A rookie Sarnia city councillor has thrown his hat into the ring for the position of mayor.
Nathan Colquhoun filed his nomination papers for the October 24, 2022 municipal election on Tuesday.
The 37-year-old said the decision to seek the mayor's seat was something that developed over the last year or so.
He said he wants to build on the success the current council has seen over the last four years, in particular with the waterfront master plan, active transportation and recreation.
"Once I started seeing these things get put into place, I wanted to have a bigger role in helping make those things unfold across the city," said Colquhoun.
He said he feels there's a lot of people who are tired of the status quo, and ready for something different.
"The mayor is supposed to be a person of vision, a person that kind of can see the future about what the city can be," he said. "I think I am a person with that kind of vision and I think that I can see all the potential that is bubbling up in Sarnia and I know that I can do it, I know that I can kind lead us kind of into that future."
Colquhoun said he wants to make Sarnia a place young adults choose to stay or return to, rather than move away after post secondary education to start their futures. "Because they don't see the potential for something like that in a city like Sarnia, and so I just think that with all the businesses and different community developments and all the work that I've been doing in the city for the last 15 years, I can set a new narrative for how we can understand ourselves as a city and become a healthier city that people don't want to leave."
So far, Colquhoun is the only candidate seeking the mayor's seat in October.
Candidates have until Friday, August 19 at 2 p.m. to file their papers.
As of Wednesday, there were 17 people seeking one of the four city council seats, and six have filed nomination papers for one of the four city/county council seats.
The full unofficial list of candidates is available here.