Former MP Paul Lefebvre is running for mayor of Greater Sudbury

Former Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre wants to be the city's next mayor.

Lefebvre, who was a Liberal member of Parliament from 2015 to 2021, announced his intentions to run for the mayor's seat on Thursday.

"I believe I have the experience not only politically, but certainly the business experience," he told CBC News. "We have major investments to make in our community and we need to grow our tax base."

One of major investments he referred to is the city's proposed Kingsway Entertainment District and new multi-million-dollar city-owned event centre. 

Wants answers on the KED

On the divisive development, Lefebvre said he needs more details to form a solid opinion. He said the city has yet to get concrete answers about the project's finished cost and any return on investment.

"Is the cost going to be $100 million? $200 million? We have no idea right now," he said.

"This is a once in a lifetime investment. And again, my question is what is that return on that investment? I haven't received that answer yet."

On the issue of homelessness, and the tent encampment that took over Memorial Park in Sudbury's downtown core, Lefebvre said the city needs an "all hands on deck" approach.

He said that means getting all staff on board to solve the problem and working closely with other levels of government to build more affordable housing.

"There's also, as I'm aware, money from the federal government for housing," he said.

While he was in Ottawa, Lefebvre served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources.

He said that role has given him connections with the mining industry and a good understanding of that sector.

"There's tons of potential on critical minerals," he said.

"If we want all these services, and certainly we always need to improve our services, we need to work on our tax base."

Municipal race heating up

Nominations don't officially open until Monday for the Oct. 24 municipal election, so no candidates have officially thrown their name into the hat yet.

But former city councillor Evelyn Dutrisac and current mayor Brian Bigger have both said they intend to run. 

In 2018, Bigger was elected to a second term as Greater Sudbury's mayor with 28.3 per cent of the vote.