Terry French running again
Former provincial cabinet minister Terry French is running for mayor. French has been out of the game since 2014, when he retired from provincial politics, but he said that he’s not jumping into municipal politics just because he’s got the itch to put his name on a ballot again.
Former provincial cabinet minister Terry French is running for mayor.
French has been out of the game since 2014, when he retired from provincial politics, but he said he’s not jumping into municipal politics just because he’s got the itch to put his name on a ballot again.
“Conception Bay South is the secondbiggest municipality in the province,” French said.
“I think we’ve got to start playing at the A-level.”
Mayor Steve Tessier has announced he will not run for re-election in the September municipal election.
French said one of the ways C.B.S. needs to improve is regarding roads, especially roads away from the main Route 60.
“Our roads have fallen into disrepair quite a bit, and I think we’re at the level now where we’d have to have a roads program. Sure, we’ll always apply to the province and get municipal capital work,” he said.
“We’re at a place now where we have to be proactive and not reactive. We have to have a roads program that we go to tender with every single year and do repairs to the roads.”
As a provincial politican, French served as minister in a wide array of portfolios, including Tourism, Environment and Justice.
He was known as one of the best political campaign organizers in the Progressive Conservative party.
French said that when it comes to municipal politics, though, he’s not running as a Tory.
“You have to park your partisanship when you’re running for a municipal office, and that’s certainly something that I do when I go meet with provincial ministers or federal ministers.”
French said he won’t accept any political donations for his municipal election campaign.
“I want to make all the decisions based on the best evidence I get from residents of the town and businesses of the town,” he said.
“I’ll certainly be running a frugal campaign, but no, I’ll be paying for it out of my own pocket, because like I said, I believe in the town.”