In Sudbury.com’s ongoing efforts to ensure you have all the information you need to make informed voting decisions in the Oct. 24 municipal election, we have reached out to candidates for ward councillor and each of them to provide responses to a short questionnaire.
Besides a photograph, we requested a response from each candidate, limited to 200 words each, under each of the following three categories:
- Tell me a bit about yourself
- Why are you seeking election?
- What are your key platform points?
In the interest of fairness, candidates’ responses have been provided in full, with only minor corrections made for clarity and grammar. In the event a candidate went over the 200-word limit per category, their response was cut off to the end of the nearest sentence. In cases where candidates did not separate their response by the three topics, they were cut off at the 600-word mark to the nearest sentence.
The photographs provided have been included in this coverage, cropped to adhere to Sudbury.com’s sizing requirements.
Candidates were sent the inquiry on Oct. 4, at which time a deadline of Oct. 9 was announced. A follow-up email to those candidates who did not respond was issued on Oct. 11 with a noon deadline the following day.
Election day is Oct. 24, which will be preceded by two weeks of online voting and advance paper ballot opportunities. For a rundown of voting locations, click here.
Four candidates are seeking election in Ward 12, with Luciano Di Mario, Jeff MacIntyre and Shawn Ouimet challenging incumbent Joscelyne Landry-Altmann.
Ward 12 includes The Flour Mill neighbourhood, and includes a leg stretching northward of Lasalle Boulevard. It includes 10 square kilometres of land and a population of approximately 14,632.
To find out whether you live in Ward 12, click here. The following is what came in for Ward 12.
Luciano Di Mario
I am a long-term resident of Sudbury. I grew up in the downtown/Minnow Lake area. I owned property in Ward 12, lived in Ward 12 (New Sudbury area) and now reside in the Garson area.
Based on census data: Ward 12 has nine per cent (14,886) of Greater Sudbury's population. My responsibilities as a councillor would be to support the municipality and its operations while ensuring that the public and municipality’s well-being and interests are maintained.
I would like to be a voice for the constituents of Ward 12, to be able to bring their concerns to council. As council, we need to stop following the old ways of thinking about how we propose ideas and projects. Maybe it is time to introduce zero-based budgets (start from zero and not from previous fixed numbers).
We need to monitor expenses used by city councillors. Yearly travel expenses should be capped at a certain amount. Anything over and above the given amount will have to come out of the pockets of city councillors. Road construction and maintenance should be a priority. The 2022 budget allocated $79 million into the city’s linear infrastructure. The city will put an additional $6 million this year into remediating Greater Sudbury streets.
Contractors and subcontractors should be able to work night shifts to get major projects completed on time and not hinder commuters during the busy times of the day. Noise Level Notices would be given to residents in the immediate areas of the construction. The work would be done with less traffic interruptions and can be completed in a much better time frame.
We need to keep providing a safe, reliable water source to all citizens of Sudbury and to be environmentally responsible at the same time. Repair or replace water mains, sewers, storm drains, that we currently have and be cost efficient in doing so.
Rehabilitate the existing wells, do upgrades to the system. Adding a new Lake Wanapitei water treatment plant would depend on the price tag.
Allocate money on a yearly basis on renovating, improving and modernizing Sudbury Arena. Council could also recommend and follow through with the twin ice pad to be constructed at the Howard Armstrong Centre in Hanmer.
Greater Sudbury has been making our city more pedestrian friendly with efforts to reduce speed limits, prioritize sidewalks and use traffic calming devices in residential neighbourhoods. The next step could be to introduce and approve automated speed traps in the city as early as next year.
Part of sharing the road between pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles is the need for traffic to slow down to the posted speed limits.
Create healthier outdoor spaces, clean up our beaches, playgrounds, parks, ice rinks, ballparks, dog parks, add more bike lanes.
Equitable services. Affordable, accessible housing. Everyone is entitled to be safe and have a roof over their head. Community programs, charitable donations, city input into funding can be good avenues for promoting awareness and to assist those who experience episodic and chronic homelessness.
The cost of city bus service should be lowered to accommodate our aging citizens. Seniors over 65 and disability pensioners are paying $56 for a 31-day bus pass plus a $6 one-time fee for the GOVA Transit photo ID card. The cost should be lowered to $30 for a 31-day bus pass, plus the $6 one-time fee for the GOVA photo ID. That would be a $312 savings per year for them.
Money should be spent on city projects to keep our city vibrant and welcoming for everyone.
Joscelyne Landry-Altmann
Tell voters a bit about yourself
I was born, raised and educated in Greater Sudbury’s Ward 12. I lived in the Flour Mill, am a Laurentian University alumnus, trilingual and married, raising and educating two children in Ward 12. I am retired, a homeowner, a pet owner and a taxpayer.
I have proudly represented the residents of Ward 12 as councillor since 2006 as well as deputy mayor since 2010.
I pride myself on having a very strong work ethic steeped in integrity and honesty. I say it as I see it, which is not always popular. I will continue to do so.
My 16-year experience on council provides perspective and informs decision-making for the community as a whole. It begets a full understanding of the various demographics and complexities innate to Ward 12 and provides judicious guidance when advocating for service levels, projects and capital investments.
I know how to get things done.
My priority is and always has been a better quality of life within the ward and the community as a whole.
Community consultations have and will continue to guide the decisions taken on behalf of residents.
My hope is to continue offering a ward-wide, bilingual representation at the council table, to the residents of Ward 12, based on experience, forthrightness and integrity.
Why are you seeking election?
To continue the work that has been started:
City-wide:
- To support positioning Greater Sudbury for greater prosperity – electric battery industry and the bio mining opportunities is top of mind. This will Increase our tax base, create good-paying jobs and economic development opportunities for our local businesses.
- Lobby for transitional housing and safe site injection sites to be fully operational and fully funded by the province and feds.
- Support affordable housing projects to completion – i.e. 1310 Sparks St. Seniors Housing and other initiatives being proposed.
- Support and apply Complete Streets and the Community Energy and Emissions Plan policies.
- In 2016, I championed the animal control contract going in-house (City of Greater Sudbury). Now, a geared to income spay and neuter clinic is imperative.
Ward specific:
- Monitor closely the Junction Creek remediation project to fruition.
- Ensure that meandering Montrose is redefined and removing Notre Dame widening from the Official Plan phase 2 final review 2023-2024.
- Advocate for service levels that ensure a safer quality of life in the ward.
- Ensure and equitable road remediation budget for Ward 12.
What are your key platform points?
- Infrastructure deficit: Reviewing services to ensure cost, quality, efficiency/value for money, especially with our roads,and pipes will continue.
- Support initiatives that advance electric battery and bio mining opportunities.
- Safer neighborhoods will be the overarching goal of the next four years. Help restore, through thoughtful and informed decision making, comprehensive policies and service levels that will enhance order, security and balance, as we emerge from the COVID chaos.
- Ensuring that the neighborhoods, business areas, are afforded a safe environment permitting investments to flourish and benefit residents. This means that service levels are in place, including city services, capital investments, police and social services to enable positive and sustainable outcomes.
- Geared-to-income spay and neuter clinic.
- Supporting safer streets through Complete Streets policies, speeding and traffic calming measures, bylaws that enforce property standards and safe secondary accommodations, inevitably protecting and enhancing neighborhood property values.
- Promoting a higher accessibility criteria in our capital investment projects – sidewalks and building accesses, etc, to exceed AODA for 2025 standards (Accessiblity for Ontarians and Disabilities Act).
My goal is to work along with my colleagues, toward creating a safer city that will be welcoming residents, immigrants and businesses to call Greater Sudbury home.
Jeff MacIntyre
Tell voters a bit about yourself
I am Sudbury born and raised, and I remain devoted to my home, having chosen to stay, make a life for myself, and contribute to my community.
I have worked with many businesses and institutions that make Sudbury thrive, providing marketing advice and gaining a deep understanding of their opportunities and challenges. I’ve helped these businesses grow international customer bases. In addition, I’ve volunteered with many organizations that make Sudbury and Ontario livable. I have built a network across the city and province that I can leverage to get Sudbury back on track. This broad experience in business, government, and social issues has given me a keen understanding of the struggles and systematic issues that hold our city back.
Working together, we can solve these issues, and we can make Sudbury the thriving community we all believe it should be.
Why are you seeking election?
I believe I bring something new to the council table that is long overdue. I have the expertise in communication and technology to make the council more effective and accountable. I come with a solid understanding of governance, and working with multiple stakeholders, I can balance the needs of businesses with the needs of residents to grow our economy while making Sudbury a community people desire to live in.
As a councillor, I want to encourage junior staff to stay with the city and be encouraged to provide feedback and ideas; help small businesses receive services necessary to their success; help companies navigate unclear city policies that block their paths to opening and prevent growth, and ensure our city takes care of our most vulnerable citizens.
I also build rock-solid teams that get things done. I will bring people together from the neighbourhoods of Ward 12 with the right tools, to plan and deliver the improvements they want for their neighbourhood.
Working together, we can make Sudbury the thriving community we all believe it should be.
What are your key platform points?
Grow our economy
- Sudbury is in a rare position of opportunity as an expert in accessing the most in-demand battery metals. Not just in the mining of it but in the manufacture of equipment and technology. We must increase our industrial tax base, yet our industrial parks are at capacity, and local companies cannot grow without the city upgrading infrastructure connected to their companies. These companies provide jobs to many residents of Ward 12 and could be providing more while helping to close our infrastructure gap.
Investing in our neighbourhoods
- Keeping our neighbourhoods safe and enjoyable is key to a functional community. Poor housing planning has left gaps in housing that exacerbates homelessness issues. While street planning has created dangerous overflow traffic from main arteries to neighbourhood streets, the solution is simple; ensure it’s easy for local residents to get in and out of local neighbourhoods, but make it difficult to cut through them.
Roads and Infrastructure
- Currently, in our city, standard, proper maintenance does not happen, and every year, our infrastructure debt grows faster than we fix the roads. We must make smarter planning decisions with less urban sprawl to close the infrastructure gap and fix decades of poor decisions.
Shawn Ouimet
I am seeking election for change. This ward, the city needs change. They need a person unbiased in their decisions to move this city forward whether it’s a new sidewalk, event centre, a bike path or a park.
I believe that I am the person that can work with business owners and residents. I enjoy working with others and helping others succeed. I am a small business owner. I create pricing for bids and sales to other municipalities and corporations in Ontario and Quebec. I am a person that fully reads a contract or proposals, I even read the disclaimers from apps I put on my phone, which I believe is a great benefit as I will understand in full detail the proposals that will be brought forward to vote upon. I am also a chair member for the Ontario Trillium Foundation and board member for the Ontario Health Advisory Board.
Which city issues are top of mind for you?
Taxes, with an almost guaranteed four-per-cent increase for the next four years as we come out of a pandemic, with housing, fuel, food and other amenities have jumped up in cost. Council as a whole a year ago should have been predicting the high cost in services and looked to ease a higher tax burden on residences. Staff and council took out millions of dollars in loans without strategically thinking how we can recoup funding to pay off these debts without placing the burden on you and me. Job creation and keeping youth in Greater Sudbury is another priority. Too many students after high school go to college or university out of town, they do not come back to work and raise their families here. I want to create programs to keep the youth in Sudbury with viable jobs from the programs that you just learned in school. Not everyone wants to work in a mine or hospital (the top two employment types in the city), so as a city we need to build connections with college and university programs and find out what programs are most popular with students and work with those types of businesses to build offices, or manufacturing plants here in Sudbury.
Along with job creation, I want to work with the federal and provincial governments to create a work program for the homeless where the work they do also pays for subsidized housing and some can get back into being contributing members of our community.
We should build a new events centre/arena, but only after our city’s funds are in order.
Ward and the priorities in your area.
One priority is to bring a multi-pad sports complex to New Sudbury (the only area in the city without this type of venue). To build this project, you need a large piece of land. The old Rona on Barrydowne would be a prime location for such a facility. I believe building a multi-pad arena in the Valley is a bad idea. How do you generate additional tax revenue? When people from out of town go to hockey, figure skating, ringette, etc., tournaments, they want convenience and having them drive to the furthest end of the Valley is not convenient. I would also propose that this be a private-run venture, where the city takes a portion of the revenue (to pay for the building) as well private organizers bring various tournaments each weekend, which in-turn would generate additional tax dollars from the area as well as the hotel tourism tax which can as well be used to pay down the arena construction debt.
