The first Elgin-Middlesex-London candidate forum for the June 2 provincial election was held this past Tuesday at the St. Thomas Public Library.
Hosted by the Elgin-St. Thomas Coalition to End Poverty, the two-hour session featured 10 questions from coalition members relating to poverty, homelessness, a living wage and mental health issues.
The three hopefuls present were PC candidate Rob Flack, Liberal candidate Heather Jackson and NDP candidate Andy Kroeker.
Moderated by the myFM news team featuring Kennedy Freeman and myself, the event kicked off what will be a hectic 28-day runup to the election itself.
Not present for the forum but who have now declared their candidacy are Matt Millar from the New Blue Party of Ontario, Brigitte Belton of the Ontario Party and Amanda Stark of the Green Party of Ontario.
The questions from the three coalition members were prefaced with relevant facts and statistics.
For instance, as of last year, there were 12,515 people living below the poverty line in this area. That’s more than the combined population of Aylmer, West Lorne, Port Stanley and Port Burwell.
The coalition itself is made up of Elgin and St. Thomas residents, agencies, businesses and government representatives.
“We would implement a housing-first strategy that guarantees all Ontarians, regardless of income or ability, access to safe, secure and affordable housing to build a stable life.”
Their plans and projects align with the work already done in the community.
We’ll focus on one question in particular from Leticia Mizon representing The Nameless, a harm-reduction group of volunteers in St. Thomas.
She sought from each of the three candidates insight into their respective party’s direction in dealing with homelessness. One of the three focal points of the coalition, the other two being food security and income security.
In response, NDP candidate Andy Kroeker advised, “We would implement a housing-first strategy that guarantees all Ontarians, regardless of income or ability, access to safe, secure and affordable housing to build a stable life.”
He continued, “We will build 100,000 units of social housing over the next decade and set aside a portion of those for women and their families escaping violence.
“This will include building 60,000 new homes with supports for people living with mental health and addictions challenges.
“We will also update 260,000 social housing units to extend their lifespan.
“One of the ideas we’re looking at is increasing housing options for those with disabilities and those struggling with addictions to make sure they have space and a roof over their head so that they can then deal with the other issues in their lives.”
“In summary, the main commitment is to work to end chronic homelessness within 10 years. We will provide safe, accessible supports, permanent and transitional housing for Ontarians impacted by homelessness, including temporary housing like hotels.
“As we learned through COVID, we know we can do these kinds of things as we increase funding for permanent and transitional housing and shelters.”
He wrapped up with, “That’s how we will truly measure our success by reducing homelessness and committing to ending it within 10 years.”
Moving on to Liberal candidate Heather Jackson, she stressed “One of the things we are looking at is introducing a housing development fund for co-op housing. Ontario families deserve better affordable housing options and this fund is just one way we can make new co-op housing possible.”
She added, “And, the housing created under this co-op development will provide housing options for future generations as well.
“One of the ideas we’re looking at is increasing housing options for those with disabilities and those struggling with addictions to make sure they have space and a roof over their head so that they can then deal with the other issues in their lives.”
“So, we’re not just talking about it, we’re putting our money where our mouth is and the results speak for themselves.”
She concluded, “And one of the things is looking at appointing a task force to recommend changes to the planning act so we can actually do tiny homes and it doesn’t take five years to build them. Or we can do small projects where it’s easier to do and we can have mixed-use in our housing across the city.”
PC candidate Rob Flack pointed to what is already being undertaken in St. Thomas.
“I don’t think we have to look any further than just down the street from here. The pilot project of building 15 housing units over the transit centre.”
The Railway City Lofts is a 15-unit enhanced supportive housing program that seeks to support individuals who are at risk of experiencing homelessness.
Flack noted, “So much so that the province put $3 million to support this project right here in St. Thomas.
“And, just down the road on Queen Street, there’s going to be apartments for 45 people and the province again is putting millions of dollars into St. Thomas and Elgin county.
“So, we’re not just talking about it, we’re putting our money where our mouth is and the results speak for themselves.”
He closed out with, “And this province, with a growing economy, is going to invest more into those.”
The next debate featuring the provincial candidates is May 18 from 4 until 6 p.m. at the CASO station, hosted by the London St. Thomas Association of Realtors and St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce.
For more information and tickets, click here.
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GETTING WILLING EMPLOYEES FROM HERE TO THERE
In our lead item last week on the Amazon fulfillment centre in Southwold, the issue of some form of public transit to the facility was raised with Sean Dyke, CEO of St. Thomas Economic Development Corporation.
Which prompted a conversation this week with St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston to ascertain the status of discussions, if any, with Amazon on this very matter.
This is in light of the city’s request to the province for dollars to fund a regional transit pilot project.
As to whether the topic has been broached in any fashion, Preston indicated the short answer is “Yes.”
He elaborated, “First of all discussions with the City of London on how to best do it together. And Elgin county is also looking at transportation at the moment too and we don’t want to double up.
“We’ve been kind of waiting for Amazon to reach out. We know the number now (number of employees) but we don’t know when that number will be achieved.
“We don’t want to be running a shuttle out there when they haven’t hired the employees yet. So we do have some time on this.
“Of the 2,000 employees, will it be shift work . . . so that we can plan better.
“So, we are at the preliminary point.”
Preston affirmed running some type of transit to the Amazon plant might fit into the parameters of the regional transit pilot project.
“We hope it will because we would like to be able to service there and the Maple Leaf Foods plant in south London. If we can do that as a kind of circle (route) or half the trips go toward Amazon and the other half go the other way, that’s the plan we’re in right now.
“But, if you’re not sharing with us we can’t possibly do it. We’ve got some time to plan this because I don’t want to not plan it.”
“We’ve priced it out using different providers and with us being the provider and so now we are waiting to see how many trips a day and when would those trips be?
“The problem with a factory like this is a lot of it is the start time. Do you need to get 500 people there once a day and 500 people home once a day?
“How do you do that?”
It’s the conundrum, large commuter operators like GO Transit face where you try to avoid large numbers of trains or buses sitting idle during the day.
“This is the planning stage and we’re looking for more information from them while we figure out the planning on our side.”
However, what is Amazon willing to bring to the table in the way of resources?
“Oh, we would love their help because transit is a very costly beast and fares seldom cover the cost.
“But a guaranteed (scenario) like this where a number of people have to get to a certain place, it’s more likely to be able to be affordable by us.
“But we certainly would love to talk to the people who are most benefitting, the employees and employer at that site and see what type of arrangements we can work out.”
What is the possibility Amazon would run a charter service as is done for workers in the oil fields?
“They may be thinking that themselves and have not yet reached out to us.”
Preston took us back to when the property housed Ford Canada’s St. Thomas Assembly Plant and their use of ride-share vans to get employees to work.
“Maybe we’ll find a pretty good combination on how to do this. And, if we can work with the City of London . . . that would work a lot better.
“We saw them (Amazon representatives) at the job fair (held last month in St. Thomas) and now we’re reaching out for what is the next step for us?
“The same thing happened with Maple Leaf Foods. A couple of vice-presidents reached out to me after the announcement and said how can we work together on transportation?
“And I said let me know as we get closer and we’ll certainly talk and figure out how it can be best done.
“But, if you’re not sharing with us we can’t possibly do it. We’ve got some time to plan this because I don’t want to not plan it.
“It’s the right way to keep cars off our roads so let’s plan to do this. In the provincial election, there is lots of talk about transit.
“So, let’s talk about regional transit.”
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WE WANT YOUR INPUT SO WE CAN IGNORE IT
Who should we run into this week but our Alma College watchdog, Dawn Doty who drew our attention to the item on Monday’s (May 9) council agenda.
In March of this year, city staff approached the residents on Moore and McIntyre streets to garner input on a trio of potential traffic control scenarios at the entrance to the Alma College Square residential development.
The first option is a four-way stop sign at the intersection of Moore and McIntyre streets.
This is the preferred option of city staff.
Option 2 is one-way traffic south on Moore and east on McIntyre.
This is the preferred option of 12 of the 17 neighbourhood respondents. See map at left.
Option 3 would see one-way traffic moving west and then north to Wellington Street.
As the report from Nathan Bokma, manager of development and compliance indicates, “As the input from the public has been reviewed, staff still recommend Scenario 1.”
That’s the all-way stop, due to “the safety that an all-way stop control provides for traffic and pedestrians.”
The word stop in this case may be a bit of a misnomer as it is not uncommon to watch motorists roll through these intersections with a minimal effort to fully stop.
Is this a case of conceding to the wishes of the developer rather than the desires of the long-time residents of these two streets?
Unfortunately, there is not enough of a footprint for one of those new mini-roundabout designs touted by the city.
FOR THE CALENDAR
Dennis Kalichuk made quite the impression in this corner and at Queen’s Park last October when then Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Jeff Yurek presented his petition at the Ontario Legislature.
The petition asked the Ontario government for “immediate and sweeping changes to the way that Ontario deals with issues and problems of homelessness, mental health and addictions.”
Kalichuk, a musician who performed under the name Jumbo Train, is also a pretty fair artist and he and his wife Becky Matthews are opening up their home and studio and the outdoor areas around their residence for their first Spring Open House Art Show on May 14 and 15.
According to a release announcing the show, “Visitors will be treated to many new paintings and some from the artist collection, in a variety of media and styles and subject matter. “This will also be the first public showing of Kalichuk’s new Tranquility Forest sculpture series that incorporates charred wood or driftwood, and metal and found objects.
“As an added bonus, Matthews will be displaying for just the second time, a collection of her latest nature photography prints on canvas.”
The open house is free to attend and runs Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Details can be found here, or by contacting Dennis or Becky at 519-637-8757 or dkalichuk@rogers.com.
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And a reminder, I can be heard weekday afternoons as news anchor and reporter on 94.1 myFM in St. Thomas. As always, your comments and input are appreciated.
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