Full Podcast: https://lovethenorth.ca/article/261012-sudbury-ward-natalie-tessier-on Ward 8 candidate Natalie Tessier says Greater Sudbury cannot invest hundreds of millions of dollars into a new downtown Event Centre and ignore the condition of the neighbourhood around it. Her view is that the project is already too far along to turn back — but if the City is going to move forward, then cleaning up downtown has to be part of the plan too. That means dealing with the issues people see every day: homelessness, addiction, mental-health challenges, public safety concerns and the lack of stable housing. Tessier points to supportive and transitional housing projects already underway, including Lorraine Street, where people can access housing along with addiction counselling, mental-health support, medical care and other services designed to help them stabilize and eventually move into permanent housing. Her argument is that cleaning up downtown cannot simply mean moving people somewhere else. It has to mean addressing the reasons people are on the street in the first place. Housing. Mental health. Addiction treatment. Medical support. Provincial involvement. Tessier also says many of these problems are fundamentally healthcare issues — and healthcare is a provincial responsibility. She wants stronger cooperation between the City and the province so municipalities are not left trying to deal with complex health and social problems on their own. **If the downtown is going to succeed, the City cannot focus only on the buildings. It has to deal with the people, services and conditions surrounding them.** For Tessier, the goal is a downtown that people feel comfortable visiting, businesses can succeed in, and vulnerable residents can actually get help in. #Sudbury #NatalieTessier #Ward8 #DowntownSudbury #Homelessness #MentalHealth #Addiction #SupportiveHousing #CityHall #GreaterSudbury #NorthernOntario #LoveTheNorth