New Vision for Whitby

NRU
Sept. 10, 2014
By Leah Wong

With Mayor Pat Perkins’ announcement that she is interested in a federal nomination, the mayoral race in the Town of Whitby is now open.

The two-term mayor has withdrawn from the municipal race and is running to be the federal Conservative candidate for Whitby-Oshawa. A by-election to fill the seat, left vacant by Jim Flaherty, must be called by October 25.

As of publication three candidates have registered to run for mayor in Whitby, though candidates have until September 12 to register to stand for election. Deputy mayor Don Mitchell, business owner Lumy Omat and business woman Ros Whitby are currently in the running.

Improving the image of the town and its ability to be competitive against other municipalities is a priority for all three candidates. One area that concerns voters is the town’s downtown and how it can be revitalized.

Omat, who owns two stores in the town’s downtown, said she wants to help other small businesses by adding free parking downtown. She said communities such as Port Perry and Orangeville have free two hour parking, which encourages people to come downtown and creates foot traffic for businesses.

Downtown revitalization is also a priority for Mitchell.

“You can’t have a great town without a great downtown,” said Mitchell. “You need people living downtown and you need services. You should be able to do everything you need to be able to do by living [downtown] and you should be able to do it without a vehicle.”

The three candidates also see a need to improve transit. Mitchell and Whitby both said it will be important to work with other municipalities in Durham Region to create a connected transit system.

“If you look at transit, solo [planning] does not work. It does not create a strong transit system,” said Whitby. “The future administration will have to [collaborate].”

To improve traffic flow in the town, Mitchell said there will need to be big and small picture improvements. The big picture solution will involve working with Metrolinx and other municipalities to create a connected inter-regional system to move around without a car, which will take time but should be a priority.

“The costs of congestion already far, far outweigh the cost of fixing congestion by providing that alternative transportation,” said Mitchell. “In my view we haven’t been insistent enough at the municipal level that this is a top priority.”

In the interim, Mitchell said the town will have to look at ways to create safer streets by looking at putting in infrastructure that slows local traffic.

Providing opportunities for youth to encourage them to stay in the town once they’ve finished school is also a challenge. Whitby said youth should be encouraged to start small businesses in the town to create employment opportunities closer to home, while Omat said the town should do more to market its attractions so there are more local activities.