor. I just say do your research and pick who you want and vote for who you want. Vote for who aligns best with you.
