With just over a month left for candidates to declare themselves in the race for Fort Frances Town Council, only two names have emerged so far in the contest for a mayor to replace Andrew Hallikas, who is not seeking another term.
Lifelong Fort Frances residents Brent Calder and John McTaggart both feel strongly that they can make a positive impact on the community as they gear up for a campaign that will conclude with the municipal election on Oct. 26. All nominees for mayor and council will be confirmed by Aug. 24.
Calder said he decided to throw his hat in the ring so he can work towards bringing positive changes to the community he calls home.
“I’m at the part of my life where I’m actually retired, and I see some things out there that I don’t agree with, things I know I can help with,” Calder said. “As far as putting my name in, I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Like I said, I’m at the part of my life where travelling for winters and stuff like that is over, and I’d like to stay and see if we can make Fort Frances a great place to live again.”
Calder said his previous experience managing high-value budgets and working in Indigenous politics makes him a prepared candidate for the responsibilities of mayor.
“I used to be a representative for the Métis Nation of Ontario,” he said. “I used to represent Region 1, which is a similar size to Treaty #3. I’ve met with government and had experience with economic development. I’m not really scared to sit down with people from different political backgrounds, whether federal, provincial or municipal.”
McTaggart, the only other mayoral candidate to submit nomination papers by press time, is an incumbent member of council and believes his next step with involvement in town affairs is to move to the seat of mayor.
“I’ve had some long discussions with my family and some serious thoughts about my future and the town’s future,” McTaggart said. “I feel the time is right for me to take this extra leadership role and try to advance the interests of the community and make it grow.”
As a council member for the past two terms, McTaggart has had experience in the dealings of municipal politics and town operations. He said it’s a constant learning curve being in the position, with a steady stream of information coming at him, but it has helped prepare him to make this next step, even if it means things won’t slow down anytime soon.
“I remember one time a councillor saying it’s like drinking water from a fire hose. The information and procedures that come at you are sometimes daunting, but always interesting.”
McTaggart has plans for where he’d like to steer the community if elected, with economic development at the forefront.
“Economic development has to be the key priority for the community,” he said. “Fort Frances is really at a pivotal point here. The mine is out there, and it’s an important economic generator, but we have to position the community for a possible time when it may not be there, and we need to start on that today.”
“It’s a really critical time. I know there’re a number of irons in the fire at this point, and we need to broaden our base for the community and economic development.”
The current mayor and council in Fort Frances consists of Hallikas and councillors Mike Behan, Wendy Brunetta, Steven Maki, Kaleb Firth, Bill Morrison Jr. and McTaggart.
Of this group, Firth, and Morrison are the only individuals to have entered their nominations as returning councillors, although Maki has told The Times he intends to have his nomination documents submitted shortly. Hallikas and Brunetta have confirmed that they will not be running again.
The Times reached out to Behan for confirmation of his intentions, but he could not be contacted by press time.
