Johanne Brousseau is running for Mayor in North Bay.
Johanne (she/her/elle) has lived in North Bay for 60 years. She was raised by blue-collar parents who instilled strong work ethics, integrity, commitment and reliability. She has devoted over 50 years of community volunteerism, including 23 years of board experience. She had a 37-year career in the sewing industry as a patternmaker, business owner and national sewing educator. Since retiring in 2014, she has had the pleasure of serving on city council 2018-present. In her spare time, she enjoys swimming, spending time with family, and taking advantage of all that North Bay offers.
Why are you running for this position?
I have been asked why am I running for Mayor? I got into this four year ago and over this time , I have seen the potential that our city has. It has motivated me to seize the opportunity and accept the challenge of leading our community. Based on what I have learned, along with my passion for our city, I want to step up, provide a new and fresh look at the helm of our council and work with all of our community to address the challenges we face as we continue to move forward together.
If you received a $1 million grant to use for your municipality any way you wanted, what would you do with it?
When elected, I would ensure that there is a corporate strategy in place that identifies our community priorities. In terms of capital projects in this day and age, $1 million dollars is not a lot. I would advocate identifying priority projects that are eligible for matching dollars from other levels of government in order to maximize the dollars available.
What do you think are the greatest challenges your municipality faces?
Our community's greatest challenges are mental health, addiction and homelessness. The ripple effect of these challenges adds external pressures to the community’s safety and well-being as a whole and to our front line.
Other than the official ways of communicating (minutes, municipal notes), how else will you reach out to your constituents to involve them in the decision making process?
I will engage the community and allow them to be involved in the decision-making process. I will invite citizens to participate in working groups/focus groups when a pertinent issue needs to be moved forward.
What is your favourite thing to do in your municipality?
I love to walk on our waterfront. I enjoy the 100km of multi-use trails that were greatly appreciated during our social distancing era. For the past few years, I've enjoyed raising funds for the local Y.M.C.A. With a group of avid swimmers, we swim in stages, along the contour of Trout Lake. We are e so lucky to have two pristine lakes in our city.
What does a ‘feminist city’ mean to you?
A feminist city would be a community where women would receive equal rights and their knowledge and experience would be respected When Women no longer have to fight for and point out the lack of equality then my city will be a feminist city.
