THUNDER BAY — Mayor Ken Boshcoff says he hopes “the art of compromise will dominate” within the newly elected minority government.
“I think the country would have preferred the stability of a majority government, but you get what you get, and I think that we've worked well through minority governments. They seem to be good for municipal governments,” says Boshcoff.
The mayor compared a minority government to what he has witnessed in city council chambers, where there are no party seats and people have to work together to make hard decisions.
“It's difficult to tell where people are coming from, but not for any other particular reason except that a lot of topics cross over party lines. In our society now, the issues are so big that they don't really lend themselves to divisiveness as much as you think. I'm hoping the federal government will pick up from the municipal temperament,” says Boshcoff.
As for the newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney, he says he hopes the country give him “the benefit of the doubt” and give him to “show what he can do.”
“You've got to be fair and give someone some time to train for the job, especially in a minority situation,” says Boshcoff.
The municipality has excelled in finalizing new housing permits through the federal governments Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) Program which was put in place under the former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Thunder Bay has an ambitious program goal of constructing 1,691 new permitted homes by February 2027.
Back in 2024, the city announced that HAF is providing up to $20.7 million to help spur housing unit construction in Thunder Bay over the next three years.
The city surpassed its goal, issuing permits for 345 net new units under the program, which is 102 per cent of its target for the period of time between March 1, 2024 and February 28, 2025.
Boshcoff says Thunder Bay’s permitting numbers highlight the city’s successes in tackling the housing crisis, which has been recognized by both the federal and provincial government.
“I think the impetus continues and that keeps on propelling us as both the construction industry, the planning department, and everybody else involved, including the user groups and the representatives really see the value of pulling together on this,” says Boshcoff.
“Both the province and the federal government really are using Thunder Bay as kind of their poster for how to do things right.”
