Strong communities are the foundation of our city, our province and our country. People feel a connection to their city and their neighbourhood, which must be supported and strengthened through thoughtful planning and consultation. Communities must be given a real and meaningful voice in making decisions that will affect them in the future.

In Ward 4, we want people to continue living in the heart of our city and we want others to make the choice to move here. If we are to deal with the problems of urban sprawl then we must create and sustain neighbourhoods that will attract peole to the heart of our city. Vibrant communities exist where people live, work, shop and socialize, so we must make our communities attractive and livable and we must protect the things that make our neighbourhoods special and unique.

Ad hoc development of the kind we have seen in the past only serves to undermine our communities. Future redevelopment must be carried out with the aim of making our communities stronger.

There are a few things our City Council can do right now to support communities: it can recommit to neighbourhood planning and allow real conversations within each mature neighbourhood for how they are gloing to change and grow; and it can develop design standards that protect the integrity and future health of our communities ands allow for conversations not just on the size and use of a project but more importantly how it will connect and work within the community.