Local restaurateur, automotive entrepreneur, and realty broker Moe Comuzzi wants to be Thunder Bay’s next mayor.

“I didn’t enter public life, I chose it,” says Comuzzi.

She points to her bona fides as a business leader, budget cruncher, and problem solver as reasons why she ought to lead the city into its next chapter.

Comuzzi has also studied political science, and has delved into politics before, with failed bids to represent the Conservative Party at the federal level in Thunder Bay-Rainy River.

“Although I wasn’t successful, the experience deepened my understanding of the challenges we face and strengthened my commitment to this community,” she says of her past political forays.

Comuzzi frames Thunder Bay as a city on the right track, particularly with the Smart Growth Action Plan that City Council unanimously chose to implement at the end of last year.

“There’s amazing growth happening, and I want to be part of executing that and being part of it all in growing Thunder Bay again,” she says of the plan.

Beyond the new growth plan, Comuzzi also points to the plans for a Costco, the development of lands along Central Avenue, and the potential development of the city’s Pool 6 lands as examples of how Thunder Bay is making the right choices.

“You can’t drive around the city and not see somebody building something,” she adds.

When asked about what issues she might want to zero in on, Comuzzi instead argued the city should focus on the positive:

“Thunder Bay has spent a lot of time in the doom and gloom. There’s some really good news stories here, and all those good news stories are going to manage the problems,” she explained.

Comuzzi takes a similar approach on socio-economic issues such as homelessness, where she argues that every community is facing similar issues, but growth and investment can offset those challenges.

She says that “there are people that are already tackling our homelessness problems and such, but we all need to sit down, the leadership with the council, and we have to find the best path forward and solution… And there’s a solution to every problem, right?”

In recent years, municipalities across Ontario have had to wrestle with whether to take advantage of new “Strong Mayor” powers.

The controversial legislation is seen by some as a way to cut through bureaucracy, and others as a way to bypass the democratic process to force a mayor’s agenda through local government.

Comuzzi will not commit one way or the other on whether she would use Strong Mayor powers, but maintains that any decision would be made by her team, rather than alone.

“When you consult with your team, and you have discussions, then you make good decisions… And we make no decisions without the team,” she says. “And once that happens, if that’s the case and that’s the path we have to go down, then we’ve thought about it, we’ve consulted with the people that it affects, and we make that decision then.”

Comuzzi says she is ready for the job, and argues that she’s the right choice for the city.

“I believe that the people of Thunder Bay deserve a mayor who cares, who believes in them, and who loves this community deeply.”

Thunder Bay’s municipal election is scheduled for October 26, 2026.