Duncan Wong, who is in his second term as a Thompson city councillor, says he wasn’t sure he was going to run for a third time.
“I didn’t even pick up my nomination papers until the very late stage,” near the Sept. 20 registration deadline, he told the Thompson Citizen Oct. 7.
He is one of only four current councillors seeking re-election this Oct. 26. A fifth is seeking to become mayor and the other three are not running again after a single term or, in one case, only two years on council.
Wong says what swayed him was seeing that some of the other candidates were people who felt he could work well with.
“I see some good people and some people with … integrity in their own mind,” he says. “So I think it would be a good term to do it again.”
Anyone who has followed Thompson municipal politics since Wong was first elected in 2014 should not be surprised by what he thinks is one of the most crucial issues that the next mayor and council will face.
“I think the city budget is so over-inflated,” says the former restaurant owner, who now has a company that provides snow clearing and similar services. “That’s why people can not afford to live here.”
A resident of Thompson since 1988 who enjoys fishing and hunting and other outdoor activities, Wong says the city has been headed in the wrong direction for the past 20 years and he’d like to see things turn around.
“I want to be part of the changes,” he says. “That’s one of the biggest reasons that I [ran] again.”
Also high on Wong’s list of priorities is public safety.
“I’ve been vocally talking to the RCMP because I think right now the way that we’ve been doing things is not working and, matter of fact, it’s getting worse. I want to see some changes so people can afford and feel comfortable to raise their kids and have a place to live.”
Knowing from his two terms as a councillor that one vote only carries so much weight, Wong says he runs on his record more than by saying what he plans to do.
“I don’t like to make empty promises,” he says. “Based on my experience and what I’ve been learning, I think I can put a lot of knowledge onto the table when it comes to budget time.”
Whether they intend to support him or not, Wong encourages all eligible residents to cast a ballot on election day Oct. 26.
“Democracy is based on the vote,” he says. “If they don’t come out, if the turnout is low, then you’re not going to get a good candidate to represent you.”
