TimminsToday asked all candidates questions ahead of the Oct. 24 municipal election. Below are the responses from Ward 5 (Timmins) candidate Cory Robin.
Timmins' population is declining, with another drop reported in the most recent census. What can be done within the municipality's scope to attract and retain new residents?
Timmins will support housing initiatives and make building new homes easier. Timmins must support affordable housing to make living in Timmins available to everyone on the economic scale. With new mines being explored we must provide easy building solutions for developers to build homes and units for those workers. We will attract developers with efficient support from city hall to provide a wide range of homes along the entire economic scale. It would be a shame if a nearby mine built a camp and flew in their workers.
Communication and transparency have been identified as a concern by the public and by The Chamber. What does municipal transparency mean to you?
Transparency means access to information and the means to interpret it. At council, we have access to any and all information but more importantly, we have access to the experts to make sure we understand it. Your councillors should take the time to understand the information before communicating it with the public. I make sure I do my homework before answering a question and the community shouldn't hesitate to ask questions. Our efforts at city hall support easier and quicker communication and I believe over the last years we've been marching towards it.
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SEE: Advance voting opens Oct. 11
Everyone is feeling the financial impacts of inflation and the cost of living is rising faster than most residents' salary increases. How can the municipality help residents, especially those with a low income or seniors, through this period?
It's often said that seniors are on a fixed income. I prefer to say that we are all on a fixed income. Our duty is to keep spending in check, for my part, I have never proposed additional spending or expenses that impact the tax levy and I have spent time and effort into finding other ways to pay for the upgrades that our city deserves. That's how I help, by saying no to new expenses and being creative in finding and using new sources of money. The MAT subcommittee is my example of those efforts.
What do you want voters to know about you?
This city has a lot to offer and is a beautiful and wonderful place to live. It is the biggest small town in Ontario and I'm proud to call it my home, warts and all. I hope to build a city that the next generation will want to live in a raise a family, after we fix the potholes of course. Being a councillor is more than a 'position' it's a job, a job that I take as seriously as any other.
Read Robin's candidate profile here.
The other Ward 5 candidates are Steve Black, Rick Dubeau, Veronica Farrell, Andrew Marks, Caroline Martel, James McMahon, Kristin Murray, Neil Siblall and Ed Stecewicz.
The municipal election is Oct. 24. Advance voting is being done online and runs Oct. 11-24. In-person polls are open on election day.
