Ward 5 candidates discuss opioids, library (5 photos)

Leading up to October’s municipal election, candidates for Sault Ste. Marie’s Ward 5 fielded questions from citizens in a meet and greet held at the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library’s North Branch on Thursday evening.

Candidates Gideon Down, Corey Gardi, Martin Poirier and Matthew Scott - Gardi and Scott running for reelection - were asked what more could be done by city council to combat the opioid crisis.

Gardi said that Sault Ste. Marie should consider joining a $10-billion class-action lawsuit against manufacturers and distributors of pharmaceutical opioids in an attempt to recover costs incurred by the city in fighting the opioid crisis.

Gardi said he supports the new Residential Withdrawal Management site in Sault Ste. Marie - opening in spring 2023 - but criticized its 20-bed capacity, stating more funding and more beds are needed.

“The number of beds they’re going to put in it is the same amount of beds we had 30 years ago in this community,” referring to the old Sault Area Hospital detox centre on Queen Street East.

“No municipality, however large, has the resources to combat this on its own. We have a federal member of parliament in Terry Sheehan…we have (Sault MPP) Ross Romano and as far as I’m concerned more needs to be done by those people to help us,” Gardi said.

“We need to work with our partners on the ground, the province and the federal government,” Scott said. 

“Everybody needs to have the same approach for this to work. There’s more danger now with the drugs that are out there. We must continue to lobby and make noise, and this Council has made more noise than any other Council has to date about any drug problem. The best we can do is work with the groups and pull everyone together.”

“It’s not even the tip of the iceberg of what actually has to be done,” Down said of the soon to open Residential Withdrawal Management site.

Down said the Teen Challenge Canada Northern Ontario Men's Centre on Great Northern Road has a mentorship program for individuals after going through withdrawal and has a high success rate, stating Teen Challenge should have been sought for advice as the Residential Withdrawal Management site was being planned. 

Poirier said poverty and homelessness must be addressed in combating the opioid crisis.

In an issue specific to Ward 5, each candidate was asked about reopening the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library’s Korah Branch. 

The Korah Branch was a tenant of the Northern Community Centre on Goulais Avenue but it was closed for budgetary reasons in 2019. 

“I was not supportive of keeping it open…I think that if we have a branch in the west end it shouldn't be some drop off book bin, a vending machine of books,” Gardi said.

However, Gardi said that if reelected he would explore with council what level of service a library could provide in the west end.

“If you think about where growth is going to happen in the community, it’s going to happen in the west end. I think there has to be some more planning in and around what’s going on in the west end. Was it a mistake to close it? At the time admittedly I didn't think it was, but my thoughts have evolved a bit on that and I’m very open to exploring how we can develop some sort of service up there but I don’t want it to be a nickel and dime service so it would have to be something meaningful for me to be supportive of it.”

“I wanted to keep the Korah Branch library open,” Scott said.

“People went there to play cards and other activities, meet up with some friends, people struggling with school would go there after school and work with tutors. I would support, and even bring forward, any potential way we could reopen it, as it was, at the very minimum, at the same service level we had prior to its closure. Anything above would be icing on the cake. I think a library is an important part of any part of town.”

“I would love to see another library in the west end,” Down said.

“That library is pretty important for the development of kids in the area. You can use it for various activities and for exercise in that facility. I’d love to see it come back.”

“My feeling would be against reopening the branch because we need to find some savings,” Poirier said, adding that many people now read online as opposed to using libraries.

Poirier, an agronomist, said that if elected his priorities would include addressing the Sault’s declining population, working with Indigenous partners and taxes.

Down, an electrician, said economic diversification and property taxes are among his priorities. 

Scott, a Sault Area Hospital data analyst, said he will be calling for more to be done for the city’s roads, easier access for citizens to data at the Civic Centre, an outdoor rink for Ward 5 and expansion of the Hub Trail.

Gardi, St. Basil Catholic Elementary School principal, said his priorities are improvements for roads such as Second Line West and Farwell Terrace, a bigger splash pad for the west end, addressing the declining population and the need for newcomers, a knowledge based economy and having the federal government establish the Canada Water Agency in Sault Ste. Marie.

Meet and greet events for candidates in the city’s four other wards were held earlier this week.

The city’s five mayoral candidates will be available for questions at the James L. McIntyre Centennial Library at a future date yet to be determined.

The municipal election is Monday, October 24.