Sarnia's mayor is heading into the new year with a sense of optimism about what's to come locally.
Mike Bradley said there's no doubt 2023 was a tough year financially for many people but he's hoping the script will flip in 2024.
"It was a difficult year and a challenging year, but Sarnians and Canadians are used to challenges," said Bradley. "I think the community dealt very well with a lot of those challenges. We're in a sector of the Canadian economy that's in a transition. We're working together with industry, business, labour and First Nations to move forward on the changes coming and a new world in 2050 as it relates to fossil fuels. I'm confident that we can get there without significant job losses but reinvestment in what we have today."
Bradley said skyrocketing interest rates this past year have had a negative impact on the development community.
"I am confident though that a lot of those projects will move forward as interest rates decline as we head into 2024," he said. "We've got a lot of interest. There's a major proposal that will be coming forward about a shopping area in the city in the new year through the planning process. We've got lots of out-of-town interest in development here because they're looking at our growth projections, and they're looking at what's happening here as we adjust our economy."
Bradley said the city is looking at new sectors like biofuels.
"The research park and Lambton College are working on some major directions for the community and for Canada in the long term," said Bradley. "I'm very optimistic that down the road you'll see some results of those investments of time, people and money to make a better Sarnia."
Bradley called himself a "merchant of hope" moving forward.
"You give as much hope as you can to the community," he said. "Being realistic, so many factors are out of our control. You know, what's happening in the Middle East, interest rates and other factors like inflation. But, we've been doing the basics and that's what I've been trying to get across to council. We need to do the basics as it relates to debt, keeping debt down and reinvestments."
Bradley said the 2024 budget was a massive reinvestment, particularly on the recreational side of things.
"We've got lots of other plans underway as it relates to the waterfront and developing a new economy at the research park and at Lambton College," said Bradley. "They're all positive things, sometimes they take a lot of time and sometimes you can move quicker. I'm optimistic. One has to be optimistic when you look at the level of collaboration in this community, it's not achieved anywhere else like it is here."
Bradley said Sarnia is looking at some very significant population growth as it relates to people coming into the community.
"We're planning for that, and we're looking at our housing goals so that we can meet the province's goal for more housing," he said. "We've had a difficult time this year, all of us across Canada, in dealing with the homelessness issue, poverty and misery index which is far too high. I'm always frustrated that in a country this wealthy we can't give people basic shelter."
Bradley noted that finding shelter and affordable housing for people is near the top of the list, and will be a real focus at the county level in the coming year.
In July, he made a motion to Lambton County Council to make it a priority.
He's hoping they'll stick to the plan and have shovels in the ground and buildings going up in 2024.
