This week on Thunder Bay Votes: The issues that matter, we ask, is Thunder Bay open for business?
Outgoing Mayor Keith Hobbs feels it is and doesn’t want City Hall to give up on the dream of welcoming a Costco to our city.
The project was a main election promise which the mayor regrets he was not able to keep, but it was not without trying.
Hobbs says the company came close on two occasions but more needs to be done and believes city administration should have kept “pushing and pushing and pushing.”
He say it would be a million dollars a year in taxes to the city along with hundreds of “good paying jobs.”
The mayor notes there are provincial rules in place that prevent the city from providing incentives to companies looking to set up shop and feels that needs to change.
He says the next mayor and council should lobby the province to change those rules.
