Sudbury Ward 7: David Rajotte on Youth, Roads, Taxes and Making the City Work Better

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Ward 7 is a tough ward. We've got Dave Rajat here. Good.(...) That's great.(...) Okay, we got it done. We got it done. That's the hard part. So Dave, why are you running for... What's your drive to get into politics? Well, it's my first entry into it. Your first? I've never done this before. Okay. Outside of school councils. Yep. Um,(...) to me it was the lack of progress that I'm seeing within Ward 7. Okay.

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Um, taxes are going up.

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Yep. City services are going down. Yeah. And in my opinion... Yep.

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Nothing's happening. I'm very strong into youth.(...) I worked with(...) a Christian youth group. I founded and worked with them for nine years.

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And(...) now(...) I've worked with the Sikadets, the Blues and Strong Corps.(...) Very interested in youth.

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And(...) I've heard people talking and seeing the vandalism, the increase in the vandalism.

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Not just in Ward 7, because while Ward 7 is my primary concern across the city. Yep.(...) And(...) talking to people,(...) seeing... Going to Tim Hortons in Garson. Yep. Seeing them up on the roof of the old Falcon Hotel. Who, the kids? Kids. Okay. Teenagers. Yeah. They're having a good time up there. Oh yeah. Yep.(...) And whatever that means. I don't even want to know what it means.(...) Um,(...) food land. In Garson. In Garson. In Garson Mall. Yeah.(...) Going to Capriol at the grocery store there. Okay. At other buildings. Downtown Capriol? Yes.

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And(...) something I learned a long time ago was, you know the old saying, "Idle hands of the devil's workshop." Uh huh. These kids have nothing to do. Uh huh. They can get into sports. Yep. But mom and dad better be rich. Yeah. Some sports a lot richer than others. You know what? Hockey's probably the worst. Oh, absolutely. I have three grandkids. So you know all about it. Yeah. Yes. The sports where you can just get a pair of sneakers and a ball. A lot more. Not too bad. Not too bad. But yeah, there is a big discrepancy with in the sports world. There absolutely is. And I think(...) there should be more assistance for it. Mm hmm. Heaven forbid. I played scrub hockey. I never played organized. Mm hmm. I was too busy marching with the Blue Saints. Okay.

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But when I did, I couldn't afford goalie equipment. Yeah. That's another... It's expensive. It is. And I'm 68 years old. Yeah.

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I tried sponge pillows. And how did that work? They don't work. The puck goes right through them. Yeah. I still have dents in my shin. There you go. Then we went to catalogs. My brothers told me they put catalogs inside. And how did that work? A little better than the sponge pillows. Yeah. After a while they get shredded, you know. Yep.

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So I think that's something that is really big on my heart is something for the youth. Youth drop-in centers. Mm hmm. Just as an example, the(...) Garson... Well, it was the Garson Community Center. It's now the Al Armstrong, not Al Armstrong. George Armstrong. George Armstrong. I should know that. My son headed that up. The George Armstrong(...) Community Center sits empty upstairs. In Garson. In Garson.

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You go up there and you can hear the crickets. So that should be used, that could be used for after school? After school, couple of nights a week where you have games. Yeah.

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The one thing I did learn working with the youth, the many years that I have,

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is(...) it has to be youth driven. Mm hmm. If you don't do what they're interested in, they're not coming the second night. No, no, no. So what would that... So how would it actually work? You know, without going too far off(...) the campaign trail, how would that work? Give us an example. Well, you have an open house. Yeah. Make sure it's well advertised. Go to the ICANN(...) and I'll put up posters. I'll go to the schools that they'll let me and say we're having an open house,(...) upstairs at the arena in Garson on Tuesday night.

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Come in and it's going to be question and answers. Same as what we're doing here. Mm hmm. What interests you? You like board games? What kind of board games?(...) I have books of youth activities(...) that don't change from generation to generation.

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Silly little games, but they're teenage oriented.

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And I think getting the youth involved, getting them off the streets,

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it's going to eliminate some of the crime, it's going to eliminate vandalism, it's going to give some of these kids some self-worth.

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Unfortunately, there's too many homes that are single parent, whether it's mom or dad.

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That's beyond the city scope.

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But let's do something for these kids. So I have a real heart for the youth.

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Taxpayer services.

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What's going on with the lack of?

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This spring,(...) the city, three times, filled the potholes on Fauqueville Road. And how are they today? Well, within an hour, if you drove down the road, and I was a school bus driver,(...) all that nice asphalt

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is all sitting up against the curb and the pothole is there. How did it get there?

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Well, it wasn't done properly, and just the vehicles going over them.

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They used a small compactor.

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I mean, there's numerous reasons. My first job as a teenager, 16 years old, was(...) in civil engineering. So I kind of know that(...) that little, that's great if you're putting down bathing stones.

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But when you're putting down something that traffic and garcin, there's a lot of mining trucks. And they're heavy. They're very heavy.(...) And they're going down the road, you're going to get them. But three times, finally, they scraped it down,

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they paved it.(...) Now, if you drive down Fauqueville Road today, there's sections where the asphalt has been removed

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for whatever reason.

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So the state it's in right now, is it good or bad? Oh, it's good. Yeah. But why do you pave and come back?

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Over and over? And half, two months later. Right. And dig it up.

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So the job's got to be done right the first time, even if it takes a little bit longer.

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It's going to cost less. That's right. You do it right the first time. Okay. So who's accountable when that(...) stuff happens? I think it has to be City Council and City Council.

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I have been(...) informed that(...) for a lot of what I've suggested, it's hands off. I can't deal with the police(...) as a counselor. Oh, no? No. Okay. That's what I've been informed. So it's inquiries. And they said, well, yes and no, but you're still a taxpayer. So if someone passed in. So call the police. Yeah. And don't identify yourself as a counselor. Identify yourself as a citizen.

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And this is what's going on. And I'm going to give you an excellent example. And only half of it's in my ward.(...) Milly Wright. Yep.

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Okay. What has been done there is created in Northern Ontario,bridge

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Okay

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In the 60 I've got cars passing me. I've been driving since I was 16. So(...) 52 50 almost 53 years. I'm pretty good at judging how fast they're going(...) They're in the 60. They're doing 75

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In the 70 they're doing 85 in the 80. Oh, that's the Autobahn. Hmm(...) Like it's a free-for-all it's nothing to have people driving at 110

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And okay, it's not a residential area, but it's still in town

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and I think

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the The(...) lack of respect or our police force is so tightly

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Is there stretched They're stretched. Yeah. Well, is it stretched or restricted? well(...) One thing I don't like I know a few gentlemen that have a very heavy foot(...) And they said oh, I just got nabbed but the cop was really nice.(...) I Was doing 40 over and he dropped it to 20

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Driver doing 40 over you nail it with 40

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If it's going to affect his insurance his points his license

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Then that's their problem. It's not the police's problem

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They are there to serve the public

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Here's something interesting and I've had a lot of people that look at me and he really

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For every traffic ticket(...) It's by the regional police. Oh boy my aging myself, right? My greater Sudbury police. Yep(...) The city gets 80% of that fine. Okay 20% goes to government, uh-huh(...) 80% goes to the city and where does a victim surcharge fee go?

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That's an extra fee just tacked on I think it's still there I'm gonna have to check that out because everyone's a victim when

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Jerry speeds right or Alice speeds. Yes, everyone's a victim. Yep

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so okay, so the

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The public safety you're

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You're heavy on that you want that to be safe. How does that translate into the downtown core?

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or And everything else that happens downtown. I Mean everybody's talking about the homelessness issue. Yeah, I think it's disgusting(...) Go down

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They're talking about the drug use. Yeah, the 300 plus needles that are picked up every morning(...) Whoo, there's no easy solution to that

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And I was listening to one of the mayoral candidates this morning from your program. Uh-huh(...) and

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He described it as a pie the pie used to be cut into four pieces, okay

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And you know(...) addiction mental health(...) homelessness public service and That by he's got to be divided up

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and there needs to be(...) I(...) An ad hoc committee that gets together because you cannot deal With one issue ignore the other. No, they're all interlinked. Absolutely tightly Why are they homeless? What's caused that? Mm-hmm. I had the pleasure(...) I went to Tim Hortons the other night(...) and

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I Was gonna be in and out(...) and I saw this young lady sitting

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And she was overdressed for the weather(...) at 435 o'clock in the afternoon in the afternoon and overdressed for the weather meaning if it was sunny She had way too many clothes on okay. You could tell by she was cold

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So I sat across from

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And I sent my coffee and(...) she smiled because she saw me watching her(...) and She went outside to have a cigarette

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and I asked a gentleman who was(...) Timbiting with the staff.(...) I said I assume you're a regular here. He's I am here every day

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He said I said do you recognize a young lady?

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He looked out the window he said no, I can't say that I do(...) I Said okay, I say I'm(...) concerned I

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Keep religion out of it. I have a great(...) ability for discernment(...) I Know when somebody's shoveling it. Mm-hmm And I know when I'm getting the low down

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Okay

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Right from the time I walked in that door that girl just stood out

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When she come back in from her cigarette(...) a young man joined her

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So they got settled in(...) one cup of coffee between the two of them a little box of Tim beds(...) I Walked over and I stood for a minute and she looked up and she smiled back at me

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I said is it okay if I sit down?(...) I'd like to ask you(...) a Personal question(...) you can tell me to hit the road and I will

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Or we can have a conversation. She no by all means the gentleman said no go ahead.(...) I Said I'm very blunt(...) I Are(...) you homeless do you have somewhere to spend tonight because it's supposed to go below zero She(...) said yes, we're homeless we have no this is a young couple mid 30s and I think he was 40 years old

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And Talking to them didn't hope

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They said we stay in a tin shed(...) It's uninsulated

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And before she went out for a cigarette. I watched on zip three big coats to get through a bag of cigarettes

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And I'm thinking

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Something's not right. We're living in a society today(...) That that should be totally unacceptable so she was trying to Get as much heat into her as possible because the next

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Yeah, yeah, and so we talked I found out

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What their opinion is to why they were homeless yeah, cuz there's two sides what what kind of feedback did you get?

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Couldn't afford rent Rents are very high. Yep. They said they just couldn't afford the rent They got behind on the rent they were evicted

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and this one blew me away

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There's a group of landlords in Sudbury that have a blacklist So(...) when you go to apply for an apartment they open up their scroll

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Mm-hmm, sorry I'm not renting to you. Mm-hmm Because they didn't have a permanent address

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Again, this is their side of the story(...) Their children were taken away from them. Mm-hmm by Children's eight(...) We can't have children living in a tent

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So now they're fighting to get a place they're fighting because their names are a blacklist

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They do not qualify for the rent portion of social assistance because they're not paying rent anywhere

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So they get

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Food clothing(...) everything but the shelter allowance they fall through the cracks in the system Oh and it's a big crack So is this a municipal crack or is this a provincial crack or is it a bit of both? I think it's a bit of both(...) You know what it might be spearheaded by the province

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but if enough(...) Councillors if enough municipalities made enough noise They(...) would have to listen(...) and you don't make noise by email No, you gotta noise by a forum like this you got a yeah email anything digital like text digital email is

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You can look at it later you can't you you can easily ignore it absolutely so

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That's a lot on the housing and drugs and the social side of things

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um

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And by all health is it is the thing on it is absolutely

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and

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But it's a provincial thing it's funded under the health(...) So it's a provincial

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I looked this morning because of the all candidates forum last night Uh made me look a little deeper(...) at What's happening within our city?

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Um, i'm told there are drug rehab centers in Sudbury

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But they're full Well, the ones that are here they're they're full They got a waiting list and arm long(...) and uh you interviewed, uh(...) mayor candidate bob

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and and

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He spoke out and this is an idea I had years ago

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about a school But I expounded on it(...) And I not last night, but I expounded on it in the past

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Yeah, the provincial government pays to build a school

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Where do they get their money(...) taxpayers exactly?

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Okay, so let's put taxpayers at the head of the list(...) Then that school was maintained For its life by taxpayers by taxpayers

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Then the four boards The four school boards four school boards in Sudbury. Yeah sell the school(...) They sell it to Whoever buys it. Yep. It could be private or public But don't we already own it?(...) That's a good uh

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That's like the chicken or the egg that's right which one came first that school wouldn't exist It wouldn't have been maintained(...) without the public school or(...) The separate school without the school board taxes we paid so where are you going with this?

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Why are they not turning one over

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To a rehab center. Yeah, you're right. There's a candidate that mentioned the same type of thing and

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Here we are, you know crossing that same bridge again, absolutely and we're gonna keep crossing it(...) Until we resolve the problem. So what's it gonna take for? The municipal level of government in our own city to take care of the issue that's happening here with the homeless the open drugs the You know all that sort of thing

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Instead of it being a business. It seems like it's a business. How can we actually?

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Do something about it that's effective change it from a business(...) to a service So(...) if you get in as ward seven counselor

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What would be your approach?

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My approach would be to meet with

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The school board trustees(...) They have no power these days. No, you're right. Unfortunately, they don't they're like a castrated something

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You Have to start somewhere you guys there somewhere so you might as well(...) just Start the(...) lip service, that's(...) right And work your way up

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And get other municipalities because this is not a summary problem. No, this is an everywhere problem. That's right

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now(...) I've had other municipalities Admit yeah, we give the homeless a hundred bucks. It doesn't do anything and a bus take it to Sudbury Oh, yeah, so we're just transferring the problem

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Yeah, yeah, you know what when I get to the pole position at the lights i'll try to get beside whoever's there I don't do it anymore because it's always the same story but I always ask him one of the questions is you know, are you from Sudbury and not all of them are from Sudbury and some of them have had jobs with companies that I actually recognize when they when they say oh, yeah, I used to work at so-and-so or I used to work at so-and-so and You know by by the time by shortly thereafter The green light goes and you know away we go

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But you're you're right. It uh, something definitely has to change if something's if something's going to change Something has to change. It's got to be at the grassroots

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Our prime minister is not about to come from Ottawa to come here and look at the situation Because how many cities are there across Canada dealing with this and they're all dealing with it every city is dealing with it So is it safe to say it's the problem starts at the top and works its way down the problem starts with

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Yeah, it starts with leadership at the top

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My opinion it starts in Ottawa. That's exactly where i'm going with it. It starts there Now, Ottawa reduces the transfer payments to the provinces

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So now the provinces have less money to work with yeah, i'm bipartisan. I don't follow any political party

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The provinces(...) Now reduce the transfer payments to the cities

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But in doing so they also download services(...) so now the cities Municipalities are expected to to do more with less. Yeah well

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that's(...) It's tough to work with it's impossible. It's like trying to build a house with a half box of nails That's right Only put one in each stud only put one in each shingle. Yeah Yeah, put it in the middle Let's hope they get in the middle. Let's uh, Dave. Let's shift gears and go to um, well

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property taxes

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Yeah

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what's um(...) So this past year 2026 property taxes were kept relatively low. Yes Because it was an election year. Yeah

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So they say

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The uh, the coffers meaning the reserves are empty

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And they've got to fill them back up eventually, but who's going to pay for it? What do we do with taxes? Oh, they're going out They're going to go up and they're going to go up Is there any way to keep them from going up?(...) or reduce them from

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Well, I think the problem stems way back with the previous mayor(...) What happened?(...) Um(...) Our councilor lived down the road from us. Yeah every year after budget he would Walk down the road and come in for a coffee and(...) Well, we did it again. He was proud of himself. I said you did what? 0 tax increase. Oh, yeah. I said no No, there's no such thing as zero percent tax increases That just means my taxes(...) Are going to go up

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To the cost of living

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That's what they're going to increase zero means nothing about that(...) Well, yeah, well don't advertise it as zero percent

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But I said you're not doing me or any other person in summary of favor Well, how do you figure that you you got my you you you're a rich man. Oh gosh. No I'm not a rich man. My career was retail again You

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You got to work You got to work and I don't know many people walking out of a retail store with a bulging wallet and rich So I said you're not doing me any favor because With that nothing is going to get done My(...) taxes are going to go up And everything's going to be left status quo(...) Well, then all of a sudden all these user fees Oh, yeah, that's a special word. Oh, yeah. Yeah

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If you look up user fee in the websters dictionary, it says no taxes To go to the dump user fee five bucks(...) Plus and and I was all in favor of the five bucks. It's not the pizza hut five buck pizza anymore. It's

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I've been told I haven't been to the dump. I've been told it's five dollars. Yep(...) Plus Still weighed in your charge for whatever. Yeah, I believe you're 50 kilograms a week and then anything over that is An extra tax. So if you're bringing in a pickup truck of just stuff You got five bucks plus whatever the last time I went through it was like nine dollars or for whatever stuff that I had So it's there is a there is a fee for it to go to the dump Absolutely. So if you have a birthday party and you have extra garbage You may have to go to the dump depending on how many kids you invited. Yep

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That creates a problem one of your programs was with the rats Yeah, they are in garson. I've seen them. You saw them. Oh, yes I've seen a couple of rats in garson in backyards or on the streets or where on the streets really running along the the curbs Okay on the roads because whenever they'll veer into a yard Yep, and part of it is bi-weekly Garbage pickup, right? We have one deep freeze in our house. Yeah, it is exclusive For garbage you put it in the freezer. Yes. Do you actually freeze it? Yes. Okay, so it doesn't stink after I don't want that in my house, but you okay, so that's one way goes into the green bin or What doesn't qualify goes into garbage, right where I live Behind me is boys. Yeah, scarves in mind. Yeah, so there's nothing behind me until you get the val-care. Yep

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We got bears you got all the wildlife raccoons(...) You name it We had a bear actually one thanksgiving

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Come up on our deck. Yeah grabbed the turkey carcass out of the garbage I brought(...) it over to the top stair and step of the deck sat down(...) and finished off the turkey carcass

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They could smell that from a mile away, oh Absolutely. Here's a thanksgiving. So you know now that we have this extra rodent problem, would it be feasible to Pick up garbage every week? Absolutely. Would that help the situation? Absolutely I I believe it would if you don't have food source

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They're not coming. So if this is like a little emergency that's happening in the emergency piggy bank is empty who picks up the tab

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Well from what i've heard attending the meetings I have had(...) we've got

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Nestings that were just found big big fluffy pills Like a squirrel that buries nuts here and there and wherever he finds them he gets lucky. That's right(...) That squirrel buried them and that squirrel found them. Okay. Yeah, but I have never believed first off that any government should be in the business of being in business Okay(...) What does that what does that mean?

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Running the arenas. Oh, that's not a business. That's a loss(...) every year, but it's but they'll deem it as Leisure service, I believe is it leisure services. Yeah, but arenas Yeah from what I know they don't make money

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But it's part of leisure services

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How should that be reevaluated well

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I actually applied for a job in Massey and I applied for a job in Agron the lake. Okay, years ago. Those are two different very different places. Absolutely.(...) Yeah but as Arena manager, okay

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And what would you do?

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And I said no, there's no reason for an arena to sit empty Yes, it's it can be occupied Yeah(...) Okay

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For the most part running an arena is fixed costs Well, you've got if you've got ice in there, you've got to cover the ice. That's right Your Zamboni driver. Yeah has to be there. Yeah, but when there's not ice there's lacrosse There's field hockey. Well, not field hockey. You're not in the field road hockey. Yeah There's roller skating. Yeah, there's so much more and the city's already paying liability insurance on these properties

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So why not utilize them?

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Yeah, good point it could be used for other activities. That's right. It might be a hockey rink

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But it can be used for so much more(...) That's going to bring in income Now all of a sudden if you've got all your arenas doing this

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Then indoor football Yeah

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something something even Something with them. You may be even more indoor soccer

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Just something occupy it. That's right because you're going to charge collect more user fees. Yeah rental

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And whenever you rent a city property you have to provide your own insurance. Yeah, at least that's been my experience. Okay Okay So I mean ultimately if I go and get two million dollars insurance And somebody does something stupid breaks their neck

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The city's gonna end up paying because their pockets are a lot deeper than mine. Yeah, but you've done your part to get insurance(...) Okay Fielding park I rented it for my wife's(...) Retirement party. Yeah, I had to get my own insurance coverage

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Before they would ever agree to it Okay,(...) so

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They're missing the boat

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If you're going to be in business Then you need to get in the business frame of mind(...) that We need to generate enough revenue

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To make this worth it

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Do you think that someone's thinking they have endless pools of money deep pockets? Well Yeah, they do It's the 180 000 people that live in suffering and the taxpayers because you know what we'll just raise the taxes So what should happen with the arena downtown? Is it a good idea bad idea? It's already budgeted 200 million. They're over already like uh, 275

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Half a billion dollars. I believe it's gonna come in at 500 million dollars So is it gonna be your grandchildren or my grandchildren that pay for it by the time it's all said and done It's gonna be my great-grandchildren your great-grandchildren. I don't have any yet. Okay, okay

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Do I agree we need a new arena?

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Yes, okay, but I also agree that we could have(...) Spoken to the other party that was interested. Yeah and went into a partnership agreement right

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Where we take on some risk as taxpayers The investors take on some risks

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Nobody has answered my question yet you go to(...) North bay They just built your board arena. Oh, yeah But it's taxpayers the city owns it(...) Is that the new twin pad arena that was just built? But long year board is paying Somebody something to have their name up there have their name on it

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Same as in the suit. So i've asked whose name is going to be on the Sudbury arena

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Because I don't see where it has to be called the Sudbury community arena

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We already know it's the Sudbury community arena

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If we can get some money

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To help offset

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Then by all means we should be looking at partners now

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I don't understand why Especially with the things that are going on between the united states and canada now

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I don't understand why an american company

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Was selected

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When I was told was no canadian company stepped up with an offer

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well

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It's nepotism(...) of a different sort it's not blood but it's business

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so

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that comes down to accountability(...) and Uh(...) the accountability down at city hall. How does that factor into you know,(...) you become the ward seven counselor

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What can you do as one vote amongst 13(...) to

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Keep or you know to try to keep the city on the right side and not

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Fall into the

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Rut it's in now. Yeah, because that hasn't well it might be working for the few now. It's been going on for a long time

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So what happens? How do we clean that up? Can it be cleaned up? I believe it can okay, but I believe that means Not all I've met with a couple of counselors who Uh(...) seem to have it on the ball That really do have the cities and their wards best interest. Yeah, now they could be career politicians(...) Wow, that's another thing. Great job. That's another thing. You know what

Well, I said last night didn't go over very well(...) Uh, but okay, what was it ended its form? Yeah, and what and what was it that didn't go over very well? I said when I see a politician

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And they start promising me something

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I turn off the tv Don't promise me anything. I'm not gonna promise this was for municipal employees I am not gonna promise ward seven

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Or the city of sugbury anything

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That I know I can't deliver(...) And I can't deliver a lot of it because you've already pointed out i'm one Of 13 votes. Yeah, you got to have a lot of sway in order to get everyone onto your pay(...) You got to convince everyone. It was their idea Yeah, yeah Boy, I'm glad you brought that up, you know

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Um

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But I said what I do promise

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Is if somebody comes to me with a concern

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I don't use the word promise. I tell them I guarantee you i'm going to look into it

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And I guarantee you i'm going to get back to you

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Now it might be in your favor

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It might not

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But you'll know that I did something now i'm not even a counselor yet(...) I had(...) a constituent call me(...) because

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This person is paying nine thousand dollars a year property tax

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Okay, so what kind of uh, what area because in gabriel are they on the lake yes Okay, but he said my taxes have doubled in five years So he's gone really from about five grand to about nine grand. Yep

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Okay, and I spoke How many residents on this road? Yeah, he said 30. Okay, and he says we're all in the same boat(...) So they get snow plowing They get they don't yeah Okay, so they get garbage

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Garbage collection they get the garbage bin is down the road the end of the road But I guess because of bear issues I'm assuming yeah, the garbage bins are moved into capriole So now they have to drive into capriole to drop off their burden So they're paying a lot of tax for the privilege of living beside A waterway, but they have no sewage They have no water. They have no snow plowing and they have no garbage They might as well go unorganized Is their road even paved? No

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And I called(...) Immediately, I I got off the phone I get some googling I said, okay, I called city hall First thing that's got to change

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Is the changing of the guard?(...) On the phone line you don't like the you don't like it when you call 311 you call 311 Good luck getting in touch with anybody you want to talk to

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It seems and i've actually told a couple of them They know they're doing their job. Yeah. Yeah, I know they're only doing what they're told. Yep

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Okay, it's the same as the rcmp standing outside

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The parliament building don't let trouble in yeah

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And I said, you know

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I told one gentleman. I said, I don't know what you're getting paid(...) But it's not enough because you know Everything there is to know Why don't they?

(...)

Run for council or at least be higher up

(...)

I don't get it(...) so(...) Well, i'll put in a callback request I did get a callback request on this one issue(...) within half an hour That's when I found out

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I said, well they don't get plowed they don't get garbage(...) They said well, there are other municipal services like what?

(...)

Because I don't know what else they would get what do they get oh wait they get to breathe the subri-air

(...)

Yeah, thank god it's further more than the smoke stack

(...)

But I said It(...) doesn't you're charging people in exorbitant tags only on a lake that you don't own yeah

(...)

That that lake I can go pitch a tent

(...)

Yeah in the boys Actually, if they don't own the waterfront you can pitch a tent right there right there(...) Yeah, there's a water easement. Yeah that Lake easement. Yeah, and i've gotten into discussions with

(...)

So they're so basically it sounds it sounds to me like they're really getting screwed. They're really getting hosed. Yes(...) I think they are Well, there's there's no there's absolutely no services from what you're from what you're saying(...) the(...) People that live on the road That have half tons and three quarter tons. Yep plow a single lane single track so that people can get home. Yeah

(...)

I was when I called the city(...) I was told yes, but they have fire and ambulance and I said oh and if the road's not plowed

(...)

How does the fire and ambulance get there? Mm-hmm It was never even suggested(...) In an emergency we'll send a helicopter

(...)

If it's in the winter the ice is frozen

(...)

You can land

(...)

You speak first well I just did they

(...)

They said well they would send a plow first that does that's I said with five feet of snow You're going to send the plow. Yeah, there's no comment By(...) that time you got seven minutes the party acrobat. Yeah, there(...) there's no thought behind it We're going to send a plow It doesn't make sense

(...)

Dave wrapping up anything else that you want to cover and let the constituents know out in uh in ward seven

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And and I will extend that to the city Because I don't believe I'm not going to vote just on ward seven issues. Yeah, I'm gonna vote on city. Yeah citywide citywide

(...)

I(...) My little campaign ditty is dave rajat your

(...)

capital letters(...) Ward seven counselor in 2026

(...)

I'm not doing this for me. I'm 68 and a half years old(...) Okay, I can sell my house back up and

(...)

Move to wherever I want do whatever I want

(...)

And i've had people ask me dave. Why are you doing this at your age?

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I said well my kids are all adults 50 47 46 But(...) I said I have grandkids I have nine grandkids and I hope some daters another generation

(...)

I said when i'm laying on my death bed

(...)

I would like to believe that part of my legacy

(...)

Is making Sudbury a better place for them to live

(...)

than it is right now

(...)

And then I extend that to her grandkids(...) and his grandkids and her grandkids

(...)

Sudbury is one of the most beautiful cities(...) that you could be in

(...)

That I have seen and we've traveled north southern ontario pretty extensively And uh, I mean we've been to ireland We won't go there

(...)

But

(...)

We have so much to offer

(...)

The other thing is I believe that we should have a committee of counselors

(...)

And powers that be in the big white tower

(...)

Approaching companies that are not mining related

(...)

It's great that you know, um, this mining company

(...)

Ballet and orglen corgo and stripe they are providing some service to other companies

(...)

Let's get out of mining

(...)

There's so much out there that's available

(...)

But let's approach and we have city land

(...)

That's collecting nothing hasn't collected anything in 100 and well 1982 was the 83(...) was the centennial So 43 years 143 years hasn't collected anything Give them the land for 10 years tax free and bring in business to develop(...) Now we here(...) Um(...) acquiring more new how can we attract more business into the north here

(...)

You gotta sell(...) it. You gotta sell it. You gotta sell it north. You gotta go you have to listen Unfortunately to southern ontario news in my opinion

(...)

Our premier worries about for one belt and a golden horseshoe

(...)

Anything much north of that(...) Other than the road to his camp

(...)

the muskokas(...) doesn't exist

(...)

68 kilometers of highway 69

(...)

Thank you rick or luchi

(...)

For getting the job done

(...)

other than that 68 kilometers And now it's going to start by the end of 2027 with no end date

(...)

Really

(...)

If somebody came to the city and said I proposed this

(...)

I would like to do this. I want to start tomorrow. Well, when will you be finished?

(...)

Yeah having a better having that last section of highway for transportation would um

(...)

It would speed things it could speed up the

(...)

The new development for new business if the city is open for business that's right The city's got to be open for business and i've heard we're open for business(...) But i've also heard by a couple of employees in the city

(...)

That ikea has tried twice to open here to open here

(...)

And ran into so much red tape(...) They walked away

(...)

Now it's here safe. Yeah, if we were a court it would be here safe and I admit it

(...)

But these are people that worked in the building department worked in(...) where

(...)

Properties would be(...) changed zoning. Yep

(...)

Too much red tape. Yep(...) Yep

(...)

If you're open for business you make it as easy as you can

(...)

And then have a watchdog keep an eye on them Well dave I want to thank you for joining us today. I want to thank you for having me. Yeah. No, thank you Really? It's it's a great forum(...) You've seen you've seen some of it.

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