October 13, 2010

Students are an important part of our community, though we do not always talk that way. We hear more about the problems attributed to students in our community than the positive differences that many more students make in our community.

From the students raising money to support Habitat for Humanity at Laurier today to Waterloo students working to unlock government data and create better online community services, this community is full of students working to improve our City.

Today we had an opportunity as candidates in Ward 6 to engage students through debates at our universities.

Over lunch at Wilfrid Laurier University, I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with students about how we can work together to improve student housing and how the City reaches out to students. We spent even more time talking about our transportation challenges in this community, where full buses leave students and other residents at the curb far too often. We learned that it has been years or decades since the other candidates took public transportation in this City, which explains why we have heard so much from some about not needing more resources in the main transportation corridors.

I am a proud user of public transit to get to work and to where I am going most days in this City and in this Region. It is important for those asking for better transit in Waterloo to understand the daily experience of those who choose to use transit so that we can build a more effective and efficient system for all of us.

Later this evening, we had another debate at the University of Waterloo. I appreciated that we had four minutes to talk about each of amalgamation, Northdale, fluoridation, and transportation. These are important issues that deserve a thoughtful and thorough discussion, which is what I have been providing from the start of this campaign.

I told students that I remember looking for housing in Northdale, which was as unpleasant an experience several years ago as it is today. I know that we need to involve students and universities along with developers, longer term residents, and City staff in finding a solution. It was also clear that engaging students and the universities in tackling the challenges we face is not happening to the extent that it could, and we are worse off for that.

In both debates, all of the candidates encouraged students to vote. I hope that students take the opportunity to exercise their right to vote and then continue to engage with their representatives so that we can build an even better community together.