DIGITAL TOWN HALL ELECTION 2018: DAN MELANSON

Check out the rest of the Digital Town Hall responses here: Our Crater Digital Town Hall Municipal Election 2018

At the present moment we find ourselves at quite a crossroads in Greater Sudbury with many plans hanging in the balance that could change the future of our city. What is your vision for the future of Sudbury?

I will actively work to make Greater Sudbury open for business. We need to attract new businesses here. Certainly we need to work with large companies but we also need to concentrate on the smaller companies that are the backbone of our community, many of whom are part of the millennial generation. For this I propose to revamp the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation which has not had a comprehensive review of its effectiveness and efficiency since its formation in 2000.

It is often criticized that the millennial generation does not show up to vote or participate in the democratic process. As the older generation decreases we are slowing finding ourselves to be the new majority population. Many of the decisions being made at the municipal level today will have a direct effect on our future. How do you intend to engage with millennial voters to ensure their voice is being represented in council?

I agree that Millennials in our community are the future of our city and we need them to become involved in the community. I am happy to see that some of these Millennials have stepped up and put their names forward in this election. I will have an open-door policy and would definitely take the time to meet with young people who want to start a business here, who are involved in the arts & cultural community – a good example would be all the young volunteers who have worked so hard to make Up Here Festival such a success. Many people don’t realize how all these murals have put Sudbury on the world map. Millennials need to become familiar and comfortable with City Hall and to know that City Hall is there to help them in their endeavours. 

It has been an ongoing trend for many years that young people feel that in order to be successful they must leave home. The employment opportunities they are looking for are in larger cities, job openings for recent grads are minimal or contract based, rent rates continue to rise making it more appealing to live in a bigger city for a similar price with access to more attractions. How would you take action to encourage young Sudburians to stay in the area strengthening and reinvigorating our workforce?

The best way to keep Millennials here is to help create jobs for them in their field. Greater Sudbury has great potential to grow but for the last decade or so our population has been stagnant. With a refocused GSDC we will be encouraging businesses to come here. We excel in mining, in health care, in education and other industries and we can make it worth while for businesses to locate here. With our expertise in these fields we can help create good jobs for future generations.

Part of a thriving economy includes new businesses entering the market place. There is great risk in starting your own local business, the costs associated with starting up are enough to make many entrepreneurs think twice. Likewise when an outside shop is considering opening a location in Sudbury they must assess if our markets buying power will outweigh the upfront costs. What programs would you like to see put in place to make Sudbury a more enticing place to do business and ease the burden on new business owners?

Again I would refer back to my plans to refocus the GSDC. There are many ways to help a new business succeed in Greater Sudbury. We can lower development fees, lower property taxes for a certain amount of time, lower water/hydro rates for a certain time etc. As mayor I am prepared to work with new business personally to devise a plan that removes some of the initial financial burden so that the businesses can concentrate on building their product or service.

Childcare for many families can be an enormous financial burden. As a result many families are forced to make the decision of whether or not they can actually afford to go back to work. Wait times for childcare can be quite long and finding a provider who has space within the desired age bracket can be a guessing game. How would you propose to make childcare more accessible?

While we do have a shortage of childcare spaces in our city we have limited funding. We already have the burden of more provincial and federal programs; the costs of which are being carried by homeowners, many with fixed incomes, who are barely able to afford to stay in their homes as it is. To deliberately add to that burden, would be to effectively push financially vulnerable seniors and others past the financial tipping point, and result in their having to sell their homes. I will provide leadership in reducing the tax burden property owners are paying, but if we can grow our city and increase our population we will have more taxpayers which means we will have more funding for programs like childcare.

Our historic mining industry has certainly taken its toll on the environment. Great lengths have been taken to re-green our city over the years and we continue to work towards initiatives to reduce green house gases and environmental impact of industrial business practises. On a smaller scale, what initiatives would you like to see put in place to urge the general public and local business owners to do their share in reducing waste and emissions?

Citizens right now have been reducing their consumption of water and hydro for many years, most of us recycle, use our green boxes and limit the amount of garbage we produce – yet no matter how much we conserve we are still paying higher taxes. It is time for the City to start looking at conserving. I have a plan that will help us save at least $6 million a year just by fixing the leaks in Greater Sudbury’s water pipes. A lot of revenue water is draining into the earth. And there are more efficiencies that the city could adopt.

Sudbury is home to a large First Nations population with many reserves in surrounding areas of the city. There is much work to be done to bring Sudbury to a place of truth & reconciliation and integrate Indigenous culture into our society at large. What is your commitment to locally increase awareness, education, resources and understanding following the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada?

Right now the Truth and Reconciliation Committee has developed 94 calls to action. Once the report is completed and released by the federal government we will know how we, as a city, can address these calls.

Sudbury is not exempt from the opioid epidemic sweeping Northern Ontario. It is reported that in 2017 three Ontarians a day fell victim to a fatal opioid overdose. In our community specifically we lost 30 to overdose by September of the same year. What steps would you like to put into action to restrict access and educate Sudburians about the risks of recreational opioid use?

Currently the new Provincial Government is doing research on Safe Injection Sites and until that is completed we will not know whether these sites will be allowed to go forward. We cannot open one in Greater Sudbury without provincial and federal government approval. 

That said, there are four pillars to the government’s drug policy: harm reduction, prevention, treatment and enforcement. Safe injection sites are but one of those pillars – harm reduction – and as such are not a complete solution. We know that funding for mental health in Ontario should be higher and drug addiction falls under the mental health umbrella. I am hoping that the new provincial government will recognize the problem within all our cities and increase mental health funding for these people as well as others who need help. This could be achieved with the funds that will be coming into the province’s coffers once cannabis becomes legal next month. I would like to see the Ministry of Health increase funding for mental health. Our hospital is crowded with people who are not physically ill but do need care to help them recover their mental health. The new government has also indicated that municipalities will benefit from the online sale of cannabis  but as of yet we do not have a clear indication of how much the province will give to individual cities. I would propose that some of this funding could be used to educate young people about the harmful effects of opioids and other drugs. I also think that parents/guardians of young people need to be educated as well so they are better prepared to recognize the signs of drug abuse as well as other mental health problems. 

Protecting vulnerable citizens is at the top of many peoples agenda. Those living in danger of homelessness, low-income, on the streets, living with chronic mental or physical illness need more resources integrated into the community to allow them to access the help they need with dignity. Safe injection sites, needle exchange programs, emergency shelter services, affordable housing, accessible health services/resources have been ongoing ideas to address these issues. What initiatives would you like to see put in place? How will you ensure action is taken to develop sustainable programs to provide these urgently needed services?

Many of the issues in your question stem from a lack of funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health as they involve health issues. I will as mayor work with the government to make a case for more funding. We do not have a growing tax base in Greater Sudbury so the funds we have available are not growing either and we can not raise taxes higher than they are or we will be forcing people out of their own homes.

Like any paying customer, tax payers want to see their hard dollars put to good use. Roads continue to require maintenance, many new builds are in development, transit, facilities upkeep, tourism and attractions spending – keeping a city going isn’t cheap. How will you ensure transparency and accountability for expenditures on new development projects and operation costs within council?

As mayor I will make sure that council is aware of all plans involving capital spending and that every project we embark from planning to purchasing to building is thoroughly understood by mayor and councillors. I also have plans to initiate more audits in this city examining all facets of the organization in order to see how we can save money.

For additional information on Dan Melanson and his platform visit: www.danmelanson.ca

Check out the rest of the Digital Town Hall responses here: Our Crater Digital Town Hall Municipal Election 2018