If you’re looking for information on Greater Sudbury mayoral candidates, you can check out their websites, with most candidates now having launched web pages.
Among this year’s lesser-known candidates is Devin Labranche. His campaign website has been accompanied by a social media presence on which he posts videos of himself sharing campaign points at Greater Sudbury landmarks.
His most recent video was filmed at the site of the old St. Joseph’s Health Centre building on Paris Street, which has been long-vacant and covered in a rainbow-coloured mural. In the video, he pledges to “work toward a synergy” between the city and Panoramic Properties, which owns the building, to get rolling on something the community can be proud of.
“I think branding and marketing has been done a certain way, especially in politics and in Sudbury for some time, and no one’s really leveraged a certain means of getting out to people,” he said, adding that a strength in his campaign is reaching out to people online.
A weakness in his campaign, he admitted, is reaching out to seniors, which he aspires to do during the Oct. 1 “Meet the Mayoral Candidates” event being hosted by the local chapter of the Canadian Association for Retired Persons and Sudbury Arts Council.
In addition to her campaign website, mayoral candidate and fellow political newcomer Miranda Rocca-Circelli has also taken to posting regular photos and videos on social media, including Instagram.
Fellow newcomer Don Gravelle’s website opens with an introduction and brief vision statement about “bringing Sudbury together into the 21st century.”
“Campaigns need to evolve, and the messaging needs to evolve as the more and more you get out and the more things change and things you realize are more important,” he said, adding he plans on adding platform points in the coming weeks.
Having an online presence is important in today’s world, Gravelle said, as it allows people “to research something on their own time, at their own leisure, and gives them more information at their fingertips.”
Mayoral candidate Bob Johnston said his campaign has slowed down in recent weeks while he has been dealing with a serious blood infection, but that he intends on adding new material to his campaign website next week, and hopes to make a major campaign announcement soon.
“Everything’s going to be moving forward next week,” he said. “We’ve got to let people know who they’re voting for and why.”
For candidate Mila Wong, creating a campaign website was an integral means of practising what she preaches.
She has been advocating for a Smart City model, in which she said modern technology will increase “operational efficiency, share information with the public, increase quality of services, citizen well-being and quality of life.” It requires the free exchange of information online, which she intends on doing through her website.
“Social media has a lot of pros and cons,” she said, adding that while it has the ability to help spread fake news, “there’s a lot of good you can get from the medium.”
It’s up to the reader to evaluate and verify what they read online, she said, adding that greater access to information is of benefit to the critical reader.
Bigger’s re-election campaign website predictably leans heavily on his background in highlighting various achievements from his first two terms as mayor.
“I feel very strongly that Greater Sudburians will benefit from my experience and continued leadership,” he told Sudbury.com. “I’m hoping to continue building on the success of the past.
“We’ve been able to make decisions and move things forward that had not moved for approximately 40 years, whether it’s Maley Drive or even moving forward on the Junction East project.”
While an online presence is important, Bigger said he also plans on getting out into the community as much as possible to speak with people firsthand.
“My key is getting out and speaking to people, meeting with groups and continuing to support them.”
There are nine mayoral candidates vying to lead Greater Sudbury on Oct. 24. Sudbury.com is not actively covering the campaign of mayoral candidate David Popescu, who’s a convicted purveyor of hate speech.
The mayoral candidates and their websites are as follows:
Brian Bigger: biggersudbury2022.com
Evelyn Dutrisac: evelynformayor.ca
Devin Labranche: sudburymayor.ca
Paul Lefebvre: paullefebvre.com
Miranda Rocca-Circelli: miranda4mayor.ca
Bob Johnston: bobjohnstonformayor.com
Don Gravelle: dongravelleformayor.com
Mila Wong: milawongformayor.com
The Sudbury.com civic election page, at which all stories related to the Oct. 24 election will be posted, can be found by clicking here.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
