OPINION: Six old white guys

The mayor’s debate at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium was revealing in a number of different ways.

There were no knock-out punches or clear winners but there were some performances of note, for good or ill.

Now that the debate is over I am awarding “Selfies” to a few deserving individuals for their contributions.

They are called Selfies because the candidates were all blowing their own horns and posing for the world to see.

There are no statues or prizes to go with the award – just the gratification of knowing that some of those in the audience were paying attention.

The Selfie for the most astute comment goes to Shane Judge who referred to himself and his five opponents as six old white guys wanting to be mayor.

With a few well-chosen words Mr. Judge quickly got his message out – young people are not engaged in local politics and other demographics are missing as well.

He didn’t know it at the time but the plight of young people in Thunder Bay would be a rallying cry repeated a number of times during the evening.

The Selfie for best one-liner goes to Colin Burridge who said politicians were like diapers – they need changing often and for the same reason.

The fashion Selfie goes to Mr. Hobbs who wore the only coloured shirt amid a sea of browns and grays – honourable mention to the two dudes without a neck tie.

Mr. Hobbs also gets the award for the most obviously planted cheering section – the Hobbs Nation cheers and whoop-whoops were entertaining, but only the first few times.

The best zinger award goes to Ken Boshcoff for claiming he was doing community walkabouts long before it became trendy and was copied by other, later Mayors.

He was looking at you Mr. Incumbent.

The award for most surprising performance goes to Doug MacKay who displayed a sincerity and strength of character which made him likable and credible in my eyes.

Mr. MacKay also gets a special award for leadership by example for his efforts to correct a shameful situation at the end of the debate.

Two microphones were available, presumably for questions from the audience, but the long lines of concerned citizens were ignored for most of the evening.

The most compelling questions were asked by young people attempting to start a dialogue about their concerns and reasons for leaving the city – they were unsuccessful.

The discussion was cut off, the debate was terminated and several young people were left standing at the microphone, arms outstretched, questions unasked and unanswered.

That was a pretty clear demonstration of where young people stand in this town.

As citizens began filing out, only Doug MacKay took the time to announce that he would respond to all those left standing at the microphones if they contacted him by email.

It was the strongest show of leadership I witnessed all evening.

In the end, the debate didn’t change my mind about anything, but three front runners emerged.

One was prepared to take credit for the success so far and although he didn’t lay blame for any problems or difficulties, he didn’t accept any share of the responsibility either.

One was prepared to stand on his accomplishments and experience and was ready to search for solutions to problems with the help of the community.

One was very passionate that the city is making poor decisions and heading in the wrong direction and is prepared to change course quickly.

In my opinion only one of the three appeared ready for the job.

I wonder what the rest of Thunder Bay thinks.