Incumbent Brian Bigger threw a few barbs at the candidates hoping to replace him as the mayor of Greater Sudbury at an Oct. 1 election debate.
During a section in which candidates were invited to share their ideas on public meetings and communicating with the public, Bigger said his political rivals seemed to be promising things that are already in place.
“I can tell you that it's all on the city website, it's all in the media, if you're paying attention, and pretty much everybody here has never attended a council meeting,” he said.
“I've never seen most of the candidates in any council meeting and, you know, they just kind of tuned in to what's happening in council in the last month.”
That comment elicited some boos from the crowd.
The Saturday mayoral debate hosted by the Sudbury chapter of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (or CARP) was attended by well over 100 people, with some not even able to snag a chair at the Older Adult Centre venue.
Eight of nine candidates running for mayor locally participated – Bigger, Evelyn Dutrisac, Don Gravelle, Bob Johnston, Devin Labranche, Paul Lefebvre, Miranda Rocca-Circelli and Mila Wong.
The ninth candidate, J. David Popescu, a convicted purveyor of hate speech, did not take part, although he was invited, and a card with his name was up at the table along with those of the other candidates.
The debate, moderated by retired broadcaster Peter Williams, dealt with many of the hot topics of the day in Greater Sudbury, including the failed KED project, the yet-to-be-built Junction East project, what to do with the Sudbury Community Arena, homelessness, the defunct St. Joseph’s Hospital property, dysfunction within council, the mayor’s salary, the need for an audit and more.
During the event, Bigger also handed pieces of paper to three rival candidates - Evelyn Dutrisac, Paul Lefebvre and Miranda Rocca-Circelli - and asked them to write down Greater Sudbury’s operating budget for 2022.
“If you would follow the budget process, if you had any interest in being there, you probably know how big the budget is,” he said.
Rocca-Circelli immediately wrote down the figure $661 million, which Bigger confirmed to be the right answer.
“My point is, is that you're asking people to be mayor,” Bigger said.
“I've been creating and leading budgets in the municipal environment since 2001. If you follow the process, you will see there is a line-by-line review,” he added, responding to several candidates who are calling for audits of Greater Sudbury’s books.
At one point, Bigger even threw some shade at the actions of former Sudbury mayor Jim Gordon, who was in attendance.
Wong said Gordon had “held the line” on taxes for years and years.
“One of the things that is a horrible idea that I've heard is zero tax increases,” Bigger said. “We had zero tax increases over a decade.”
At that point, a man called out from the audience, “you did it,” to which Bigger replied, “Jim Gordon did that.” The member of the audience then said “you did it your first year,” presumably referring to an election promise from Bigger in 2014.
“We have been investing significantly more money in capital and fixing the roads than any previous city council, and we've been following long term plans and strategies,” Bigger said. “A decade of no tax increase, you’re stealing money from capital and not fixing the roads.”
During his closing remarks, Bigger also said there are a few candidates running for mayor, “they’re, I guess, the top runners, they own businesses, they think this is a part-time job. It’s not. It’s a full-time job.”
Rocca-Circelli gave a little quiz of her own during the event.
“I'd like to ask the candidates if they're aware of what percentage of the budget that is allocated to salaries,” she said. “Do we have a little Jeopardy tone? No? Brian, do you want to answer my question about the percent of the budget that's allocated to salaries?”
Bigger began to answer the question, but hesitated, and then someone shouted out from the crowd, 43 per cent. “Thank you, 43 per cent, or about $289 million,” Rocca-Circelli said, adding that she’s asking for an audit of Greater Sudbury’s books.
“We have all these numbers, we have all this money, but where is it going, and why is it going to places it is?” she said.
As part of the section of the debate dealing with homelessness in the downtown core, Bob Johnston, an advocate for the city’s vulnerable population, had some harsh words for the city’s response to these issues during the pandemic.
“For two years, 2020 and 2021, no mayor, no council, except for two, on the streets with me and my girlfriend, saving lives, dealing with the homeless,” he said. "We had even opened up a store because they never even showered, or changed their clothes for six weeks. I’m tired of the excuses in this city.”
Bigger said during the earlier part of the pandemic, support services for the city’s vulnerable population that are funded by the province were unable to operate. “We opened a warming centre in city hall at Tom Davies Square,” he said. “Who could imagine that situation?”
Lefebvre, who is Sudbury’s past Liberal MP, mostly stayed positive in his comments, but did share his concerns about what happened with the now-defunct KED project.
“What I don’t want is for us to waste more money, as we did on the KED,” he said, although he added he is in favour of the city’s big projects.
“We need to know what the operating costs of these projects are going to be. It’s as if you’re operating a business, and you say, I'm going to build it, but I'm not sure how much it's going to cost me.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s associate content editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.
