The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Creighton municipal elections will be held next week on Wednesday, October 22. There are 10 candidates who are vying for six Alderman positions on the Creighton Town Council. Bruce Fidler will take over as the new mayor of Creighton through acclamation, as he was the only candidate for the position. Former mayor, Wilf Boychuk, is a candidate for Alderman in next week's election. Reminder reporter Gail Baker contacted each of the 10 candidates and has compiled a brief summary of their thoughts heading into the election. Two of the questions the candidates were asked were: 1) What are your most important issues? 2) In your opinion, what is the future of the Sportex? Here are the answers submitted by each candidate concerning these questions: Colleen Stallard My most important issues are for the community to continue to be a safe and good quality community in which to raise your family here. I really don't have any one issue that is more important that the other. See 'Sportex' P.# Con't from P.# The Sportex will continue to be a thorn and a blessing to the residents of Creighton. I believe that we need to find a use for it down the road if need be. Recreation is very important to the health and well being of the citizens, so if the Sportex were to be closed down there would definitely have to be something bigger and better to replace it with. Don Aasen I think one of the most import issues in this community is to encourage new businesses and citizens to move into Creighton. I feel that Creighton and the North East of the Province have been neglected by the provincial government. It is important that Council lobby the provincial government to increase services in our community and as a Town Council, it is important that we work with CREDO to encourage new businesses to come to this community. We need additional business to strengthen Creighton, provide jobs and increase our tax base. I would also like to see new residents move and build in our community. They will find Creighton to be a very friendly and progressive town. The future of the Sportex is a hot topic right now. There is talk of a Multiplex being constructed in the near future. The Sportex belongs to the residents of Creighton and, as a public facility, I would like to see it stay. For several years it has been underutilized and has cost the taxpayers a lot to operate. Citizens and Council should look at additional uses for the facility, ie: indoor tennis court, soccer pitch and a bowling alley. Ken Hoglander It would be very important to me to bring professional people such as doctors, dentists, eye care, physiotherapy, lawyers and chiropractors. We need some sort of industry into our industrial parks and people to build houses. This would broaden our tax base so that we could do other things without raising taxes. The Sportex has lost thousands of dollars a year for years. I believe with the limited revenue and usage if it is not to be shut down, it should be. There are other uses it can be used for such as the curling side changed into suites for seniors or a personal care home. The front lounge and spectator areas could be converted into offices or a walk-in clinic. LaVerne Hinzman The population of Creighton is decreasing. People over the age of 50 are increasing while the younger people aged 20 to 50 are decreasing. We need to focus our energies on ensuring that the comforts and needs of our seniors are met, but we also need to look at providing educational and job opportunities within our community so that our young people can be productive and content raising their families in Creighton. The Sportex is our most pressing issue to be resolved. Our community's subsidization of this complex needs to be decreased, and a plan to get sustained revenue from this building must be implemented in the immediate future. Kevin Elliott I want to make sure that if the proposed new complex becomes reality that Creighton residence will have an input into it and not be left out. I would like to see more incentives brought into place to get people to live in Creighton. I would like to see the finishing of streets with sidewalks and curbs on more side streets especially because this is a safety issue with the children of Creighton. I believe the future of the Sportex is up to all the residents of Creighton not just Council. If they feel it is feasible to keep it going then that is what I would work towards and if they don't, then we will have to look at other avenues. Shane Connell There are a few challenges facing Creighton. As Flin Flon booms in the Flintoba Shopping Centre area, it has become increasingly difficult to keep our residents shopping and supporting businesses in our town. Added to that are some much needed infrastructure improvements especially in terms of the sewer system in the Town Office area and there are some sizable challenges in our future. Most of these will be very costly, but absolutely necessary in order to avoid situations like September 2001 when the sewer system and drainage designs could not deal with a heavy rainfall. This gave residents problems with flooded basements and cost a fair amount of money as well. The job of Council is to try and find ways to make these improvements within the tax base and that can be difficult. As a resident of Creighton for a few years now, I am very aware that the Sportex costs the tax payers a large percentage to keep it open. Do I see a future here? Yes, I think it is critical that this facility remain open and used because this is the only major recreation complex in Creighton for our local kids to use. We have become accustomed to crossing over to Flin Flon for all of our needs from shopping to recreation. We need to draw some of those people back over to our side. You can ask anyone that plays hockey or figure skates about the Sportex and they will all tell you that the ice quality is better. We just need to find a way to increase the use to offset some costs and one of the solutions might be looking at a partially subsidized privatization to see if that can spark new life to the Sportex. See 'Issues' P.# Con't from P.# Roland Beasse There are many issues to continue to deal with over the next three years and it is hard to rank any one as being more important than the others. They are all important. Whether it is upgrading our aging water and sewer system, a new personal care home, affordable housing, the future of the Sportex, the upcoming application by HBM&S of the tailing management area or the many other issues we deal with, they are all important to our community. As far as the Sportex goes, it is costing us a small fortune to run an aging facility. If we could build a new facility without it costing more in operation costs, I'm in favour of the project. See 'Needs' P.# Con't from P.# Helen Hunter There are many needs in our community and I cannot honestly say which one is the most important. I feel each campaign issue is important and needs to be evaluated by the community to see which needs need to be met first. I really appreciate that my family and I are able to skate at the Sportex during the winter months. I would like to see it used more during the summer months for other activities and events. I understand that the facility is in need of upgrading and maintenance. If this is a possibility, I would like The Town of Creighton to apply to the government for upgrading and building funds so we can keep the Sportex operating in our community. Wilf Boychuk In my opinion there are no issues, only challenges. The greatest challenge for a new Council will be in working together to provide quality services at a reasonable cost, e.g. continuing with the five year capital plan to improve water/sewer infrastructure combined with street improvement, in view of potential significant tax revenue being lost in some classifications. Also of significance will be the impact of total reassessment of our community and managing any major changes in assessment which may cause tax shifts. I am willing and able to work with Council on these challenges. The Sportex has been a vital part of our community for many years by providing accommodation for leisure services for all ages. Our current development plan centralizes this service along with our educational facilities and parks options with respect to this service are always open for discussion. However, the people and recreation board will have a major impact on any decision. Also utilization is a major factor. I would be willing and open to discuss alternate and broader utilization and supporting options that would make financial sense while providing high quality service to our community. Valery Dixon The most important issues in this election are the tailings pond, rental housing, upgrading the sewer and water system, personal care home for the seniors, the Sportex and its future and encouraging businesses to locate here and upgrading the streets and sidewalks. The future of the Sportex will be determined if and when the new Multiplex is built. Hopefully the Sportex will be used for recreational purposes. If not, then use it to benefit the community as a whole and not leave it to rot and decay.
