St. Catharines mayor talks vaccines, economic development, Ontario’s minimum wage increase

St. Catharines mayor Walter Sendzik joined us to talk about the city budget, economic development, Ontario’s minimum wage increase and vaccines.

The province’s full economic statement is coming out today.

Sendzik says St. Catharines is waiting to see if the province is going to signal to the municipalities that there are additional safe restart funds.

“We’re going through a budget process right now and we still have COVID-19 related costs that are appearing in our budget,” said Sendzik. “We’re hoping the province continues to support the municipalities as they recover.”

Through its economic development offices, the Niagara Region is putting together a 10 year economic development strategy.

“We’re looking to get feedback from the business community specifically and see where they see the economy going,” said Sednzik. “Personally, I would like to see us coming out of this 10 year strategy in a green economy and moving to where the opportunities are going to be.”

St. Catharines is in the middle of a budget process right now. Sendzik says that if there are going to be tax increases, they have to be well explained to residents.

“It’s all about having a continuous conversation with our community and showing them that their tax money is being put to good use in our community,” said Sendnzik. “We’re hoping for a strong budget in 2022 and we’re currently looking through the details.”

When it comes to the province’s minimum wage increase, Sendnzik says he was shocked it would come out now.

“It was designed to come out a couple years ago,” said Sendzik. “As a former business owner, anytime the government decides to just do something without input or any kind of real plan, it is a challenge.”

He says he understands the frustration businesses have after coming out of the pandemic to deal with the increase, but says people need to be getting paid a fair, living wage.

Sendzik says the living wage in St. Catharines is around $18.90.

“There’s a lot of businesses that have become a part of the living wage movement, and it’s great to see,” said Sendzik.

Sendzik says he wants to see certainty from the Ontario government. He says the wage increases should be tied to a policy or a program so that businesses and workers can understand better, instead of being caught off guard.

St. Catharines is “very strong” when it comes to workers being fully-vaccinated, according to Sendzik. He thanks St. Catharines employees who have gotten vaccinated and understand the importance of why they need to be vaccinated.

“The province’s announcement yesterday [to not mandate healthcare workers to get vaccinated] is a bit concerning, but here in St. Catharines, I’m proud that we took a stand and the employees in the city took a stand too,” said Sendzik.