Every day this week, we are featuring platform highlights from one of the five mayoral candidates in the upcoming election. Our stations have reached out to each mayoral candidate to outline their platform for listeners.  This is Mayoral Candidate Raymond Burey’s submitted platform.

This election is about change, it’s about changing how our municipal government executes governance. It’s about you the taxpayers, how the next council will reverse your tax burden. We need a new council that will adhere to the platform that I will introduce. If elected these are the policy that will make the City of Timmins relevant to all our citizen. 

Freeze all impact increases for the next four years. Reduce all property assessments to the provincial average of 1%.

This tax adjustment will be carried out over four years. City management will be asked to meet these goals. 

I propose that the city of Timmins explore two new streams of revenue that we need in order to repair our crumbling infrastructure.

A five percent tax on all minerals being produced in our area.

A tax similar to our provincial taxes. 

Finally a tax rebate program for the most vulnerable in our community.  

My long-term plan consists of promoting a” smart mortgage”. This will open up housing for first-time buyers and people on low income in our city. We will need the help of all level of government and the banking industry. As Mayor, I will doggedly promote this new type of financing. As Mayor, I will be looking for developers to build a Smart City our downtown core.

We need to provide the services needed to make this project viable. A substantial investment must be made in order to grow this city. Municipal government budgets should only increase by inflation and by growth created in our city. A Smart City will increase City revenues. 

We need a bypass road to grow this City, with this road in place we can expand our commercial property base. We should encourage all large property holders in our city to develop these lands and create wealth. Vote for a better future, vote Ray Burey.