THUNDER BAY – After two terms serving residents of Northwood as their ward councillor, Shelby Ch’ng wants to take on a slightly bigger role on Thunder Bay city council.
Ch’ng, whose move across town helped facilitate her decision, will instead seek one of five at-large positions up for grabs in the 2022 municipal election, giving her a chance to branch out a bit and focus on issues of interest to the entire city.
“I’ve had two terms on council now. I really have a good understanding on what’s going on in the city and with this major turnover on council, I think it’s very prudent for the people who do have the experience to put their names forward, if they’re willing and able to do so,” Ch’ng said.
“We’re going to see a big turnover. It’s going to be painful for the next council, just to learn the ropes, the rules of order around the council table, what the Municipal Act is, very basic things, that I saw this current council struggle with. I think it I owe it to the City of Thunder Bay to be there at the table to make sure things run smoothly.”
At least five new faces will be seated at that table for the next four years, out of a council made up of 13 members.
Ch’ng said there are two major infrastructure issues that council will be faced with between now and 2028. The first is what to do about an indoor turf facility.
The current council punted plans for a $39-million facility at Chapples Park, but the need is still there. Ch’ng was initially in favour of it as proposed and said the city certainly needs some sort of facility to accommodate the growing soccer community.
“We’re losing people daily to other cities. We have to be aggressive in our approach when it comes to attracting and maintaining young families to move and stay here.”
Ch’ng, who currently serves on the Thunder Bay Police Services Board, said council is going to need to hit the ground running to help solve the problems facing the controversial board, including what to do about a proposed $56-million replacement for the present police station on Balmoral Street (her second infrastructure question), not to mention continuing the process of hiring a new police chief.
The former provincial Liberal candidate said the city really needs to look at how it does policing.
“There are a list of rules that we need to abide by, for sure, but there are other things that we can do, other partnerships that we can explore. I do think we need to put some money behind policing as well, for things like upgrading,” Ch’ng said.
“For far too long we’ve under-funded the police, which is one of the reasons why we’re in this problem. I think change is not coming, change is here, and it’s happening and we need a council that’s going to be adaptable and make decisions.”
