Cathy Dobson/The Independent

With less than a week until election day, 28 candidates vying for eight council seats, spent four hours Tuesday trying to stand out as the right choice for Sarnia voters.

They gathered at The Imperial Theatre in front of an audience of 200, with another 500 streaming the marathon event online.

Compared to Monday night’s mayoral debate, there was no animosity between the candidates.  Instead, candidates shared some lighter moments and frequently agreed with one another.

About one third of the debate related to homelessness and fighting addiction.

Helping those experiencing addiction on the street shouldn’t be a police matter, said city/county candidate John Richardson. That’s the most expensive approach. Police should focus on trafficking instead, he said.

“We have proven ourselves as a city to not be able to co-ordinate funds (for new housing),” said Richardson. “(Indwell) is an entity that has been able to do that acceptably in other places and I’ve gone to see how that works.

“I keep hearing that there are people who don’t want off the street.  Well, let’s start with the ones that do,” he said.  Other cities have built new housing and “moved on to prevention. We have not.”

“The first solution to the drug epidemic is making sure people are housed,” said city/county candidate Mike Stark. “St. Thomas has a unique and interesting approach using small homes…that’s a solution to the housing issue, which dovetails into the drug issue.”

When Ontario Premier Mike Harris closed mental health institutions in the 90s, a homelessness problem began that is now a municipal responsibility, pointed out candidates Margaret Bird and Andy Bruziewicz. 

There is no way the new provincial HART Hubs can address the size of the problem, Bird said but didn’t have time to elaborate.

Economic and residential growth was a reoccurring theme. Without a larger tax base, Sarnians won’t be able to enjoy the living standard they want, said city/county candidate Mark Lamore.

“Sarnia is at a crossroads with unemployment a little over eight percent,” he said. “We have a debacle with Indwell. We have a debacle with the police board…. We need to get people to work because if we don’t have a tax base that’s going to work for people, then these other things are just pipe dreams.

“If we’re going to maintain services, then we need a proper tax base.”

Several speakers didn’t hold back when criticizing the last term of council.

City/county candidate Patrick Coutu was blunt. 

“Who do you think has the fortitude to actually get something done once this popularity contest is over?” he asked.  Coutu said the city’s “silver-tongued” incumbents have put Sarnia into a “death spiral.”

“It’s not meant to be a personal attack.  It’s just a fact…Who out there is thinking everything is great in Sarnia and we need to elect the same people? Some have been at it for decades with the same lame results.”

Fellow realtor Mario Fazio agreed with Coutu’s assessment, calling city council “a mess” the last four years.

Longtime city councillor Terry Burrell disagreed, saying in fact the city is doing well. 

“Overall, we do very well, no matter what people say,” said Burrell who has served on council for 28 years.

In discussing infrastructure, incumbent Anne Marie Gillis said it’s a priority that never goes away.  “We have been very fortunate to get grants from the government to offset what we have been able to put away in the budget so, to Councillor Burrell’s point, we are doing a good job despite what a lot of people say.”

“This talk of this infrastructure deficit, over the last four years we did $300 million in infrastructure capital projects, and we didn’t borrow a dime,” said Burrell. He added that his accounting skills have saved Sarnia millions over the years. 

“So we are in very good shape, but you have to (avoid) the way these people want to spend wildly and go into debt…it’s not necessary.”

Chrissy McRoberts, who served in the last term, said there’s been “a dip” in the last four years when Sarnia was “on the map for not the right reasons.”

She said that cloud is starting to lift. “Everyone is encouraging people to come to our city, that we’re friendly people.

“We live in a beautiful city,” McRoberts said, “Yes, we’re not happy about some things, but airing our laundry for the entire country to see, that’s not always a bonus, and sometimes it’s about communication and solving issues instead of everybody dividing and getting angry with each other.”

She urged people to “make the most” of living in Sarnia instead of “being angry all the time because you aren’t getting your way.”

Turning to complaints around red tape at city hall, incumbent Brian White said he sees advocacy groups who want to build more housing “demonized.”

“We have to get out of the way and we need to make it as easy as possible for people to develop,” White said.

The fifth incumbent at Tuesday’s debate was Adam Kilner who talked about the future of city-owned Chris Hadfield Airport.  While others like Fazio advocated for private ownership, Kilner said the last city council created a new committee to drum up diverse uses for the airport.

“I think we have a plan that is under way,” Kilner said. “The bigger opportunity is commercial opportunities we’ve seen employed in other situations, including this Landline bus service that’s connecting us to the wider world.

“I think there’s a lot of hope,” he added.

Attending Tuesday’s debate were Bill Anning, Margaret Bird, Andy Bruziewicz, Patrick Coutu, Mario Fazio, Peter Goodman, Ed Gresham, Adam Kilner, Mark Lamore, Chrissy McRoberts, Charmaine Murray, John Richardson, Mike Stark, Brian White, Paul Wiersma, Terry Burrell, Lo-Anne Chan, Honie Chumko, Josh Coutts-Smith, Dick Felton, Anne Marie Gillis, Clara James, Tammy Mathieson, Ray McMaster, Chris Oram, Chris Pettit, Briana Reid, and Andrew Stokley.

Another 10 candidates were absent.

The all-candidates city and city/county debate was hosted by the Sarnia-Lambton Chamber of Commerce, Imperial Theatre, The Book Keeper, The Jean Collective and Healthy Democracy.