Keith Hobbs makes no apologies for telling it like it is.
Blunt talk is what you’d expect from a 34-year police veteran making his first foray into politics.
After retiring from the Thunder Bay Police Service in March of last year, Hobbs didn’t stay idle for very long, filing his nomination papers for mayor within a week.
The 58-year-old former staff sergeant didn’t like the crime he saw happening on the streets of his hometown, or the lack of transparency at city hall.
On the economic development front, Hobbs felt the city was stuck in neutral with the population in decline following a wave of forestry mill closures. “We just seemed to be spinning our wheels.”
As a parent, he didn’t like seeing young people — including one of his sons — leave home to find work.
Running on a safe community platform, his folksy and straight-talking manner resonated with voters. He beat incumbent Lynn Peterson by almost 6,000 votes in last fall’s municipal election
Being a political outsider with intimate knowledge of the city’s streets brings a “totally different perspective” to the mayor’s chair, said Hobbs. It’s given him a free hand to bring others to task.
His shoot-from-the-hip style was on display earlier this year when he called out Thunder Bay- Superior North MPP Michael Gravelle — Ontario’s Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry — for not fighting hard enough to promote Thunder Bay as the leading site for a potential Ring of Fire ferrochrome processing site.
“I’m a no-nonsense, in-your-face type of guy and I’ll tell it like it is. When I believe in something, I’ll fight hard for it.”
He sides with opponents of a controversial wind farm proposal near the Loch Lomond ski area. This spring, the City of Thunder Bay and council agreed on a settlement with Horizon Wind to avoid a $126-million lawsuit.
“I’m totally opposed to that project. They would never put those wind farms on the Niagara Escarpment, why in hell would you put them on the Nor’Wester Escarpment in Thunder Bay?”
Though lacking in political experience, he’s a skilled lobbyist and leader having served as president of the Thunder Bay Police Association at the federal and provincial levels. He’s also mediated grievances and arbitration cases.
But the mayor thinks Thunder Bay has a lot working in its favour, particularly with an emerging mineral exploration sector with gold properties to the west, platinum and palladium to the north, and the base metals of the Ring of Fire, 500 kilometres to the Far North.
“It’s all around us, so we’re going to benefit from it as well.”
Although Sudbury was chosen by Cliffs Natural Resources to be the frontrunner to host the ferrochrome processing, Hobbs said the city will continue to press its case with the Cleveland-based international miner.
“I’m still continuing to fight for that. We need the jobs just as much as Sudbury and Timmins. It’s kinda like bidding on the Olympics.”
One issue that’s close to his heart is forging closer ties with Thunder Bay’s significant Aboriginal population.
An upcoming joint council meeting with the Fort William First Nation will involve a discussion of establishing urban reserves in the city as a means to kick-start the local economy. “We have to get creative to attract business here,” said Hobbs.
Though the Conference Board of Canada singled out Thunder Bay as one of the places likely to experience “moderate growth” in 2011, Hobbs believes the city is ready to take off.
“I think we’re right on the edge of a big boom similar to Saskatchewan and Alberta.”
He sees the strides made in the life sciences sector, the government’s allocation of unused Crown wood to industry and anticipates increases in the movement of grain to Africa through the Port of Thunder Bay.
“I think we have a lot going for us and we have to fight hard and work for everything we get.
“I always equate Thunder Bay with (boxer) George Chuvalo. We’ve been on the ropes a lot, but you can’t knock us down. We’re resilient people and we’ll bounce back.”
