The Provincial elections will be held on June 2, 2022. New candidates are rushing to cover our large northern area.

Kim Krause from the Schreiber Media Centre got the chance to meet up with Liberal Candidate Shelby Ch’ng who is running for the Thunder Bay Superior North region. Shelby was born and raised in the Thunder Bay Area and is currently serving her second term on the city council. She became interested in politics at an early age and later earned her degree in Political Science. She identified as a Liberal from the beginning but after graduating didn’t think she would pursue a career in politics. She would eventually get a job at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and went on to become the medical education co-ordinator. Her mother had always encouraged her to be independent, and after a time realized her life was not what she wanted. She later started a business in the area she grew up in and was fairly successful. During those years she realized that as a business owner she would need to be more involved in the local politics of the district as that part of Thunder Bay had become derelict over the years. She realized that there was no female business owners represented in the council at the time and decided to take a shot at running for councillor. She was quite surprised when she won her first seat and ran again successfully for another term.

Shelby was approached by the Liberal party to run for MPP in the Thunder Bay superior North riding after long time member Michael Gravelle had to step down because of health concerns. With her experience in council, Shelby came to the realization that she should consider that invitation to run for the Liberal seat in Thunder Bay. 

Shelby believes that it is time for the Liberal party to rethink and rebuild. As she continues to knock on the doors of supporters it is becoming clear that many of the issues in one area are shared by other municipalities. One of the leading concerns revolves around housing as prices escalate and demand is outstripping supply as communities grow. On a personal level she is concerned about the welfare of seniors in light of the problems that occurred in for profit long term care facilities during the COVID pandemic. She thinks more efforts should be spent on keeping seniors in their homes longer and spending on that would be a priority for her. 

Runaway inflation and general affordability for goods and services is another concern for Shelby. Another concern in the north shore region is the conditions and hazards of the roads. As supply vehicle traffic increases, more accidents and even deaths have occurred in the region. Creating a safer corridor was always a main concern of previous MPP Michael Gravelle and Shelby insists that she we carry on with his fight to improve the roadways in the area.

Finally, EMS services is another major concern among residents in the north, and there is a need for provincial intervention in this regard as currently most decisions reside within the city of Thunder Bay and the have not prioritized outlying areas and are currently considering cuts to the service.

Shelby also mentioned the importance of working with Indigenous communities in order to green light some of the larger projects that are currently in development.