“I put my name is because I’m a student of all things political; world issues and even local issues,” City of Fernie councillor candidate Jon Levesque said. “Being a small business owner, I’ve been paying attention to what has been happening in our community, and the wonderful things must continue to happen.”
The co-owner of GearHub Sports is a family man with two young boys, 15 and 12.
“I always lecture them on civic responsibility,” Levesque noted. “What I try to communicate to my children is that the individuals in government today are making decisions that you’re going to have to live with when you’re older and when you’re voting age, and so you should be paying attention.”
Levesque said that if he is voted into council during the 2014 municipal election, he plans to address issues regarding gainful employment, affordable housing for the elderly, recreation, thriving businesses, clean air and drinkable water.
He also highlighted that he believes he has a civic responsibility to the City of Fernie and he plans to address the issue of limited civic participation in the community.
“Because only seven people ran for six positions and the mayor went uncontested, some people are taking the position that things must be good,” Levesque said. “I disagree with that. It’s not good for democracy. I actually think that when things are good, that’s a particularly good time to be super proactive. There is always work to do.”
Levesque is not only interested in generating more civic engagement in the community, he is also interested in innovation within municipal government.
“Those are the ingredients for a highly functioning democracy,” Levesque said of his platform. “Simply put - I love it here.”