New Thunder Bay city councillors get ready for first term

There's a steep learning curve that goes along with stepping into the role of city councillor for the first time, but the City of Thunder Bay is doing what it can to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Wednesday marked the start of a lengthy orientation session aimed at the five new faces on Thunder Bay city council. That includes at-large councillors Rajni Agarwal and Kasey Etreni, Greg Johnsen in Neebing, Michael Zussino in Red River, and Dominic Pasqualino in Northwood.

Mayor Ken Boshcoff wasn't an incumbent, but he's not new to council either: Boshcoff has served terms as mayor and councillor in the past.

City clerk Krista Power said the executive management team was involved in creating the orientation program for the new councillors and it's aimed at getting them focused for their first 100 days.

"Make sure they're ready to understand all of the things that may be coming forward to them, things that have already been decided, council directions that we're currently working under, legislation we're currently working under, and how the corporation functions," Power said at city hall on Wednesday.

Power said this year's orientation program is more robust than previous years, partly because there are so many new people joining city council.

"We've created a manual this year," she said. "We've created an online portal for council to have access to information documents that they may need on our regular basis."

New councillors prepared for a learning curve

In total, orientation sessions will be held over six evenings leading up to inauguration, which is scheduled for Nov. 28.

Johnsen said there's "lots to learn."

"I'm having some patience with myself, and I think there's a little bit of patience out there in the community," he said. "People are gonna give me a couple of days to get my feet wet here.

"So just trying to listen and learn and pay attention and try to take it as it comes."

Andrew Foulds, who is set to begin his fifth term as a councillor, noted joining council can be daunting for new members.

"I certainly reached out to as many of the councillors-elect that I could," Foulds said. "I'm happy to give my perspective. I'm happy to chat about anything.

"I'm hopeful that this new council will have a good relationship, and they will be able to chat with each other to move the city forward."

Etreni said she's already been receiving emails from constituents.

"I'm really excited to get started," she said. "Orientation is gonna be very helpful to all of us newbies for sure.

"And I have to say, all the incumbents have been excellent with us. They all gave us a call to congratulate us within the first couple of days of October 24th," Etreni said.

"It was really wonderful, very welcoming."

Priorities moving forward

As for priorities, Zussino said he campaigned on the physical and mental health of the community, and the proposed indoor turf sports facility is needed.

"I've even [proposed] behind the [Canada Games Complex] where that baseball diamond is, so that it's a place that could be sharing a parking lot with the auditorium," Zussino said. "It's pretty centrally located, and I think the the price tag should be less."

Zussino said further development of the city's waterfront is also something he'll be focused on.

"When I talk to people in terms of amenities that we utilize, that most citizens utilize, I think the Marina is a jewel. People go down there, they walk and they go to concerts and they eat and they utilize it.

"I just think maybe some expansion would be would be worthwhile ... like building this Waterfront Trail," Zussino said. "You've built two-and-a-half kilometres of this. I think it's time to add a little more to it, and connect maybe the north side with the south side."

In terms of the makeup of the new council, Zussino said he was happy to see a mix of experienced councillors and new faces.

"It's good to have a little bit of old a little bit of new, because the old will teach you the ropes and the [new councillors] will have their ideas," he said. "I think it'll be a good balance."

For Foulds, social issues are priorities for the upcoming term.

"One of the things that I'm going to be looking for in the new strategic plan is making sure that we're playing our role within our jurisdiction. That means also advocating to other orders of government for adequate funding for mental health and health.

"But I think the role the city can play is making sure that we have safe spaces for people to exist and participate in society, making sure that we've got investment in our libraries and investment in our rec centres, and making sure that we have solid youth programming and senior programming," Foulds said.

Infrastructure and climate readiness are also going to be priorities for Foulds in the new term.

"Finally, one of the things that I think we really need to be mindful as a council is our revenue. I think we really need to grow our revenue, and that's through economic development and making sure that we are bringing in those kinds of opportunities that increase the tax base.

"We have a lot of things working for us," he said. "The airport, the port, rail service, we are a gateway to the west and to the north. I think we have some real opportunities there I'll be looking to for that growth piece, and economic development."