Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Prince Rupert Mayoralty campaign gets a bit of a national look in

The election trail observations of Jack Mussallem, Sheila Gordon-Payne, Tony Briglio and Lee Brain got a short shout out from the Globe and Mail yesterday.

As one of the Canada's major national newspapers took a quick peek in at one of the major themes in the local election campaign, that of the concerns related to infrastructure issues.

That theme and the Prince Rupert politicians view of it, provided for some background to a larger piece. An article which focused on how communities in Northern British Columbia are dealing with the challenges of increasing prospects for major industrial development.

Photo from City's Annual Report
Highlighting the Prince Rupert overview was the city's requirements estimated at near 250 million dollars to address the outstanding infrastructure needs that the city faces.

All four candidates provided thoughts for the article, reviewing the challenges that Prince Rupert faces as potential LNG development gets closer.

Mayor Jack Mussallem commented on the city's decade of darkness and the need to play catch up on issues of infrastructure. He offered up some progress on the city's economic picture for the Globe, offering up some improvement on the industrial tax base, as an indication as to how things are starting to expand in the area.

Sheila Gordon Payne, suggested a need to get back to basics, reviewing her plan to conduct a review of how infrastructure repairs are planned and executed, looking for improvements to the process.

Lee Brain offered up a snapshot of his plan to seek out provincial and federal grants for infrastructure concerns, looking to pursue joint ventures to improve the city's water line woes.

Tony Briglio, recounted his main points of last week's election forum, of the need to take our destiny into our own hands, offering up a quick resolution to the Watson Island situation and a look at how the city's debt is structured as key to his thoughts on the issue.

The review of the infrastructure concerns, also included a short look at similar issues facing Kitimat.

With a focus on the infrastructure and housing challenges that are being faced by the community, as it tries to come to terms with the sudden economic development of the region.

You can review the full Globe and Mail article from Pauline Holdsworth here.

Cross posted from North Coast Review

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