Windsor Ward 3 council candidates outline plans on important issues

Downtown murals in Windsor, Ont., on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021. (Chris Campbell / CTV Windsor)

CTV News Windsor reached out to candidates running for Windsor council in the municipal election on Oct. 24. Here are the Ward 3 candidates' submissions on the issues of healthcare, including their position on the new hospital, as well as mental health and addiction issues, transit service, economic development, the environment and crime in Windsor.

RENALDO AGOSTINO

Windsor city council candidate Renaldo Agostino. (Courtesy: Renaldo Agostino)

Healthcare

We need a state of the art regional hospital. I support building the new hospital as soon as possible while also maintaining adequate hospital and urgent care capacity in the Windsor core. I also enthusiastically support the H4Hub Plan which will provide comprehensive services for the homeless and mentally ill at one location in a structured environment.

Transit Service

The previous city council has passed Windsor’s Transit Master Plan. I support this plan and its implementation in a responsible and fiscally responsible manner. The expansion of transit throughout the city and connecting neighbourhoods will provide options for residents and encourage their movement to visit, work and play throughout various parts of Windsor, including downtown.

Economic Development

• I have outlined Vibrancy and Business Plans to revitalize downtown and also meet the challenges of our neighbourhoods. Some of my proposals include:
• addressing the vacant, derelict, boarded up storefronts and dirty parking garages which send negative messages to residents, visitors, and potential investors;
• changing how we treat our businesses and working closer with the BIAs focusing on bringing back businesses;
• improving Community Investment Plans;
• attracting tourism business to our ward;
• repurposing Festival Plaza to maximize its potential and integrate it better into downtown;
• bringing a Bright Lights type project downtown;
• making downtown and neighbourhoods more family friendly;
• reinvigorating the partnerships necessary to create innovative solutions;

The Environment

As a strong supporter of a clean environment, I will work closely with environmental organizations to target the areas where municipal level government can be most effective. I support the Ojibway National Park project and protecting and enhancing our open spaces for recreation and wildlife. I also support the planting of more trees within our parks and throughout the city.

Crime in the city

If elected, safety will be my number one priority. Our city, particularly our downtown, is faced with an unprecedented crisis of crime, panhandling, unrestricted drug use, intimidation, and an environment that encourages this behaviour. It is time to take back our streets and end this cycle while helping those who legitimately need our help. Safety is critical if we are to make our downtown and neighbourhoods appealing for businesses to operate and residents to live.

My plan includes:

• enhanced policing including hiring more police officers, improve our off duty policing program, creating storefront police units, and proactively deploying the Windsor Police Service Mobile Unit;
• collaboration necessary to implement effective solutions;
• support for the H4Hub Plan which will provide comprehensive services for the homeless and mentally ill at one location in a structured environment;
• discouraging anti-social, criminal, and intimidating behaviour through efforts to make gathering places (both downtown and in our neighbourhoods) unwelcoming to those who make us feel unsafe;

Other issues

We need innovative policies to address issues related to housing and particularly homes being converted to multi-student housing. We need to protect the residential nature of neighbourhoods while also providing safe housing for students. To address this issue, I support a Residential Rental Licensing Pilot Study to evaluate appropriate housing guidelines and licensing requirements. 

KATHEIRNE CAMERON

Windsor city council candidate Katherine Cameron (Courtesy: Katherine Cameron)

Healthcare

I feel we need improvement we need ambulance stations in every ward, every second counts when attending to individuals in health distress. staff shortages have always been an issue in our area .Windsor needs to improve on the quality of care from medical staff we need to rank up and offer great care just as London Ontario and other cities do.

if a mega hospital is to open then all of our other hospitals need to stay and they need to improve we can't just close all our hospitals and open a mega hospital that far out of reach in different wards. I feel we need to bring individuals that are not so desensitized to patient's mental health needs, there is so much work to be done in this area. I want to bring more rehabilitation centers to the ward. Addictions are a growing concern.I also worked in the health care field in the past & I have a great understanding on what needs to be done to ensure quality care for everyone & especially seniors.

Transit Service

I feel bus service needs improvement & to expand. I want to implement transit service to Leamington for individuals that need to get to work & do not have access to a vehicle in which this has been a growing concern for many people.

bus service should also run on a later schedule as individuals that work late or do shift work should have access to bus service without having limits based on a fixed schedule. We have to keep in mind transit service is funded by tax payer money & its very important we are listening to what the people want. Free bus passes for seniors.

Economic Development

Windsor is a unique city & has potential we can work together to bring more unique businesses to ward 3 but we need to start with the foundation first which is Cleaning ward 3 & ensuring safety this is part of my 3 point plan I have it displayed on my Facebook page Katherine Cameron ward 3. As you can see form past mistakes business keep opening & closing because the foundation has not been fixed.

The Environment

Implementing better quality roads & larger& safer bike lanes will encourage more individuals to bike & become more active in the city we need more trees planted around our ward & again garbage clean up we need to be more environmental friendly & mindful of Mother Nature sometimes we take things for granted instead of helping or having gratitude for what we have.

Crime in the city

Crime in the city seems to be getting worse form my point of view as well as expressed by business owners in the ward & residents. I took the time & put together a 3-point plan which includes what we need to do & the budget remember safety is first & you cannot put a price tag on safety. As a community we also feel accountability needs to be implemented more.

Other issues

Regarding the downtown mission after listening to the concerns of residents & bussiness owners , I believe relocating the mission by the airport would be beneficial to ward 3.

I also wanted to make a statement about the positives we can bring to our city this is what drove me to run in ward 3, I see so much potential here attracting tourists & having more to do in Windsor we need change & a modern mindset . we can make our downtown just like a Cliffton hill. later on when our ward 3 is safer and cleaner how about a synthetic beach in a greenhouse since our beaches are neglected in our city. or turning the old barn into a hall of fame these are ideas I have had & I don't mind sharing them I would be looking for investors to help implement these project ideas that I have been thinking about for a while.

NICK KOLASKY

Windsor Ward 3 council candidate Nick Kolasky. (Courtesy: Nick Kolasky)

Healthcare

I am absolutely opposed to the proposed mega hospital. Spending two billion dollars to build a hospital at a remote location, while effectively shutting down our two present hospitals and not increasing capacity denies all logic to me.

It seems approximately 97-98% of residents I talk to while canvassing in Ward 3 agree with me and are against the mega hospital as planned. It is a financial disaster. Unnecessary construction is an environmental catastrophe as well. The remote location will be a an inconvenience or added expense for some. It will be a death sentence for others due to the long distance between the core or the west side to the other side of the airport. Let's spend money on diagnostics and medical equipment instead of redundant bricks and mortar.

My suggestion is to build an annex to the Met. Divide the huge, government owned parking lot in half. On one half, add a couple of levels of parking to increase capacity.

On the other half, add a 10 to 15 story annex, increasing capacity (beds), diagnostics (i.e. MRI machines) and medical equipment so that Windsorites will need to take fewer trips to London, Hamilton or Detroit for medical treatment. A smaller hospital could be built on that remote site at some point in the future as a compliment to the Met.

Transit Service

I am pro transit, which includes expanding transit to the county. I am also in favour of repairing our roads instead of wasting money on vanity projects.

The Environment

As a green-leaning fiscally responsible independent, I am absolutely in favour of pro-environment decisions. As long as they make financial sense. I am in favour of only purchasing green vehicles going forward. I am not in favour of converting vehicles to green if they are long in the tooth. I am not in favour of unnecessary construction, with the proposed mega hospital on top of that list.

Economic development

My education and career were business oriented. I am pro business and pro business development, as long as this is done in a fiscally responsible manner. My suggestion for the homeless below should improve economic development.

Crime in the city

I have lived in the core for the last 12 years. I have seen a change, which started about 6 years ago.

The increase in homeless has led to a feeling of insecurity in the core. I believe I have at least a partial solution in the next section. It is not additional police.

Other issues

The homeless. Outlawing panhandling does not make sense as there is no penalty which makes sense. Would we fine panhandlers? How do you get money out of an impoverished stone? Would we jail panhandlers? Jailing panhandlers would be expensive. I'd rather not slow down our court system with additional cases.

Hiring more police just to deal with panhandling would lead to an expensive game of cat and mouse that would accomplish nothing in the end besides adding to the police budget. I have a proposal to reduce the number of homeless on the streets. It was announced weeks ago that the city would build a 64-unit homeless hub which would be ready in five years. That would be a step backwards, as we can expect more than 64 new homeless five years from now.

My suggestion is to build homeless hubs using retrofitted shipping containers. They would be self-contained units, with a bathroom, a kitchen and a door lock so the residents could sleep with both eyes closed. They could be located on some of our excess government or industrial land. They would need to be supported my mental health counselling, substance abuse counselling and alcoholism counselling.

Instead of 64 units in five years, we could have more than 64 units in less than a year, and hundreds of units in two or three years. You'll never get all of the homeless off the streets. With a well-supported program, we should be able to get a majority of the homeless into these hubs, then reintegrate some of them back into society. Reducing the number of homeless on the streets should both reduce crime and improve the business environment in the core and many parts of the city.

BRIAN YEOMANS

Brian Yeomans. (Submitted by Brian Yeomans)

Healthcare

I have spoken about the new hospital location in the past, and I understand that the site at County Road 42 and 9th is the selected site and will push for funding to get the hospital built there. I will also be pushing to ensure we have 24-hour emergency services downtown. Many of the challenges that face the city with regard to mental health and addiction are concentrated more greatly in the downtown area. I have met with experts that work every day with mental health and drug addiction. This is something that requires help from all levels of government, to allow for more outreach workers at all hours of the day, more rehabilitation beds and nurses, to help lighten the strain on our medical system.

Transit Service

When growing up in Toronto, I never had the need to have a license, because taking transit was reliable, affordable and efficient. In 2019, the Transit Master Plan was supposed to be finalized by the city, with a path to “meet opportunities and challenges in the future”, “service the community effectively and efficiently”, and to ensure “quality exceeds customer service”. There has been no mention or movement on the plan ever since. Efficient transit will help reduce traffic, lower greenhouse gas emissions, save our residents money on gas, and create a community where everyone can explore our beautiful city.

Economic Development

We have seen some exciting announcements lately about new investments in Windsor revolving around automobility and the EV battery plant. In addition to these very large projects, we should also continue to diversify and focus on small business looking to grow in our community.

The Environment

I have made it a part of my platform to focus on how we as a city work to minimize emissions, including improving efficiency of transit, dedicated bike lanes, and ensuring that new businesses that move to our region have a sustainability plan on reducing their individual emissions.

Crime in the city

As mentioned earlier in my statement, we need to get help for those in our community suffering from mental health and drug addiction. Currently much of this work is being handled by our local police force. This would in turn allow for our police force to focus their attention toward tackling more of the criminal activity in the city, and less time handling calls to deal with people suffering from mental health issues. When it comes to safety and the feeling of security, we need to focus on densification of the core.

Other issues

Whether a street is only two blocks long, or ten, making sure it has proper drainage and sewer infrastructure is essential. While canvassing this weekend, I met residents that had experienced flooding in their basements over the past couple of years. For some it was an inch or so, but for others it was twenty inches. Regardless, any amount is unacceptable.Our residents take pride in their homes, and seeing their hard work and possessions get ruined due to inaction and service cuts is unfair. I will fight for all residents of ward 3 to ensure their concerns about road and sewer infrastructure are heard.

Also running in Ward 3

• Helmi Charif
• Angela Fitzpatrick
• Kennedy Mangera
• James McCarte
• Cynthia Van Vrouwerff

*The candidate submissions are not edited by CTV News for grammar or content. Only those candidates who responded to CTV News have been included.