3rd Annual Think Tank

The Best Western Hotel on Lakeshore was the setting for Mayor Vic Fedeli’s 3rd Annual Boxing Day Think Tank.

The event gives former North Bay residents an opportunity to share their views on how the city should go about attracting new business and industry to the city.

With 15 people at the table representing business, student and entertainment folk home for the holidays this was the largest session to date.

The event ran overtime as participants were eager to discuss everything ranging from preserving our heritage, to how clean the air is to being a great shoot location for movies.

The participants around the table didn’t hold any punches either, they talked about dispelling the negative message Southern Ontario has of the city, even taking a jab at the media’s role in the negativity, but for Fedeli he seemed energized after the session, anxious to sink his teeth into what had been offered up at the table.

“I’m here to hear what they have to say, and what they are hearing is North Bay is to far, to cold, to dull, and to small” states Fedeli.

“But when these people come home they are reminded there’s a beautiful balance here.”

Fedeli admits that dispelling that image is a challenge when you don’t have much in the way of funds to advertise but says it is one of his priorities and a challenge he is taking on. With the cost of land in Vaughn at $1 million an acre versus North Bay’s $1 and restrictions on expansion in that corridor, Fedeli sees it as an opportunity for the city.

“The GTA is filling up, it has pollution and grid lock and now with the Green Belt Act this is our window of opportunity,” he states.

“We have a quality of life that is envious.”