No sixth term on Thunder Bay City Council for Rebecca Johnson.
The nineteen year councillor made the announcement Friday at Hillcrest Park, joining Neebing representative Cody Fraser who has also said they will not seek re-election in October.
“It has been my absolute honour to serve the citizens and businesses of this community at large,” Johnson said. “Thunder Bay is my home and serving the community through politics is one of my biggest passions. I will continue to contribute to both – just differently. I am grateful to the voters who chose to elect me for five consecutive terms.”
Although she has been thinking about this decision for a few years, Johnson says, the 2019 accident at her camp in Upsala really influenced the decision.
Stephanie Ash (left) introducing Rebecca Johnson (June 10, 2022)
“I severely damaged my leg, which has never really completely healed,” Johnson noted. “Then I had a pacemaker put in, and I said to myself ‘this is my health now’. Whatever I do (in life), I give 100 per cent effort. I can’t continue to do this, so for my health, it is time. The accident was probably the real initiator to say you gotta think about where you are going Rebecca.”
Johnson lost a lot of blood when she fell and injured her leg in August of 2019.
Full efforts as a Councillor involved a 60 hour work week on a regular basis, Johnson told the media on Friday.
She would like to see more candidates put their names forward for the 2022 Municipal Election, adding “We have one half the number of the candidates at this point in time than we did in the last election, and that is concerning. I am encouraging everybody and anybody to think about running for city council. It is very important that we have a good list of candidates.”
Johnson is looking forward to spending more time with her children and grand-children moving forward.
She co-founded Women in Politics, an organization committed to promoting female participation at all levels of Canadian government, and was instrumental in starting the Age Friendly Thunder Bay program.
Johnson received the Lifetime Business Achievement Award from the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce in 2020 and had the Age Friendly Senior Award renamed in her honour in 2021.
