The Urbanite – Jon Liedtke – Oct. 20, 2014
Windsor’s most enigmatic mayoral candidate broke the silence and sat down with the Urbanite to talk about his campaign to become mayor.
Bruce Martin, who recently revealed his platform to fellow candidates, had remained virtually silent throughout the election, even omitting any contact information from the CIty of Windsor website.
Why are you running for mayor?
I didn’t plan on it … I have a whole vision that we can do much better … my best friend prompted me to run, I didn’t really take it seriously.
One of the things that prompted me was when I saw the people bugging the panhandlers downtown … we have a systematic system of poverty, there’s always going to be a certain percentage that are poor, but meanwhile why don’t they go bug the bankers that took $114 billion off the taxpayers in 2008.
What is your experience?
I have a lot of experience. I know how difficult the job is, you’ve got to put up with a lot, but I think I can make a big difference in Windsor.
I’m not a lawyer … I was raised by a single mother. I’ve done corporations, I’ve done trade work, apprenticeship … everything from A to Z. It’s more common sense experience. I’m a people person, I know what goes down on the street, from the drug dealers on the street right up to the corporate world.
Why is your campaigning being run like it is?
The truth is when I went to register, I was going to put my campaign office, and the city said I can’t do that, I have to put my home. I’m a very private person … I do my own thing at home. My address will be 400 City Hall.
I see right through the system, and our system is not a democracy. Everybody that’s running should be given equal time to present their platforms to the public.
They (the media) control all the elections, they’re a filter. You take a prism, sunlight goes through and comes out a different colour. If certain parties want certain people to get in, they can work that prism how they like.
What are the issues as you see them?
[Martin noted the assassination of United States presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy as plots to stop the implementation of a switch to a silver dollar standard, the US led creation of a central bank in Syria as a result of ISIS incursions, and the Bank of Canada Act which has caused citizens to “become enslaved to the banks.”]
What are the top three Windsor issues?
Create jobs. That’s prosperity. You don’t cut jobs or contract them out. You create jobs and the austerity attitude, that’s backwards.
How do we create work?
[Martin recommends implementing a buy-local policy to encourage the purchasing of local food from the county.]
What do you think of your opponents?
They work hard, mean well, they’re ambitious … I’ve got to give Larry Horwitz credit, he’s running a hard campaign, he’s working his butt off, that means he’s got a good work ethic, same with Millson.
How much money have you fundraised?
That’s private, I don’t have no big backers or anything like that.
I’ve studied the last three and a half years, I studied as if i was getting a master’s degree. But instead of doing it at the university, I did it on my own.
Can you sum up why you’re running?
I know more than these other people running, I know what the city needs, and we can turn the city around. We need a good council … business and jobs to create prosperity here in Windsor.
THE URBANITE
Jon Liedtke
October 20, 2014
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Q & A with Windsor’s most secretive mayoral candidate (archive.org)
Jonathon Liedtke is the managing editor of The Urbanite, Windsor’s alternative newspaper. He is also a member of Windsor’s “Punk with Horns” band The Nefidovs, and as such, is committed to enhancing and sustaining the arts community.
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