Fred Mota is one of two candidates vying for mayor in the municipality of Red Lake.
The incumbent mayor said he’s running again because there are many projects he wants to see completed, including infrastructure upgrades.
“We have future plans for water, sewer, road upgrades in one of our hamlet communities in Cochenour, we have lots of mining exploration continuing,” he said, adding obtaining more land for development is essential for Red Lake.
“We need housing, there’s very little housing available,” he said. “So obtaining crown land is important for Red Lake’s future for development, not only for residential homes but also commercial.”
Mota said housing is a particularly pressing issue for seniors, and that he’s been working with the private and public sectors to look at “ways we can keep our seniors in the community versus moving out to other areas.”
“I know we want things done yesterday, but we’re working as hard as possible to make those projects a reality,” he said. “A lot of our funding is from the province or the federal government, and those things take time.”
Mota said the process to obtain crown land can take up to nine years, as it requires discussions with the province and First Nations partners.
“We’re trying to fast track that and with assistance from Minister [Greg] Rickford, I believe we’re in this pilot project, where we can fast track this, so instead of taking nine years, it may take two to three years.”
And with the possibility of neighbouring First Nations to the north being able to construct an all-weather bridge crossing over the Berens River, Mota said Red Lake would have access to over 12,000 people to the north.
“We have to be ready for all of our housing needs. That’s one of the top priorities right now,” he said.
The proposed arena for Red Lake is an example of a project that has completed the necessary preparations and is just waiting for funding, Mota said.
One lesson from his two terms on council, first as councillor and then as mayor, is that developing relationships with intergovernmental agencies, both provincial and federal, is key in moving communities forward, he added.
“In Red Lake, our tax base is low, so we’re very dependent on funding needs, and if we don’t have important and established relationships it makes it challenging to move forward,” he said.
A self-professed dog lover, Mota pointed to the new off leash dog park in the community as an accomplishment. He retired from his position as a mental health and addictions therapist at the local hospital when he became mayor in order to focus on the position, because the needs were too great, he said.
Red Lake faced numerous challenges during his tenure, challenges he said he was proud to have helped confront with community support.
“We’ve had many declarations of emergencies. We’ve had forest fires with complete community evacuation, we had a windstorm that ripped off the roof of our Heritage Centre, dealing with the COVID 19 pandemic, and this year we had flooding throughout the community, So I’d really like to thank the residents and our community for entrusting me to lead this community forward.”
