First to announce intentions for mayor's seat, Shoemaker makes his case

Nearing the end of serving two terms on city council, Matthew Shoemaker has made his intentions known as the first candidate for mayor of Sault Ste. Marie in the upcoming municipal election this fall.

The 33-year-old Ward 3 councillor is first to put his hat into the ring for the mayor’s chair, which will be vacant now that current Mayor Christian Provenzano has expressed he will not run for a third term.

On Tuesday, Shoemaker sat down with SooToday at Wishart Law Firm, where he has worked since 2012. 

Shoemaker said he was approached to run in the provincial by-election in 2017, federally last fall and was also encouraged to run for mayor in 2018, but this will be his first time running for anything besides his two successful campaigns for councillor. 

“Some people think my views align with certain parties, the encouragement comes from across the political spectrum,” he said. “I am not a card-carrying anything. I have got centrist views that allow me to see the merits of every party’s position on certain issues.”

Shoemaker decided to not run in those contests mostly for family reasons, he said. His son Hudson was born in 2018 and last year his wife Jenna gave birth to their second son, Maxwell.

There was a definite learning curve when he entered city hall for the first time as councillor in 2014, spending months to get acclimatized to learn the different department heads and find out where to field inquiries about any number of subjects.

“I am happy to have that experience because I think I could step into the mayor’s role on day one and know my way around city hall,” said Shoemaker.

He said he spent his ‘formative years’ drafting resolutions and serving on committees, but has no regrets about starting so young in municipal politics.

“It’s a short trip from 25 to 65, so as soon as I was able to get in and start being able to improve my community I wanted to be able to do that so, when I get to 55 or 65 and my kids are at a time in their life where they are deciding where they are going to find employment and be able to set up roots, that what I have done over the past 20 or 30 years will have been beneficial,” said Shoemaker.

Born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Shoemaker received a B.A. in political science at Algoma University before heading to University of Ottawa to obtain his law degree.

“I went away and my affinity for the city only grew when I was absent, so I knew it was a place I love being and a place I want other people to be able to love as much as I do,” he said.

Asked what he loves about his hometown, the self-titled ‘west end Italian boy’ said he loves everything about it.

“It’s where I feel comfortable with my family, it’s where I was able to, growing up, bike from my house two or three kilometres away to my friend’s house, never having to worry about crime or being injured or going through a rough area of town,” he said. ”That’s something I want to be able to give to my boys.”

“I love the natural beauty of the community, being able to drive 20 minutes west to the beach at Pointe Des Chenes, 25 mines north up to the beach at Batchawana, 30 minutes or so north there is Searchmont, there is skating galore if you like skating in the winter,” he continued.

A winter skating trail is the result of just one of the many resolutions the councillor has put forward. On his web site, Shoemaker has listed 249 resolutions he has put forward in his almost eight full years on council.

“I try and put lots of ideas forward,” said Shoemaker. “If I put 50 forward and 10 of them stick, I feel like I have been able to move the dial somewhat.”

If elected mayor, Shoemaker promises even more resolutions to be brought to council.

“There are a lot more that I would like to put forward,” he said.

Asked about other successes in his almost eight years on council, Shoemaker noted one of his first resolutions was to reinitiate the investigation into building the twin ice pad at the McMeeken, a project that is now underway.

“I brought that motion, I worked with that committee that was struck once it looked like we were going to go down that path, with or without provincial funding,” said Shoemaker. “I have supported it along the way.”

He also guessed he has brought forward about 10 resolutions for improvements in the Jamestown area of the city, including a recent one that is still making its way through city hall to extend the Hub Trail through that area.

In 2020, Shoemaker presented a resolution to expand Anna Marinelli Park in the Jamestown area, which was passed.

Shoemaker said that part of the city had been neglected in the years prior to him winning the election in 2014.

“It had been 25 years since we had spent any public dollars there, even like resurfacing a road. There has been such underinvestment in that neighbourhood in a generation that it was long overdue,” he said.

One of his goals if elected mayor is to ensure the that kind of underinvestment never happens to another area of the city.

“It’s incremental investment — you’re not going to fix these things with one single thing that you do, it takes effort, commitment, time and money over a long period of time to be able to turn the tide of how we got to where that neighbourhood is and that’s what we need to start doing, to make sure there are other areas of town that don’t fall into the cycle that we have let that neighbourhood fall into,” he said.

Shoemaker has expressed a need for a new police station and suggested it should be placed in the downtown and would like to see a police neighbourhood resource centre open in the James Street area.

“It’s being able to put whatever municipal efforts or dollars into improving that situation, even if it’s just slightly, it is worth it,” he said. “It’s going to take more of my time, no doubt, but it’s something I am going into eyes wide open knowing it will take more of my time.

Shoemaker said another priority is the expansion of the withdrawal management facility that is slated to open in the former Sault Star building on Old Garden River Road. It will replace the beds currently being operated out of Sault Area Hospital, but the councillor said it will just replace what is already being offered.

“We need that facility to expand and grow and provide better access to treatment than what we currently have and I am fully committed to lobbying the provincial government,” said Shoemaker. “Obviously it is something we need.”

Shoemaker said the problems of addiction and homelessness have risen to the surface during the pandemic and will be a priority for him if elected.

“Those who are troubled with addictions and those who are homeless need significant attention,” he said.

Housing is another issue that needs to be addressed, said Shoemaker. Some local buyers are being left out of the hot housing market in the Sault.

“I see it a lot here at the law firm. We are doing way more real estate deals at way higher prices than historically has been the case. I can tell there has been a lot of activity in the market," he said.

There's no doubt the city needs more housing, said Shoemaker. He hopes the confidence and supply agreement recently signed between the Liberal federal government and NDP will lead to more housing dollars coming this way.

"They committed to moving the dial on the national housing strategy, making sure a lot of the money they have committed actually gets out and spent to increase the housing stock," said Shoemaker. "This would improve not just our tax base, but our downtown if we have significant new housing development there."

One matter ter making its way through council is the possibility of cleaning up the former Gateway Site to make it available for the possibility of public housing.

As an alternative, Shoemaker has asked city staff what the cost would be to clean up the site and see if there is interest for the land on the open market.

“I am all for a development on the Gateway site, I am not sure it should be a government initiated development, but I do think we should provide land or the accessibility to land to spur housing development," he said.

After almost eight years on council, Shoemaker said he is ready to take on the role of mayor, which is a part-time position in Sault Ste. Marie.

“I have been able to manage my private law practice over the last eight years, as well as the council position. I am confident I have the organizational skills to be able to manage both,” he said.

Shoemaker is asking Saulites to contact him if you the are interested in having their thoughts about the future of the city heard.

“If people have ideas I would like to hear from them and I will go through the ideas I receive in the next few months and put together a platform I think will be what our community needs to grow, to have the best quality of life, to be the most environmentally friendly, be safer, to provide more treatment options,” he said.