In announcing at the end of July she would not seek re-election, MP Karen Vecchio praised St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston as someone who “will always be one of my confidants.”
And, speaking with Preston this week, he reciprocated with a quip he has laid on me more than once.
“I took five minutes and taught her everything I know.”
While it is generally acknowledged she first got a taste of politics working in Preston’s constituency office, the former Elgin-Middlesex-London MP reminded me that Vecchio’s introduction to political representation goes back even further.
Many years ago she went door-to-door campaigning for Bill Aarts as he sought a seat on St. Thomas municipal council.
Category Archives: rural poverty
Can a bus ride begin the journey out of poverty?
Among the positive steps taken this year in St. Thomas to help mitigate poverty’s impact on Ontario Works recipients was the introduction in February of the Bus Pass Pilot Project.
Under this scheme, recipients seeking employment would have access to a monthly bus pass, recognizing “Access to reliable and affordable transportation is integral to a person’s ability to gain and maintain employment, to access health care, recreational, educational and social activities among other things.”
That is according to a report from Heather Sheridan, supervisor of employment and income supports, to be discussed at Monday’s council meeting.
She is asking council to continue the bus pass program and extend it further to include sole support parents and their children. Continue reading
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Roundtable on rural poverty: Is the province out of touch?
Is the goal of this provincial government to encourage migration from rural areas to urban centres, as suggested by one Elgin county mayor? That was one of the issues raised at a roundtable on rural poverty held Feb. 24 at the CASO station in St. Thomas and hosted by Elgin-Middlesex-London Conservative MPP Jeff Yurek.Attended by two dozen municipal and social/community agency representatives, the forum was designed to get a sense of what rural poverty is and its impact on St. Thomas and Elgin county municipalities, explained Yurek afterward.
“What’s available and what barriers are out there for people. Too often policies are developed in Toronto with an urban lens and we need to look at it with a rural point of view. It’s different living in rural Ontario and we need to have a balance in policies to ensure we can help get people out of poverty in rural Ontario.”
