THUNDER BAY – Wesley Ramage has been itching to get back on the municipal ballot for the past four years.
The runner-up to long-time McIntyre Ward Coun. Trevor Giertuga in 2014, the 33-year-old elementary school teacher wants to build on that result on Oct. 22 and help guide the city and his ward into a more prosperous future.
With Giertuga moving to the at-large race, it creates a sure-fire opening on council and Ramage said he believes he’s got the background and the passion to fill the role seamlessly.
First and foremost he wants to find a solution for the truck traffic on Dawson Road.
“I hear about the transport trucks all the time and the safety concerns around that,” Ramage said. “They are running lights or going too fast, things like that, as well as using County Fair parking lot as a truck stop. That’s the one I probably 15 to 20 times the past couple of days.”
Ramage said he’s in favour of banning trucks from Dawson Road, but understands it can’t be an all-out ban.
It just wouldn’t work, he said.
“I’m well aware of some of the issues that revolve around it as well, as there are a number of businesses along Dawson Road or shortly off of Dawson Road that access transport trucks all the time – gravel companies and stuff like that – that would need to have access still,” Ramage said.
A married father of two, Ramage also wants to see better treatment of rural roads, another huge issue for those living in the expansive McIntyre Ward, whether it’s better grading, chip-sealing or even paving the dirt roads.
A McIntyre councillor is uniquely positioned, he added, having to balance the needs of rural constituents with those in an urban setting.
He said he’s up for the task.
“The fact that I live almost in the middle of those really residential areas and the rural areas gives me a good feel for both,” Ramage said. “I come to the city all the time and I see the concerns that are there and I live out on one of those dirt roads, and I see those concerns all the time there.”
An advocate for youth, Ramage said he’ll press for more activities for that age group city wide, and is a proponent of incentivizing new businesses in the city with discounted taxes for a period of time to help them get established.
