Several issues raised during informal chats
Christian Gammon-Roy
Tribune
West Nipissing residents got some face time with their municipal election candidates on Tuesday, September 29, during a meet-and-greet at Collège Boréal in Sturgeon Falls. The event was organised by the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce, with the college agreeing to provide space for candidates to spend a few hours answering questions for the roughly 75 residents that attended. Each ward and the mayoral candidates were assigned a classroom, or a spot in the hallway, so attendees could easily find those hoping to represent their part of the municipality. All candidates save one, Christine Littlechild of ward 1, were in attendance.
Donna Backer, CEO of the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce, prefers the more informal format of the meet-and-greet compared to a traditional debate. “We find with debates, you end up sitting for hours, and you only get one question. You can’t have 20 people all up on the stage,” she explains, adding that this type of event lets residents have a full conversation with their candidates. Most candidates also came with swag, and snacks on offer, giving the event an inviting feel.
With people walking through from 5 pm until just past 7 pm, most of the traffic was in the mayoral candidates’ room, with some attendees then taking the time to visit their ward candidates. While there were more people stopping by for wards 1 through 4, covering the more urban Sturgeon Falls and Cache Bay areas, candidates for wards 5 through 8, the outlying communities of Field, River Valley and Kipling, Verner, Lavigne and North Monetville, saw very few constituents. “I think we only got about two or three,” said ward 6 candidate Rolly Larabie, who did have a congenial chat with his opponent Blake Watson. The same mood permeated the ward 5 (Field) room, where opponents Chris Fisher and Kaitlynn Nicol chatted amicably but saw very little traffic.
