Tag Archives: Elgin-St. Thomas-London South

06.07.25
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The return of School Resource Officers – ‘It’s important for youth to connect with police officers as people’

As part of the Supporting Children and Students Act, introduced by the Ford government at the end of last month, is a provision whereby public school boards would be required to implement School Resource Officer (SRO) programs in areas where they are offered by local police services.
This is to take effect in the fall.
In 2021, the Thames Valley District School Board hit the pause button on the School Resource Officer program board-wide.
That prompted Dave Jenkins, chair of the Elgin Group Police Services Board, to advocate for a return of the SRO program.

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05.31.25
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Elgin-St. Thomas-London South MP Andrew Lawton puts the Liberals ‘on notice’

The riding’s newest MP was sworn in on Monday, and although he was still awaiting an office where he could focus his attention, Andrew Lawton joked there was always a vacant park bench or his hotel room, which would afford him an impromptu workspace.
And before the week was over, Lawton had a warning for Liberal MPs.
Connecting with the Elgin-St. Thomas-London South MP later that day he noted, “This is a chamber that I’ve studied and observed for years in my media career, and then to walk in on the floor wearing a Member of Parliament pin is a really surreal feeling.
“And it really underscores the honour it is to be here and to be representing the people of Elgin-St. Thomas-London South.

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04.12.25
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Stand Up For Decency Rally in St. Thomas is about ‘rejecting extremism in any form’

Christine Rudman has serious concerns about the character of the Conservative Party of Canada candidate vying to represent Elgin-St. Thomas-London South in this month’s federal election.
So, the Port Stanley resident has organized a Stand Up For Decency Rally this afternoon (April 12) in front of Lawton’s campaign office.
In an interview this week, Rudman talked about what specifically moved her to go beyond casting her ballot for another of the four candidates.
“I think a lot of people in our riding have some issues with Andrew Lawton and his worldview, to be perfectly honest. We’re in precarious times as a country. Our sovereignty has been threatened. We have fascism at the door. And I think it’s really important that we have someone qualified, for one, who grew up in the area, would be two, and who has the values that represent our region.

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04.05.25
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‘You have to put your constituency first, always’ and that in a nutshell explains the lack of endorsement from former MP Karen Vecchio

If you’ve known Karen Vecchio for even the shortest time she served as MP for Elgin-Middlesex-London (EML), you would have sensed that community comes first.
She was elected by members of the community to serve all members of the community.
EML PC MPP Rob Flack summed it up best at Vecchio’s retirement party last month.
One of the attributes that Flack most admires in Vecchio is that she is ecumenical.
“Not in the religious sense, but in terms of working across party lines, working across issues throughout this community that maybe have no partisan or political colours.

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03.29.25
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Indwell’s adaptive reuse of Balaclava Street Public School is ‘a metaphor for life as well’ – Indwell CEO John Neven

“Nobody is better than the City of St. Thomas at being able to make a vision, make it clear, get behind it with an initial investment and then go after and bring along the province and the federal government.”
High praise indeed, and from an individual at home partnering with the city.
Jeff Neven is the CEO of Indwell, a Christian charity dedicated to providing affordable housing and community support, which now owns or operates two housing projects in St. Thomas. Railway City Lofts on Talbot Street above the transit centre and The Station, located on Queen Street.
And on Monday of this week, it was announced that a new supportive housing project is coming to St. Thomas, thanks to that partnership.
The former Balaclava Street Public School will be transformed into 78 units of supportive housing, equipped with essential supports to assist residents.

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03.22.25
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‘You put the constituents first’ – David Goodwin, Liberal Party nominee in Elgin-St. Thomas-London South

By tomorrow (Sunday), we will know when Ontario residents will again cast a ballot, accompanied by the rest of Canada.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to favour an election on April 28.
This will be the first federal vote locally in the new riding of Elgin-St. Thomas-London South.
As a refresher, thanks to the efforts of MP Karen Vecchio, her grassroots campaigning paid off when in February of 2023, the report by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario was tabled in the House of Commons and the boundary adjustment in Elgin-Middlesex-London riding turned out to be far less drastic – and disruptive – than first proposed.

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11.16.24
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‘Whether you liked him or not, there was a sense of secrecy. Let’s put it another way. There sure was a lack of transparency.’ – MP Karen Vecchio

Are we surprised at the outcome of last Saturday’s nomination meeting to determine the Conservative Party of Canada candidate in Elgin-St. Thomas-London South in the next federal vote?
Not really.
Not to take away from Andrew Lawton getting the nod to represent the riding, but you can’t help but sense the fix was in the day MP Karen Vecchio announced she would not seek re-election.
From the number of individuals who had their nomination applications denied, to pushing forward the date of the nomination meeting to shutting the door on media coverage inside St. Anne’s Centre in St. Thomas, and limiting the two individuals to five-minute speeches, it will take some time for the stench to dissipate.

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11.09.24
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The consultant’s report calls for an aggressive shift to sustainable travel modes in St. Thomas

Andrew Lawton will represent the new riding of Elgin-St. Thomas-London South as the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the next federal election. Lawton defeated Central Elgin resident Anthony Shields at the nomination meeting Saturday afternoon at St. Anne’s Centre. As the media was not allowed to attend, we have no indication of how close the vote was or the contents of their five-minute speeches to attending party members.

 

Kevin Jones of Paradigm Transportation Solutions attended the Nov. 4 meeting of city council to provide an update on the status of the Transportation Master Plan refresh project.
His report offers a sweeping overview of the current transportation picture in St. Thomas and what the road ahead should look like.
He is recommending an aggressive shift in the operation of Railway City Transit that would see a six-fold increase in annual service hours involving 26 buses in service operating 17 hours every weekday.
These figures are based on a city population of 79,500, a couple of decades distant.
We’ll come back to that scenario in a moment.

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10.12.24
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The water is anything but calm when it comes to closure of the STEGH therapy pool

While the closure of the therapy pool at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital has resulted in a wave of disappointed users, one Central Elgin resident is vowing to pressure hospital administrators into re-opening the pool relied on by Talbot Trail Physiotherapy clients and other area residents.
And we’re not talking about just anybody.
Sally Martyn is the former mayor of Central Elgin and STEGH board member along with a pool user.
Martyn held a meeting recently which dozens of concerned residents attended.
One of the outcomes of that meeting is to arrange a face-to-face session with hospital president and CEO Karen Davies.
“There were over 60 people who came (to the meeting),” advised Martyn.

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