Meet The Candidates 2018 - Kitchener

Kitchener Meet The Candidates

Date

Sunday, 30 September 2018, noon to 2:00pm

Location

St Matthews Lutheran Church, 51 Benton Street, Kitchener, ON

What is the role of government in the environment?

• Huge role! Especially Regional government
  • Responsible for waste, eg. blue boxes and green bins
  • But more than waste
• Manage (legislate) producers of waste?
  • (Legislate) No plastic bags, single use packaging, straws
• Retrofit existing facilities (gov't, business, residential)
• Provide incentives for fleet cars (gov't, business)

What is the role for Regional government to regulate business?

• Contrast with other levels of government, eg. provincial, federal
  • Regional government has a role for advocacy at those levels
• Provide tax relief for the environmentally conscious
  • eg. citizens bring reusable bags to market
  • eg. at restaurants bring your own takeout container

• Community advocates are knowledgable, eg. cycling

Transit

• Transit has a huge impact for the environment
• Who uses transit? (hands raised)
  • Not everyone.
  • Why? Not enough options
• Region could buy out Carshare and subsidize it
• Use mini-buses, and implement more routes
• Need longer service hours
  • eg. Elmira has no service after 7:00pm
  • eg. Sunday service to employment locations (Cambridge)

• Free, 100% subsidized transit?
  • Would need to figure out subsidy (funding?), tax options, tradeoffs

Safe Consumption Sites

• What are the tradeoffs?

Economic Development and the Environment

• Economic Development is a tool for improving the lives of citizens
• The Region doesn't do Economic Development
  • It is part of the social toolkit to improve the lives of citizens

Affordable Housing

• Gentrification?
  • eg. Old postoffice
• Where is the affordable housing?
  • No-one can afford it.
• Affordable housing is the biggest issue for Rob Deutschman
• "Build as many as possible, as quickly as possible"

• Defer taxes on empty lots
  • Vacancy tax, property tax
  • Defering taxes encourages new development

• The Region already partners with developers

• The Region needs an "Affordable Housing Czar"
  • A liaison between those who need affordable/social/subsidized housing (social workers) and developers

• Affordable housing is not mandated
  • Inclusionary zoning is not mandated, but it should be
  • What role can cities and rural areas play?

• Can government take on developers?
  • Unlikely. Government gives (has given?) too many tax cuts
  • Developers are too powerful
• Kitchener Housing (?) has been in touch (with developers?)

• Developers want to help, but want make money
  • So they're not "true partners"

• $10 million to remove conditions for affordable housing
• The building does get built, but the affordable housing does not

• Need to continue conversation
  • Government cant' fund Affordable Housing on its own, needs partnership

• As things get more expensive we need new ideas

• Not building out
  • The Region must not build outside the Countryside Line

• Regional Housing is not as easy as it used to be
  • Developers are putting conditions on the deal
  • Nobody (developers) is listening (to calls for affordable housing) because developer have got to make a buck
  • eg. site for Trinity Church -- does it have no historical value?

• Some long-term developers who live and work in the Region are helping
  • They are willing to have these discussions
  • But it is not mandated

• Advocate for changing zoning bylaws to encourage Affordable Housing
  • eg. reduce legislated parking ratios, reduce the $40K costs of building parking facilities

• Why is Co-operative Housing not possible?
  • Market has made the funding too expensive
  • 25-30 years ago it was successful

• Can't rely on developers (to implement affordable housing)
  • But government should get on it

Role of Regional Government

• Too many layers: Municipal, Regional, Provincial
• We're sharing services, eg. Fire, Ambulance
  • But Transit, Police are Regional responsibilities
  • And Fire is a Municipal responsibility

• Urban Sprawl
  • To rein it in needs discussion between Regional and Municipal governments
• Design of Urban Sprawl needs cooperation, consistency between municipalities

• Kitchener has the bulk of Regional social services locations
  • eg. Housing, Public Health
  • These access points to facilities need to be spread out across the Region

• Housing, space for non-profits has become unaffordable

• A 10% change in Affordable Housing is not going to make a big difference
  • There is a seven year wait for supportive housing

• Region and Cities have to do a better job of Affordable Housing
  • Partnerships: Developer puts housing in, Region monitors installation and takes over units for Affordable (Supportive, Social, Public) housing

• Is there a role for government to remove the commodity market of housing?
  • There should be!
  • There is a place for government to step in
  • So that housing is not controlled by capitalist forces

• More diversification, distribution of affordable housing

Governance

• Giving representation to "Those who didn't vote for us"
• Divisive politics
  • We have become more divisive as a society
  • This works against the democratic process
  • A single winner takes over, runs over minorities

• Proper democracy involves looking out for minorities

• The Region has been in place for 45 years
  • It was a good idea when introduced
  • Ensured equalization of services
  • Inclusive of rural townships

• But who looks after what?

• Consolidate the Region?
  • Not a MegaCity!
  • Amalgamate Kitchener and Waterloo
  • Combine some services
  • Done in the past, eg. Cambridge Transit is now part of GRT
  • Do we need a separate Kitchener Fire Department and Waterloo Fire Department?

• (to Tom Hiller): Why are you running?
  • Almost 65 years old, have no kids, and lots of time

• Scale of Regional and Municipal government:
  • We have more and more councillors
  • The population has demanded more representation
  • But for Waterloo Regional Council - Do we need this many councillors? Maybe not

• If we don't show improvement in our governance, it will be foisted on us (by the Provincial government)
• "Flavour of the day: Government is way too big"
  • But tax revenues set a different level of governance for Toronto compared to Waterloo Region
• We need management of government sprawl
• More representation may result in more conflict
• The layers of government is holding back economic growth
  • When restrictions to a business are removed then economic growth is improved

Notes taken by Bob Jonkman