With less than 10 days until the municipal election, Chatham-Kent's mayoral candidates addressed a barrage of topics while speaking to community members at a forum this week.
The Chatham-Kent Chamber of Commerce hosted the mayoral candidates forum at Club Lentinas in Chatham on Friday, where the candidates were asked a series of questions by those in attendance, which ranged from homelessness in the community to ensuring CK is inclusive for people of all ages.
Five attending candidates were also asked what they believe is required to reduce red tape to encourage current local businesses to expand and attract new business to the community.
Incumbent Mayor Randy Hope said the current system currently in place within city hall is working to bring business investment to the municipality. However, he noted that complications and red tape are usually due to decisions by the province.
"We are working with the provincial government to mitigate those circumstances so that we expedite," he said. "We need to be site certified, site ready on new business opportunities that come."
Mayoral hopeful Harold Atkinson said if elected, he intends to approach current businesses within the community in an effort to bring their suppliers to CK to mitigate costs.
"With a tax reduction and proximity to their supplier or to the customer, we're competitive," he said
He added he feels there should also be a reduction in the number of municipal employees.
"That's red tape, that's more layers to the cake," said Atkinson.
Candidate Alysson Storey said may of the red tape issues facing the municipality are due to provincial legislation.
"I have excellent relationships with our local provincial counterparts; our MPPs," she said. "As well, I have worked for the provincial government for several years and have a network of colleagues that already exist to call on for assistance if we have issues with the provincial legislation."
Current municipal councillor and mayoral candidate Darrin Canniff said he has spoken to a number of local business who are currently experiencing problems as a result of municipal or provincial "red tape" issues.
"We need business input and that's where we'd bring the advisory committee together," he said. "We need to bring in process experts to review that. It's going to take some time, but we need to illuminate that completely."
Candidate Robert Salvatore Powers said red tape is just another expression for barriers facing the municipality. He said the number one barrier in the local community is information accessibility.
"I have three degrees and I have trouble finding information on the municipality's website. If businesses are looking to open up here in Chatham-Kent and they can't find what they're looking for, they're not going to call us, they're going to look elsewhere."
Another hot topic that the candidates were asked was how they intended to approach the legalization of marijuana, which is slated to happen on October 17.
Atkinson said the issue is mostly out of the hands of municipalities, as it is being implemented by the federal and provincial governments. However, he suggested that CK "simply tack on another fee" for people applying for a license to sell marijuana.
"That way the tax money stays here, instead of leaving," he said.
Canniff said the community has to have an open mind moving forward as pot legalization unfolds.
"We're going to have to be pretty agile as issues pop up because there are going to be issues. We're going to need to deal with them and prepared to do that," he said.
Hope said he's less worried about the economic benefit and more concerned about what the economic cost will be to the local municipality once the drug becomes legal for recreational use.
"Yes, there might be commercial tax, there might be hiring of a few new people. But the reality of it is, what is it going to cost us on the social side of it, what is it going to cost us on the policing side of it?" he said. "There is a lot of uncertainty."
He added that the economic benefit will mostly be for the provincial and federal governments, while the municipalities will "carry the brunt of the weight of the social impacts that will occur by the extreme use that will most likely happen."
Powers said he intends to double the police presence around Chatham-Kent's secondary schools in response to marijuana legalization.
"Marijuana remains illegal for those under the age of 18," he said, adding he intends to work with provincial and federal police forces, as well as the local police service, to ensure impaired driving laws are enforced.
Storey said while there are many unknowns in terms of how the new legislation will impact the local area, there is definitely potential for economic growth.
"Since council has already supported the growing of cannabis through the support of several zoning changes in the community, I would know that the cultivation of cannabis is considered an agricultural activity, and we live in an agricultural community," she said. "So I do think there are economic opportunities there, right in our own backyard, that we should take advantage of."
Candidate Allan Traylor was invited to the forum, but he did not attend.
Chatham-Kent voters will head to the polls for the municipal election on October 22.