On Oct. 24, voters across Waterloo Region will head to the polls to elect city and regional councillors, mayors and a regional chair.
Residents of Waterloo, the region’s smallest city, will elect councillors in seven wards in addition to a mayor to form city council.
There shall be not less than three latest faces in place, as Ward 3 Coun. Angela Vieth, Ward 6 Coun. Jeff Henry and Ward 7 Coun. Tenille Bonoguore have chosen not to hunt re-election.
In Ward 7, Julie Wright and Bruce Polan have entered the race to exchange Bonoguore, who selected not to hunt re-election after serving one term on council.
To assist voters ahead of this election, Global News has reached out to all of those running for regional or city council, mayor or regional chair in Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo with available online contact info. Those running for office were emailed a listing of seven questions and in the approaching days, the responses for each candidate who replies shall be shared.
What follows are the responses received from those running for councillor in Waterloo, with the candidates being listed in alphabetical order.
Bruce Polan
Q.1 Please give a temporary background of yourself including what you do for a living and the way long you may have lived in the world? (In case you are an incumbent, please state how long you may have held the position.)
I’m an expert rngineer, working for a big consulting firm based in Waterloo. My field of specialty is geotechnical engineering and construction quality control testing. I actually have provided consulting services for a lot of local projects, including projects for the City of Waterloo, Region of Waterloo, and LRT construction. I actually have lived within the City of Waterloo for the past 30 years and have raised my family here. I brought up two daughters here who’ve still love being close (to) the Waterloo area.
Q.2 Why do you think you might be the correct person for the job?
I’m latest to the political arena but have all the time had a keen interest in local and provincial politics. I’m excited to supply my organizational skills, project management, and problem-solving skills to the town. I’m capable of work with people of assorted backgrounds and personalities, to find out effective solutions for the town.
Q.3 What do you think that is an important issue facing your ward and the town as a complete?
With a big portion of council changing hands this 12 months, including having a latest mayor, it can be essential to ascertain a listing of priorities for council early on in our mandate. Effectively managing the town financial budget shall be an early challenge as well.
Q.4 Looking down the road, what are your long-term goals for the town?
I would love to maintain improving the uptown core and proceed the efforts of previous councils in making Waterloo an awesome place to call home.
Q.5 What’s your platform?
Being latest to council, I shall be on a steep learning curve to grasp the complexities of city government. My platform shall be to enhance the town for all residents, while maintaining our fiscal responsibilities. My priority shall be to deal with improvements in Ward 7, including making the core more pedestrian and bike friendly, by reducing speed limits, and shutting streets where possible for public events.
Q.6 What do you prefer to do in your spare time?
I spend a variety of time walking within the Uptown Core with my wife. We enjoy spending time outdoors and going to the local restaurants and festivals in our area. When I actually have time, I enjoy a round of golf, and was once an avid tennis player on the Waterloo tennis club.
Q.7 What’s your favourite thing about living in your city/ward?
I’m a long-time resident of Waterloo, and have lived in the center of Ward 7 for the past 10 years. The transformations that I actually have seen within the uptown core over these 10 years have been unbelievable! I like the convenience of living near King Street, and with the ability to absorb the local sites and events that occur in our backyard!
Julie Wright
Q.1 Please give a temporary background of yourself including what you do for a living and the way long you may have lived in the world? (In case you are an incumbent, please state how long you may have held the position.)
I grew up in a small town in Woolwich with parents who ran a small business. I went to highschool in Waterloo and moved away, living in Montreal, Toronto and Calgary before returning to the region in 2010 with my young family. We’ve called Uptown Waterloo our home ever since. I spent a decade leading the non-profit Waterloo Global Science Initiative, a science-based catalyst for collective motion, before moving to the University of Waterloo because the Director of Partners for Motion, a research initiative focused on empowering Canadians to be more flood risk resilient. I’ve been lively in the neighborhood since 2010 as a volunteer and advocate for sustainability issues and co-founded and co-chaired the Uptown North Neighbourhood Association until stepping right down to run for council.
Q.2 Why do you think you might be the correct person for the job?
I like Waterloo and wish to be certain that we are able to all thrive here within the years to come back. At heart, I’m an issue solver. We face various big challenges: the local impacts of climate change, affordability, economic uncertainty, and the looming prospect of a brain drain as young people find it not possible to seek out a foothold here. How we approach these issues and the way in which we engage our community is incredibly essential. That is the sort of work I’ve been focused on for the past decade, from global approaches to decarbonization to localization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Through creative engagement strategies and highly relevant policy advice and tools, we are able to bring the correct solutions to council and the remainder of our community.
Q.3 What do you think that is an important issue facing your ward and the town as a complete?
What I hear most in my canvassing is a general worry that Waterloo is becoming unlivable for a lot of due to rising cost of housing. Some don’t see a future here for his or her children, others can’t imagine how they’ll afford their senior years. To do this, we’ve to be certain that we’ve the correct tools in place to match our housing inventory with the housing demand. And we’d like to deal with what is going to allow Waterloo’s residents to thrive — from reasonably priced housing and transportation, education and economic opportunities, to the correct mixture of amenities like grocery stores and doctor’s offices, recreational facilities, and cultural experiences.
Q.4 Looking down the road, what are your long-term goals for the town?
My ideal Waterloo is a city where everyone from our youngest to oldest residents have community and access to what they should thrive. It’s a city with bountiful green space, high-efficiency buildings, reasonably priced housing and transportation options. And it’s a city that uses its brain trust — from our youngest and most creative minds to our globally recognized experts.
Q.5 What’s your platform?
Together, we’d like to construct a resilient city that’s future-ready.
The road ahead requires that we:
- Think long-term and make responsible & strategic decisions today
- Position ourselves so we are able to manage future climate change and housing issues from a spot of strength
- Centre equity in that decision-making
- Put money into young people and involve them in problem-solving
Climate Motion
Waterloo needs to construct on its climate motion strategy. At council, I’ll:
- Champion infrastructure that promotes lively, public transportation
- Work to enhance zoning, bylaws, incentives and enforcement measures that don’t meet the town’s climate motion strategy
- Champion a tree bylaw to guard urban green space, and advocate for increased tree planting and naturalization of city properties and parks
- Advocate for food forests and native biodiversity
- Work with the local universities to discover the areas of Waterloo which are most impacted by climate change
Reasonably priced Housing
We’ve got to tackle housing and climate at the identical time. One in every of the ways we do this is by integrating our housing and transportation strategy. We’ve got to make it easy and appealing for people to decide on to live in dense neighbourhoods.
At council, I’ll support:
- Nimble approaches to zoning that create latest, equitable opportunities for density along transportation corridors
- Incentives for developers who create sustainable and reasonably priced housing options
- Housing diversity in order that neighbourhoods remain vigorous, connected places
- The co-location of amenities and services that each neighbourhood needs – like outdoor space, health care facilities and grocery stores
Resilient Uptown
A vibrant Uptown will help recruit latest talent to the world, keep families within the core of the town, and support older residents who seek to age in place.
At council, I’ll support:
- Creative approaches that ensure Uptown businesses have what they should pivot and reply to changing conditions
- Nimble approaches to filling empty storefronts and recruiting missing amenities
- Incentive structures for anchor tenants
An all-ages-all-peoples approach to place-making across Ward 7
Brain Trust
At council, I’ll support:
- Targeted recruitment of young people between the ages of 18 and 30 for all city committees
- Paid honorariums for college kids to shadow councillors
- Collaboration with local post-secondary institutions on civic problem labs
- All-ages citizen science initiatives to support city data collection the Smart Waterloo Region Innovation Lab and its mission of constructing this region the perfect community in Canada for kids & youth
Q.6 What do you prefer to do in your spare time?
My household could be very lively and musical. I spend a variety of time within the garden and am a voracious reader — anything from Archie comics to sports biographies, science fiction and historical novels.
Q.7 What’s your favourite thing about living in your city/ward?
Waterloo is a wonderful place to grow things, from families and relationships to businesses and the fruits of our local agricultural community. We’ve got all of it.
