EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this article stated that Matt Nicolaidis lived outside of the Ward 4 boundary. The article has been corrected to state that Nicolaidis lives within the boundary.
Former city councillor Stephen Orser has thrown his hat into the ring in the race for Ward 4 in London’s upcoming municipal election.
Orser served Ward 4 for two terms between 2006 and 2014, before being unseated in the 2014 election by Jesse Helmer, Ward 4’s current councillor, by a margin of more than 2,000 votes.
Helmer beat Orser again in the 2018 municipal election by a margin of more than 1,300 votes.
Last year, Helmer announced in a joint letter with Ward 3 Coun. Mo Salih that he would not seek re-election in an effort to make space “for new voices and diverse perspectives.”
“It’s very simplistic,” Orser said in an interview with Global News on Tuesday when asked why he decided to run again.
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“When I looked at the people running (who) don’t live in Ward 4 and don’t own homes here, and I listened to my neighbours and talked to them, I decided that I want to be the person running that lives in Ward 4 in his own home.”
As of Wednesday morning, Matt Nicolaidis and Susan Stevenson are the other candidates running for Ward 4, according to the city’s nomination register. On Wednesday morning, Londoner Jarad Fisher announced on Twitter that he also filed nomination papers for the ward, but that information was not added to the nomination register prior to publication of this story.
Former candidate Tariq Khan was listed on the register with an address outside of Ward 4, but he withdrew his candidacy on Wednesday. Nicolaidis is listed with an address inside Ward 4. Stevenson has no address attached to her candidacy and Fisher’s information was not posted to the nomination register prior to publication of this story.
“I’ve made mistakes, I was most certainly not the most perfect politician at city hall, but I never left my ward behind,” Orser added.
Orser’s vision for Ward 4 includes finalizing a redevelopment for the former McCormick factory at 1156 Dundas St. If elected, he also wants his councillor’s office to be located directly in Old East Village.
“I want to serve the homeless. I want them to be able to get their mail, maybe come in and have showers, get directions, whatever they need that a councillor can do,” Orser said.
Other plans include exploring the potential for federal, provincial and local partnerships to build what Orser calls a “homeless highrise,” which would provide “rooms where someone would have a safe place to stay.”
“I also want to look at a repatriation fund, meaning if there’s a homeless person that’s from Vancouver and they’ve got no money and they’re sleeping in a doorway and they ask for help and they want to go back to their family to get help, we will help them go,” Orser added.
With less than two weeks before nominations close, time is running out for Londoners to declare their candidacy.
Nearly all sitting councillors who are planning to run again have already filed their nomination papers, with the exception of Ward 10 Coun. Paul Van Meerbergen, who confirmed to Global News on Tuesday that he still intends to run again.
Ward 5 Coun. Maureen Cassidy has not yet declared whether she will run again.
Londoners hit the polls on Oct. 24.
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