Mike Biggar, award-winning bluesman, is hanging up his woes in favour of politics. This week, the Quispamsis, New Brunswick-based musician and winner of three Prix MNB Awards and two East Coast Music Awards, announced his bid for a seat on the town council.
Originally from Saint John’s Lower West Side, Biggar has been a resident of the Kennebecasis Valley for the last fifteen years — at least, when he’s not on the road as a touring musician. His last album, Live at the BMO Theatre, was released in mid-2019, back when albums could, fortunately, still be performed and recorded before a live audience.
While the music industry has taken a hard turn for everyone involved, Biggar explains his interest in politics, and especially community, has spanned back further than his music career.
“I have always had a leaning towards finding a way to enrich our community and the people’s lives,” says Biggar. “I think it stretches all the way back to an upbringing in the church that stressed servanthood and faith in a deeper meaning. It sort of coloured everything in my life as a young man and sent me into a career as a minister. There was a lot of focus on relief ministry, social development and trying to inspire young people in those days.
“And, of course, music was always a big part of that as a channel on which to communicate a message that would resonate. I think that social change and improvement brought by ministry and politics are similar hues of the same shade a lot of the time. But, even in high school, I can remember debating provincial politics with friends at high school. Once I moved into the arts, it was about trying to perform and enrich people’s lives with the resident message in the songs.”
The idea of becoming more involved in politics has been playing on Biggar’s mind for a few years now, but he says it was some recent conversations with both locals and town council members that convinced him that now was the right time to run.
“I have always been a very politically minded person although I hadn’t previously imagined that municipal politics would be the right fit; I have always been more of a party politics follower,” says Biggar. “But, I have been challenged a bit in the last couple of years by members of the Town staff to consider the contribution I could make and I’m definitely eager to help strengthen the progressive growth Quispamsis enjoys.
“There was a long period of time where I wouldn’t have thought my contribution would be valuable in the context of a municipal council — but everything is so much more connected now and I can see how my background and skills can be a helpful contribution to a well-rounded council team.”
Biggar says that he hopes his ten years of experience developing a professional music brand, a decade of bringing a small business to fruition, along with an ongoing struggle to maintain relevancy in an ever-shifting industry, will all help him relate to the challenges faced by many of Quispamsis’ constituents.
While the town is experiencing a period of residential growth, Biggar says he wants to prioritize striking the right balance along two planes of enhancing quality of life and cultural development, while encouraging a climate hospitable to small businesses. He also notes that there are opportunities to broaden efforts of cultural development through inclusion and diversity.
“We want to employ a progressive attitude and be forward-thinking in how we evolve but also balance that with good stewardship of town resources to preserve services, quality of life and optimal costs to live and operate business,” says Biggar.
“We have a welcoming, progressive group of residents and I know people here concern themselves with their families, their work, and others as well. I am a big believer in encouraging a diversity of affordable housing here, for example. It’s a way to help others who aren’t yet ready to take out a mortgage to still come here and participate in town life whether just as a resident or maybe a small business owner.
“I am eager to see the Comex service retained and strengthened – as a means of helping folks live and enjoy our town and head into the city for work, or vice versa. There are businesses here that are expanding and require staff, and I think a mass transit conduit from the city to here is an important advantage.”
Some issues, like the onset of climate change, are more complex, but Biggar says that he is eager to help address those by enhancing efforts on emergency preparedness.
And, like any good career musician, he has not failed to bring up the town’s potential as a cultural destination.
“I should say that I am eager to use my experiences as an artist who has travelled broadly and performed in many festivals and cultural events to help advance our own efforts to evolve the experience of life in Quispamsis,” says Biggar.
While the last year has been very difficult for everyone in the music industry, with a very uncertain future, Biggar says he still plans to continue performing as a musician, even if elected — regardless of what that actually looks like.
Municipal will be held in New Brunswick on May 10, 2021. For more information on Mike Biggar’s platform, you can find his official candidacy page here.