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 as well as a mayor to form city council.
There will be at least three new faces in place, as Ward 3 Coun. Angela Vieth, Ward 6 Coun. Jeff Henry and Ward 7 Coun. Tenille Bonoguore have chosen not to seek re-election.
In Ward 2, Royce Bodaly is seeking a second term in office but will have to hold off challenges from Khaled Berbash and Shaheen Mujahid.
To help 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 list of seven questions and in the coming days, the responses for every candidate who replies will be shared.
What follows are the responses received from those running for councillor in Waterloo, with the candidates being listed in alphabetical order:
Khaled Berbash
Q.1 Please give a brief background of yourself including what you do for a living and how long you have lived in the area? (If you are an incumbent, please state how long you have held the position.)
I moved with my fanily from Ottawa to Waterloo in 2006 to start my Ph.D. in Asset and Construction Management at UW, the most innovative university in Canada for several years. My Ph.D. research area was utilizing the AIs in building a resposive and smart decision support system for managing assets and infrasturcture systems. After graduating my wife and I decided to stay in Waterloo and raise our kids in this lovely and freindly city. I started my business as a consultant to different businesses, as well as to continue working on my innovative research projects. I filed and obtained my first patent in 2012. In 2020, I incorporated my business as Can-Connect Developments Inc., which gave me a very close exposure to the city by-laws, building Codes, etc. while dealing with many cities in ontario for residential and mixed-use developments projects. I had also the opportunity to volunteer with some local community groups.
Q.2 Why do you believe you are the right person for the job?
I believe I am the right person for this office because of my extensive and diverse experience for 32 years. In additions my professional and academic credentials would make me the best fit for this job in terms of: (1) City planning and building design, this is my profession for 32 years as an architect with B.Sc. in architecture and Urban Planning, (2) Running and operating the city, this where my Ph.D. in Asset and Construction management from UW will be an added value for the council to and staff, as well as introducing more advanced and smart decision support systems to operate the city and its assets more cost-effectively, so we can achieve some budget saving to be directed to other service or support programs, (3) Being a graduate of the 1st Professional Master of Public Service Program at UW is a valuable merit that I can utilize for an informed and educated decision making process at Council level, as well as while leading the staff in preparing the support and background studies, surveys,etc., (4) As a business owner (Can-Connect Developments Inc.) I have dealt with many cities in Ontario. In addition, I have dealt with the staff in different department at city hall. I will be introducing new initiative to upgrade/improve/digitize the services especially in planning and building standards.
What do you think is the most important issue facing your ward and the city as a whole?
From the perspective of voters, I believe the most important issue in my ward and across the city is the increasing property taxes year over year. This is the key important issue that impact/affects all other issues/services/programs. Property taxes are the principle revenue source to fund the budget of the City. The yearly increase in property taxes leads to sharp increase in prices at all every we are experiencing today, especially residential and commercial rentals. In my opinion, finding creative avenues to stop or minimize the increase in property taxes will be my innovative initiative that I will present to the Council if elected. The initiative includes a number of tools to successfully implement it, including collaborative private public partnerships. I believe this initiative will enable the city to source more funds to spend on implementing the affordable housing strategy, safer streets, affordable utilities bills, and more.
Get breaking National news
Q.4 Looking down the road, what are your long-term goals for the city?
My long-term goal is to make the City of Waterloo a vital, dynamic, high living standards, sustainable, and multi-cultural, inclusive for all generations, smart city to live and work. If elected, I will strongly advocate utilizing more smart technologies and system at all levels, which will enable the city to be operated in a cost-effective and efficient model. I will strive for more wide-community engagement and consultation to strengthening the sense of belonging and working together as a big family for a better future to meet local, provincial, and federal mandates in terms reduction of green house gas, more safer street and communities, affordable housing and rentals, convenient/affordable transportation and active daily commute, better strategies and policies for prosper and successful future.
Q.5 What is your platform?
My platform include working as applicable and possible the following:
1. Youth Empowering, Community Well-being, and Multiculturalism: This will include new potential swimming pools, cultural-based events, youth sports, community engagement, drinking water fountains, and seating benches along trails & sidewalks.
2. Affordable Housing and helping Low-income families: Support affordable housing initiatives, invest in the potential opportunities, and explore alternative funding sources/resources.
3. Transportation, busing, and cycling: Re-consider resorting to the speed limit 40Km/h, improving schedules and routes of buses No. 13, 29, and 31 (increase bus trips within peak periods, extend bus lines to Laurelwood St. and end of Vista Hill), Build more bus shelters, improve pavement of damaged roads.
4. Sustainability and Smart Community: Promote the use of lead certification to improve the performance of the current buildings, encourage lead certification for new buildings and developments, encourage the utilization of AI-based systems/services at all levels, and promote community-based recycling programs and projects.
5. Public and Private Partnerships: Promote more active and wider partnerships between schools, universities, research centres, financial institutions, and private sectors. Involve the private sector and community-based organizations more in infrastructure and services projects in terms of planning, funding, and implementation.
6. Preserving Green Spaces & Cultural Heritage: Initiate historical and heritage preservation project for Ward 2 landmarks, and in partnership with GRCA, initiate a development project for Laurelwood Conservation Area (LCA) to become a more attractive touring attraction.
7. Streets, Trails, and Parking: Upgrade streetlights with LED lights for better night vision and energy saving, plant more trees and replace missing ones, improve snowblowing/removal capacities,consider extending street free parking permits periods for one car per household, work on a by-law amendment to allow additional cars for single car driveways.
8. Environment and Clean Energy: Encouraging the use of environmentally-friendly alternatives for de-icing on sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots, promoting the use of solar energy and other renewable sources in homes, businesses, and institutional buildings, and building more EV charging stations in public spaces.
Q.6 What do you like to do in your spare time?
In my spare time, I love to spend time with my family. I like go for a walk with my wife around Clair Hills. I enjoy watching my kids play basketball and drive them to their game and tournaments. I was proud and happy of my second-oldest son winning Ontario Basketball Cup this year. I like to watch documentary programs on TV or social media, as well as help my kids with their schoolwork.
Q.7 What is your favourite thing about living in your city/ward?
Most favorite thing about living in Waterloo is a global town in terms of multiculturalism, a graduate of master and Ph.D. programs form University of Waterloo,a world-class university, a clean and friendly city full of kind people.
Royce Bodaly
Q.1 Please give a brief background of yourself including what you do for a living and how long you have lived in the area? (If you are an incumbent, please state how long you have held the position.)
My name is Royce Bodaly, I am the current Ward 2 City Councillor for the City of Waterloo, I was elected in 2018 and am just completing my first term on council.
After graduating from Laurier in 2004 with an honours degree in economics and accounting, my wife and I chose to stay here to raise our family. My professional background is in sales and product management in the consumer products industry. Of late, I have been doing contract work with a local sustainability focused not-for-profit organization. My family and I have lived in the Columbia Forest area of Ward 2 for 15 years.
Q.2 Why do you believe you are the right person for the job?
I am proud of the work I have done on council in my first term, in some fairly challenging times. I’m still passionate about representing the residents of Ward 2 and tackling the issues facing the City. I love working with community members to make the city a better place to live, tackling problems large and small. I have worked extremely hard to engage with residents, in person, at events, on social media, through town halls and through my website where I provide monthly newsletters to my constituents.
I am excited to continue tackling the challenges we face as a city, including climate change, affordable housing and safe streets. I’m passionate about building an equitable and inclusive city, where all are welcomed and belong and I’m eager to bring my passion, commitment and experience back to council.
Q.3 What do you think is the most important issue facing your ward and the city as a whole?
The most important issue facing the ward is making our streets safer and more livable so our children, seniors and all road users can get where they need to go within the neighbourhood in a safe fashion. I’m proud of the work council has done to commit to Vision Zero principles within our transportation network, increasing active transportation options for pedestrians and cyclists, reducing speed limits on our residential streets and increasing traffic calming initiatives across the city. In the coming term of council, I am committed to advocating for an increase in the transportation budget for more low-cost traffic calming implementations, to ensure that our kids can safely walk to school, the park and their friends’ houses.
The most pressing issue facing the city is tackling the affordable housing crisis. Again, I’m proud that council embedded affordable housing as a priority in our 2019-2022 strategic plan. Doing so led to the establishment of an affordable housing reserve fund with a stable funding source. This funding has been used to support affordable housing initiatives across the city, which are having a significant positive impact on residents. We have also recently created the city’s first ever affordable housing strategy; a 10-year plan to create and retain affordable units across the city. It is imperative that the next term of Council begins the important work of implementing the 30 actions within the strategy. Particularly important is the implementation of inclusionary zoning; a tool which requires developers to build a small percentage of affordable units within new developments. We also need to look at allowing more gentle density and missing middle options to create more attainable housing in our community. Affordable housing is a complex topic, requiring the cooperation of many levels of government, but also requires the city to use all the tools in our toolbox to tackle this issue.
Q.4 Looking down the road, what are your long-term goals for the city?
My long-term goals for the city are to build an inclusive and welcoming city where everyone feels as though they have a sense of belonging to their community. A community where folks can access their daily needs within their own neighbourhoods, without always needing a vehicle. A community that accommodates our growth in an environmentally friendly manner, without sprawling into our townships in order to not only preserve pristine farmland and our drinking water, but also the rural-urban fabric of the Region that makes us so unique. Lastly, a community where everyone has an affordable place to live and can enjoy the incredible benefits of living in such a wonderful, forward-thinking city.
Q.5 What is your platform?
My platform is to tackle the four main priorities I see for the city; Safe Streets, Affordable Housing, Climate Change and Inclusion & Belonging. I have already addressed some of my ideas related to safe streets and affordable housing, so I will elaborate on the latter two. We only have two Council terms remaining to meet our greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets of a 50% drop by 2030. In the next term of Council, I am committed to working on implementing our Energy Road Map for City-owned facilities to demonstrate leadership in reducing our directly controlled emissions. Having ensured this term that the new West Side Employment Lands are built with sustainable development guidelines, I am committed to using the knowledge gained to help guide a community green building policy. Every building built today that is not Net Zero or Net Zero Ready, is a building that will need to be retrofitted in the not-too-distant future, underscoring the need to implement these policies.
With respect to Inclusion & Belonging, I have demonstrated my commitment to calling out racist, homophobic, or xenophobic behaviour in my community. I am also eager to work closely with our local faith-based organizations, neighbourhood associations and the City’s new Anti-Racism, Indigenous Reconciliation and Accessibility team to work towards inclusive policies, spaces, and events across the City.
Q.6 What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love sports and play hockey and ultimate Frisbee as often as I can. I’m also a board game fanatic, I love learning new games and playing them with my two children or with friends. I’ve loved professional wrestling since I was a kid and haven’t kicked the habit of watching it in my spare time. I enjoy spending free time Uptown Waterloo with friends and family, enjoying the variety of bars and restaurants. My wife and I love going for walks through the neighbourhood and just spending time with family.
Q.7 What is your favourite thing about living in your city/ward?
The best part of Ward 2 is the incredible diversity of the neighbourhoods. The opportunity to meet with neighbours from many different backgrounds and to be exposed to different cultures is incredible. We have extremely passionate and engaged community members and volunteers, who are a pleasure to work with. Perhaps what makes us most unique is the access to Columbia Forest, which provides not only access to nature, but a plethora of recreational trails to enjoy!
Global News has also reached out to Khaled Berbash and Shaheen Mujahid but has not received a response as of publication. This copy will be updated as further answers arrive.
Comments