Tag Archives: Liz Brown

05.16.26
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The City of St. Thomas is seeking ‘visionary and innovative proposals’ for the former Wellington Street School

September 17, 2012, proved an exciting day in the life of St. Thomas, as students returned to Wellington Street School for the first time in several years.

The former Thames Valley District School Board facility, purchased by the city in 2011 to provide parking spaces for the new consolidated courthouse, was being revitalized as the St. Thomas campus of Algoma University.

“This is a great day for Algoma University, and it’s also a great day for St. Thomas and Elgin County,” enthused Algoma president Richard Myers.

“You’ve made my St. Thomas a richer place today, and it’s a richer place for all of us,” added Andrew Gunn, trustee for the estate of Dorothy Palmer, which contributed more than $1 million to the refurbishment of the heritage school.

Fast forward 20 months, and the headline of that day was being put to the test.

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04.25.26
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St. Thomas relaunches program designed to assist low-to moderate-income households purchase their first home

After a hiatus of nearly six years, the City of St. Thomas is reviving the St. Thomas-Elgin Affordable Homeownership Program (AHP), originally launched in 2007.

The AHP was designed to assist low-to moderate-income households in purchasing their first home.

This AHP was originally funded as a one-time allocation under the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program.

It is worth noting that since its inception, 46 households have successfully achieved homeownership through the initiative.

So, how does the program operate?

In her report to council at the April 20 meeting, Ellen Hickey, Supervisor of Housing Stability Services, explained, “AHP provides down payment assistance in the form of an interest-free, forgivable loan over a 20-year period to help eligible St Thomas-Elgin households transition from renting to home ownership.

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06.15.19
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Crossing that bridge to affordable housing in St. Thomas

city_scope_logo-cmykIt’s one of those unperceived neighbourhoods in St. Thomas . . . life beyond the hump of the Barwick Street bridge.
The residents, who enjoy a tranquil setting west of the railway track, may soon be joined by a couple hundred new neighbours if the city approves a proposed subdivision in the Hill and Barwick streets enclave.
The Ostojic Group of St. Thomas is proposing a 75-lot subdivision west of Hill Street with Nick and Joe Ostojic making their pitch to council this Monday (June 17).
It’s not the first time the Ostojics have sought to develop the open field nestled between the St. Thomas bypass and Kettle Creek.
The stumbling block in the past has been the restricted access across the wooden bridge that spans the CN line to London.

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03.09.19
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Women’s Breakfast for Everyone takeaway: ‘The shared capacity for change in this room is large’

city_scope_logo-cmykHis guest speaker engagement March 7 in St. Thomas was far from a routine outing.
In fact, his appearance Thursday morning at the St. Thomas Seniors Centre, proved a humbling experience for Globe and Mail columnist and award-winning author Andre Picard.
For the first time in the 14-year history of the Women’s Breakfast for Everyone, the 200 or so in attendance – including many high school students – would digest the thoughts and opinions of a man at the Violence Against Women, Services Elgin County fundraiser.
His appearance was equally compelling in the fact, as the first male speaker, he addressed the issue of sexual and domestic violence inflicted upon women by men.
And, as so often is the case, if anything goes wrong, it is the woman who shoulders the burden of blame. Continue reading →

03.02.17
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Violence against women: See it, name it, check it

The following is the presentation from guest speaker Barb MacQuarrie  at the Women’s Breakfast for Everyone, hosted by Violence Against Women Services Elgin County, held March 2, 2017 at the St. Thomas Seniors Centre.

  • Barb MacQuarrie is the Community Director for the Centre for Research and Education on Violence against Women & Children in the Faculty of Education at the Western University. She develops and promotes evidence based education and prevention initiatives involving both community-based and university-based partners.
  • Barb has presented to a wide variety of audiences locally, nationally and internationally about gendered violence and strategies to address it.
  • Barb manages several provincial and national public education campaign and training programs. She holds a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant to study the impact of violence on workers and the workplace. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support & Integration.
  • Barb is a recipient of the Order of Ontario, the province’s highest official honour, recognizing individual excellence and achievement
Violence against women is both a cause and consequence of inequality. It is really important to remember it’s not just capricious individual behaviour. This problem is underwritten by that big phenomena of gender inequality and we always have to come back to that. And we have to make sure when we’re really trying to address it, that we don’t lose sight of this. So any effort we’re involved in to promote equality is going to help with this problem. 
We know it’s a violation of human rights. We know it’s a detriment to help and it’s maybe something we don’t think enough about. Violence against women costs us a lot. It costs all of us. On a societal basis and on an individual basis. 

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05.23.15
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The stories behind the homelessness stories

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Following a longer than he would have liked winter hiatus, homeless advocate Jason McComb is ready to pick them up and lay them down as he resumes his cross-Canada trek in aid of the homeless.
Long before the sun breaks through on June 1, Jason will be on the road to Tillsonburg and on to Brantford, Hamilton, Oshawa and then north to Orillia for a musical interlude with Matchbox 20 front man Rob Thomas, who is performing a solo gig at Casino Rama on June 11.
Thomas has been a positive influence in Jason’s life and the promise of a ticket waiting at the door was enough to warrant tweaking his route to accommodate this side trip.
“Through his band and through his music he has gotten me through so much,” Jason advises. “He’s had a tough life.” Continue reading →