TERRACE BAY – Gino Leblanc has been a member of the Terrace Bay community for 42 years and he says his 37 years of work at the mill in leadership roles and 12 years on previous councils has taught him all about budgeting and making tough decisions.
If elected, he says he will bring his fighting spirit to the mayor’s seat.
“Most people in Terrace Bay, they know me, they know my background, they know that I'm a fighter, they know that I don't take no for an answer if that's what our community needs,” he said.
“They know that my leadership skills will ensure that a new council, coupled with our administration team, that is a great team that will meet the needs of all our citizens. There are tough times ahead and we're going to need to fight, and fighting is what I've done for my whole working career, and I will continue fighting for Terrace Bay.”
Leblanc says his top priority is to keep Terrace Bay’s vision moving forward, and that’s why things like housing are at the top of his list because he says that the small number of homes available in Terrace Bay is hurting the local economy and local businesses that are trying to recruit people.
“Attached to that is also the fact that Terrace Bay has a growing population of seniors and those seniors, once they are not able to live in their homes, they have nowhere to go. There's no place between their homes and the long-term building, that's now at the hospital. There’s nowhere to go,” he said.
“So, part of my priority is, to try to bring supportive housing, housing for the seniors to Terrace Bay and at the same time, make some homes available for our own kids and certainly young families to come into Terrace Bay.”
Another concern Leblanc says he is hearing from the people of Terrace Bay is related to the EMS base consolidation approved by Thunder Bay city council. Leblanc says the decision just doesn’t fit the picture of the community’s needs, especially with a growing senior population.
“As you get older, there could be more emergency calls to get an ambulance to get them to our local hospital and if it's anything serious such as heart attacks, or strokes, or anything serious, we're still two and a half hours from Thunder Bay,” he said.
“So, when I become the mayor, I'm going to get back in the media and keep pushing for the decision that the Thunder Bay council made on our small towns’ safety lines, which, I think that's wrong, it was wrong and we need to keep fighting, forever, on this issue.”
