As we plan for Kingston’s future, a key issue we face is ensuring reliable, convenient and affordable transportation to and from our community. Over the past eight years, I’ve been advocating VIA Rail to improve train service to major cities like Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. However, I’m incredibly disappointed and frustrated by last week’s announcement…
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Every year one of the most important discussions at council is my presentation of the city’s annual budget. While as Council we can talk about important issues and priorities for the community, it’s the budget that ultimately determines where our municipal tax dollars are spent, and which City projects and initiatives move forward. The 2025…
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As we kick off a new year here in Kingston, the City has been approached with an interesting proposal for one of the oldest and most prominent recreation sites in the community. The potential project is a new soccer stadium that would be constructed here on the northeast corner of the Memorial Centre property. This…
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One of the most important actions we can take in response to the homelessness crisis is to create pathways that help people get back on their feet. While it’s important to meet people where they are, it is equally as important that, as a community, we can offer hope and support to help them move…
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Earlier this month, I joined with other mayors from Ontario’s largest cities to discuss the ongoing homelessness, mental health, and addictions crisis.. The Ontario Big City Mayors (OBMC) Caucus represents 29 cities with populations over 100,000. It’s a very diverse group of mayors with different political leanings and backgrounds, but over the last two years we have been united…
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Like most other cities in Ontario, in Kingston, we continue to grapple with the multiple, overlapping crisis of homelessness, mental health and addictions. These challenges are incredibly complex and cannot be fully addressed without adequate funding from upper levels of government. But in trying to do our best with the resources we have, there are…
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One of the great treasures we have here in Kingston is our amazing waterfront. It’s a crucial part of our identity as a city and our quality of life as a community. One of my top priorities as mayor has been to expand public access to the waterfront and create new places, activities and experiences…
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As we head into the fall, one of the most important tasks here at City Hall is to begin work on next year’s budget. Since the introduction of strong mayor powers last year, it is my responsibility as mayor to present the budget to council early in the new year. That process begins here in…
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The on-going shortage of family physicians has been one of the top concerns in our community for the last several years. Fortunately, we are now starting to see some significant improvements in primary care access in Kingston, thanks to recent investments from the City, new funding from the province, and a team effort from a…
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After a few tough years during the pandemic, it’s great to see the City’s transit system expanding once again. In 2024, we are expecting transit ridership to return to the pre-pandemic peak of nearly seven million riders we first reached back in 2019. With the City’s population continuing to increase, we’re now ready to create…
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