Latest from the Campaign

If you think I would make a good At-Large councillor, now is the time to say so. Out loud. To other people. I’ve had some excellent conversations, answered a lot of questions and put my ideas out there. But I can’t personally meet everyone in Thunder Bay before voting begins. If I’ve earned your support, here’s my ask: • Vote for me. • Tell someone why you’re voting for me. • Share a post that reflects why you support me, ideally with a few words of your own. You don’t need to deliver a speech or defend every position I’ve ever taken. “Here’s why I think he’d be a good councillor” is a great start. And if you’re getting a group together and would like me to stop by for a few minutes to chat, send me the date, time, location, and a contact person. I’ll do my best to make it work. Advance Polls start Monday, October 19 at 10 a.m. Online voting starts at the same time and runs until October 26 at 8 p.m. Make a plan to vote, and please consider Jamie Nichols for Councillor At-Large. Consider this my official request for a little enthusiastic cheerleading. Pom-poms entirely optional (but PLEASE send pictures if you use them). Voting information: https://www.thunderbay.ca/election

And another thing about small business… What does Thunder Bay lose when a very small business closes? We lose jobs, certainly. We may also lose a gathering place, a local customer for other businesses, a first job for a young person, or one of the places that gives a neighbourhood its character. During COVID, I watched small businesses find ways to help one another survive. Restaurants created online grocery stores filled with products from their local suppliers. Businesses shared information, promoted one another, and created new ways to reach customers. They were trying to survive, but they were also trying to ensure that the businesses around them would still be there when things returned to normal. That is community wealth. It is not only profit or tax revenue. It is the wages, relationships, experience, and cooperation that remain in Thunder Bay and help make us more resilient when the next challenge arrives. The City cannot guarantee that every business will succeed. It can make better decisions about the conditions in which they operate. That means giving reasonable notice when construction will affect them, providing reliable transit and accessible sidewalks, helping bring vacant commercial spaces back into use, and encouraging mixed-use developments with smaller storefronts that new businesses can realistically afford. It also means examining City purchasing. Large contracts may appear efficient, but they can shut smaller businesses out. Where possible, we should structure purchasing so qualified local businesses have a fair opportunity to compete—and consider how much of the wider economic benefit remains in Thunder Bay. That is the small-business lens I would bring to Council: looking beyond the immediate price and considering the effect a decision will have on workers, neighbourhoods, local suppliers, and the wider community. What small business adds something irreplaceable to your neighbourhood? Tell me about it—or tag them so others can find them.