Housing: I grew up in a single parent household living on a mother's allowance in geared to income housing. I know the importance of helping those who need it.

Public Safety: POLICE should not be the ones who attend calls for those who have mental health or addiction issues. Those calls should be for specialists from those professionals. It sets up police to fail and others to get hurt.

Indigenous Sovereignty: I will always follow the vision and leadership of our indigenous community. When they've indicated we've established truth and Reconciliation, then we can proceed as a community. Truth and Reconciliation has to be actions just not words.

Social Services: Social services are the backbone of our most vulnerable and marginalized. Without social services being available as a child, I would not be running as a candidate nor would I be where I am in the world.

Transportation: One of the biggest concerns I hear knocking on doors is speed in residential areas. Increased Inforcement is needed. The ION routes need to be increased over a 10 year period to decrease road traffic.

Other: I am an advocate for LTC in our Community. I will not conform to cliques nor will I put my needs in front of the city or ward needs. I'm a fighter who is not afraid to speak my mind.

Housing: I think there needs to be a revision of the housing plan the Regional Council that just passed that allows for the redevelopment of their current supportive housing. For example, the Courtland-Shelley community is going to be knocked down and rebuilt with residents allowed to comeback after five years. Their units will be rent-geared to income but every other unit will be 80% market rent, which is still extremely high.

Council also did all of this without consulting the communities that are being affected and did not take into account the long term mental and physical health problems it will create for the current community. We should also consider license registration and fines for absentee landlords. These fund can then be used to address poverty in the Region.

Indigenous Sovereignty: We should be intentional about having Indigenous voices inform policies.

Social Services: We should consider a universal income and invest more in poverty prevention programs such as the Family Outreach Program at House of Friendship. We should also address food insecurity and take into account the long term health effects it has on people of all ages and the strain it put on our healthcare system.

Transportation: To speed limits, I'm comfortable to wait for a year or two to see how the recent reductions to 40 and 30 impact safety.

Snow removal is going to be a debate for a while I think. We could begin by creating a standard of maintenance that more clearly defines what the expectation is. If it starts snowing in the morning, my understanding of current rules is that sidewalks could be left impassible until the next morning. City intervention to fix sidewalks that are prone to icing up (a dip in the level for a few meters does this in front of my home) would address some ongoing safety questions.

Housing: Much of the current council's worries involve either the aesthetics of the region or the worry that developers will not build on zoned land. I hope to work with developers and nonprofit organizations (in addition to municipal backing) by actively seeking them out to develop templates for housing that can be pre-approved by the council with the input of neighbourhood organizations. This will streamline build times by cutting through red tape and allow us to address the needs of our people faster. We must take a more active role in how our city handles the current crisis.

Public Safety: Our current safety protocols in the city are reactionary and short-sighted. As stated above, the best way to deter crime is to support those in desperate situations that will push them to act outside of the law.

It is easy to criminalize addiction and mental health issues, as these afflictions can cause dangerous behavior in a small number of highly publicized cases, however we must treat addiction and mental health issues as healthcare issues and not criminal issues.

The best way to make a safe city is to systematically support these individuals before they reach a point of criminal or dangerous behavior, or are forced into situations that may contribute to that behavior.

Indigenous Sovereignty: In matters of Indigenous peoples I find it best to take a seat and listen, as my experience doesn't provide me the nuance necessary to understand their plight. I believe through listening and working together we can build a future for all of us, and help to mend deep wounds. I also strongly believe that having paid Indigenous positions on the councils is necessary to ensure their voices are heard and they have a hand in steering the direction of our city and region.

Social Services: Social services are in danger now more than ever, and this is evident across our healthcare system. Implementing necessary social programs to alleviate the crush felt by our hospitals and emergency staff daily are paramount to the safety of our people.

I also believe that, while irregular for municipal level government, it may be necessary to create municipal or regional benefit programs aimed at keeping our experienced nurses on staff.

Transportation: Public transportation remains the best way to shift our reliance on personal vehicles. Ensuring free and reliable transportation to people and families already struggling to afford both food and shelter could make a huge difference to working parents and their children.

Other: As a small business owner, through the pandemic there were many times after each lockdown where it felt like the wind was knocked out of you, that you just couldn't do it again, that it would be easier to give up. To hope that someone would help.

But I didn't. I didn't give up because, to me, that wasn't an option. There was no help. No one to blame or pass the buck on to.

To me, no matter what happened, it wasn't "if" we would succeed, but "how". And by always moving forward, by always finding the "how" of every challenge, setback, and struggle, the business not only survived, but thrived through the worst time in the history of our industry.

I want to bring that same spirit to our council. Our city's affordability, housing, and safety issues have knocked the wind out of us. Many leaders are passing the blame, preferring to give up, and hope someone will step up and solve things. I want to find "how", and ensure our city rises to its potential.