Sarnia's mayoral candidates faced off virtually on Tuesday.
Incumbent Mike Bradley and rookie City Councillor Nathan Colquhoun answered a variety of questions during an hour-long debate, hosted by the Rotary Club of Sarnia over Zoom.
Each candidate was asked what they would do as mayor to create an atmosphere of trust and respect among councillors so they operate as a cohesive team.
Bradley said the current council was on the right track before personality issues developed, which he said were disappointing and "painful to observe."
"One of the two things that has to happen with the new council is that whether they like the integrity commissioner system or not, they need to adhere with the advice they get and deal with it," said Bradley. "Otherwise, you lose the faith of the community and your own staff."
He said it's also important to deal with the issues (at hand) and keep moving.
"That's what this is all about, getting to a better place. That's why my friend David Boushy, I like so much, he comes in and he says, 'what can we do today to make the city better.' Not about himself, but about the city itself and where it can be in the next four to 10 years."
Colquhoun said he was "guilty of being one of those personalities."
"It's not something I'm proud of," said Colquhoun. "Sometimes Bill [Dennis] and I, we like to go at issues on a different level that [has] nothing to do with municipal politics. We've had conversations now, that stuff's behind us. I'm looking to the future and I recognize, I think, the damage of allowing a strong personality like myself, mixing with a strong personality like Bill, you get into this tangle, and then things just start to happen."
Colquhoun admitted in May that he shared a confidential letter and identified some councillors as being hostile during a closed meeting.
In June, Colquhoun made headlines for challenging a proposed professional business attire policy.
"I'm not interested in grandstanding. I'm not interested in the way that the media shapes what everything is going on. I disagree with the fact that there's been a lot of infighting and we haven't been getting stuff done as a council. I think we've actually been a really successful council working together for 99 per cent of the issues. The one per cent are the ones that get interesting and get all of the attention and go on social media and end up shaping the way that things happen," said Colquhoun.
"I think moving forward that I've learned to work with people that I, not only disagree with, but that I also have more character confrontations with and I think I've learned my lesson on that."
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When asked how important is it to save the airport, Colquhoun said, "I don't find it that important."
"It's not a high priority on my list," he said. "It's something I've been voting against constant funding and taking taxpayer dollars in order just to keep it there as this possible potential that is going to, you know, rocket Sarnia into the future just because we have an airport. It's something that I don't think we need anymore and I think that we could offload it and use our budget money better for the city."
Colquhoun said the world has changed and it's "not that important for wealthy people to use a small airport to show up to be able to run their plants, be on boards, and be in person." He said the pandemic has changed the way those conversations are had.
Bradley disagreed and said [the airport] is "vitally important to the reputation of the city."
"The airport is used by executives coming in here, it is used by Air Ornge, it is used by the private pilots and it will reshape itself. I've got to point out, for 25 years we had the best deal in Canada. We did not subsidize the airport. So when that came to an end, we had to start looking at other possibilities."
Bradley said the city has been receiving federal funding to improve the airport.
"It may not be what it was 10, 20 years ago... and I'm fine with that, as long as we continue to have an airport that can function."
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The candidates were asked what they think the biggest issue is facing the city and how they would tackle it.
Colquhoun said the biggest issue he sees is a "lack of collaboration."
"We've got a police force, we've got EMS, we've got Bluewater Health, we've got a county and a city and those CAO's and those staff, and where I think we have a serious problem is that none of these places are talking to each other," Colquhoun said. "None of these leaders are talking with each other in any sort of a way that the right hand knows [what] the left hand is doing."
Colquhoun said he wants to see the mayor's role bring those groups together.
"We have a housing crisis in the City of Sarnia, but we have the County of Lambton and their social services trying to deal with that crisis, without necessarily talking to Sarnia."
Meanwhile, Bradley was concerned about the impact of long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns.
"I think the biggest [issue] we face is what's happening around the world with climate change and how that's going to impact this community," he said. "The way the federal government, provincial government and international governments are moving to restrict the petro-chemical sector and its roll in the future."
Bradley said success stories in the hydrogen and bio-fuel economies locally, position Sarnia to be a leader on environmental issues.
"If we can move forward on the bigger economic issues, it helps us deal with the social issues. But I will tell you very clearly on the environmental and climate change issue, we do not want to be reactive to that issue."
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When asked what goals they have next term, if elected, Bradley said he "always has a list of priorities."
"Infrastructure is really important, both the physical and the human one," said Bradley. "We've seen a lot of social issues come out of the COVID crisis, with drugs and addictions and homelessness. I've said already publicly, I think the county needs to give the city and the Point Edward area a bigger role in what's happening in those issues because we are just now the recipient of messages about what they're doing."
Bradley said infrastructure spending needs to be strategic to protect homeowners in Coronation Park, the waterfront plan needs to move forward, and the affordable growth and immigration plans will take leadership [in order] to happen in the next term.
"That's why I've developed these relationships with the government in Ottawa and at Queens Park to keep on building this better Sarnia," Bradley said.
Colquhoun agreed that long-term thinking is important, and said he wants the city to become a "healthy and flourishing place for the citizens that already live here."
"That looks like the waterfront plan that I motioned for two years ago that we're now seeing start to unfold. I want to champion that plan and get the first four years happening in that."
Colquhoun said he wants to see the indoor recreation centre created and active transportation supported.
"Creating opportunities for families not to have to leave the city in order to have good family life, and play sports, and play games, and be able to walk out of their door and do things in their neighbourhoods and not having to keep leaving."
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Affordable housing, intensification, the downtown and electric vehicle infrastructure were among the other topics discussed.
A recording of the debate was posted to the Rotary Club's Facebook page and can be found here.
Meantime, the club is organizing a "Meet The Candidates of Sarnia and Point Edward" event at Lambton Mall October 1 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The nomination period for the October 24 municipal election closed last month.