We know there’s a critical need for more housing in Kingston. That’s why City Council has already approved the construction of several thousand new housing units. The challenge is high inflation, high interest rates and labour shortages in building trades all threatening to slow housing construction at the exact moment we need to accelerate it.…
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It’s time Kingston—City Council has set its new goals for this term and now we’re ready to put a plan in place. At a special meeting this Tuesday, I’ll be sitting down with City Council to approve a bold and ambitious plan geared toward specific and concrete actions to move our community forward. This plan will help…
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Earlier this year, I joined several mayors and mental health organizations from across the province to push the provincial government for more funding to address the ongoing health and homelessness crisis. Kingston like other communities across Ontario is experiencing an overwhelming surge in the number of vulnerable and unhoused residents. After some continuous advocacy from Kingston City Council and countless others, I am encouraged to see a significant increase in homelessness funding for municipalities in last month’s…
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Here in Kingston, we are fortunate to have one of the best and most beautiful downtowns anywhere in the country. Keeping the downtown strong and vibrant requires finding new ways to bring more people into the downtown to sustain our local shops and small businesses. A great example is the proposal for a new downtown conference centre. At…
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Each night this week, City Council is meeting to discuss the 2023 budget. It’s an important budget with new spending for affordable housing, supports for homelessness, and investments in roads, parks, and city facilities. It’s also an important budget given the rise in inflation and interest rates we’ve seen over the last year. During the…
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When I first became mayor a number of years ago, the big economic development challenge at the time was how to attract new businesses to Kingston. Things have changed dramatically since then, with an expanding electric vehicle industry and several other rapidly growing sectors. We now have a host of different companies wanting to either…
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According to last week’s CMHC report, the rental vacancy rate in Kingston has fallen to 1.2%. That’s the second lowest vacancy rate in the province. In fact, in Canada as a whole, the rental vacancy rate is at it lowest point in more than 20 years. Here in Kingston we can see first hand the…
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Like many cities across the province, in Kingston we’ve seen a big increase in the number of unhoused individuals in our community over the last few years. As a city, we’re responding to this by creating new shelter spaces and investing in supportive housing. With existing shelters at or near capacity, this month the city…
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Good evening, everyone. Welcome to a brand-new term of Kingston City Council. Tonight, marks the beginning of a new chapter in the history of this great city and in all our lives. I’d like to begin by welcoming and congratulating our newest members around the Council horseshoe: Councillors Amos, Chaves, Cinanni, Glenn, Hassan, Ridge, Stephen,…
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The last two years have been difficult for everyone, but it’s been especially challenging for our most vulnerable residents. For a kind and caring community like ours, it’s important to help people get back on their feet. First and foremost, that means pushing the provincial and federal governments for more funding for supportive and transitional…
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