Tom Neale 
St. Catharines Community Advocate 

When I speak with residents, I hear many of the same concerns: Taxes, Community Safety, Affordability, Transit, Housing

Ward 2 has for too long accepted disengaged incumbents that don't even show up for meetings.

We deserve better and I have a plan to provide real results, not more rhetoric

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• Permanent public library location for Ward 2.

  • We are the largest ward in the city yet remain unserved. 

  • With the ever increasing cost of living, a library offers internet connectivity (which we tend to take for granted and not realize is a luxury not everyone can afford), a place to study, and provide real relief for families trying to make ends meet with books, movie and video game rentals. It also provides an additional community hub and meeting spaces, perhaps for debates which we are severely lacking in municipal politics

  • I am also in support of more community libraries and book share programs (ie ""Little Free Library"). The more we invest in literacy, knowledge and youth today the better future we can expect. The more we engage with each other as a community the better we will all be. Together, we are better. 

• Increase the safety of our streets and community.​

  • As someone that has had their home and vehicle broken into and identity stolen, I am tired of reading of this on a daily basis as if it is accepted as the new normal. 

  • Policing is the biggest chunk of our tax dollars in Niagara and although the region has police responsibilities we can do better. I want to advocate for a crime reduction task force and increase use of technology. For example, we already have a crime map available for viewing but we are not actively using that data to help track and monitor crime to deploy the right resources at the right time to the areas most in need.

  • I intend to work closely with regional and other city councilors and my community to provide meaningful, respectful and quantifiable solutions to the homeless, addiction and crime problems in our area. This not only includes policing but understanding the root cause ( homelessness, addiction, poverty etc.) and supporting programs and solutions that are respectful, meaningful and quantifiable

  • When I walk my dog I see so many streets being used as bypasses to main roads and alternating stop signs that increase traffic volume and the speed and the risk of accident and injury to pedestrians. We can increase transit, tourism and development and manage traffic at the same time. 

• No tax increases.

  • Where I work, we embrace a model of continuous improvement and being world class. Raising taxes is easy but we can do more with less!

  • I will request departments conduct a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats analysis (SWOT) to present to council

• Increase transit connectivity within the city, region and the GTHA. 

  • Niagara and St. Catharines needs to continue to integrate transit within the region and connections to the GTHA which has extended benefits to foster development and affordable housing. This includes the Go Train but we also deserve better connectivity to the hospital, Seymour-Hannah arena, Go Station and other areas in Ward 2. The Go Station can be a transit hub without having to route through downtown on every route. Why do we finally have daily commuter Go Transit service (although we still need to increase this) but city transit still only links to the Go Station on weekends?

  • I will request a complete overhaul of our transit system through community and public consultations on maximizing route efficiencies, ridership, reducing cost and fares and increasing service hours.

• Investing in our infrastructure and proper growth planning and affordable housing 

  • We will lead the city in growth in the coming years and it is important we have proper community engagement and planning and increase tourism 

  • It is 2022 and we need to adapt our zoning to balance the interests of transportation, increasing affordable housing and protecting the environment. We need to speak the same language across all issues. If we promote bike lanes at the expense of parking we must also not be preventing development if it doesn't provide enough parking, and we must be providing transit solutions that work for the community.

• Affordable housing 

  • We are in the middle of what I call a "social pandemic" -  these issues are not unique to any one area and tend to have the same root causes. They can also be positively impacted by the same strategies. We need to use every tool available to us. 

  • People deserve a respectable place to live and raise their families. I would advocate working with the region other levels of government and the private sectors to identify high risk areas in the most need, identify potential sites and expedite the building of quality affordable units to increase the supply 

  • When approving developments we have the power to incorporate policies that both foster development while also opening up quality affordable spaces. I believe the government in conjunction with the private sector has a role to play.

• Sustainability Initiatives

  • Add subsidized at-home garden kits to the city's portfolio of sustainability initiatives along with tree giveaway and rain barrel programs. It is the little things that count the most and collectively make a big difference. Much like rain barrels reduce demand on the city water supply and the tree-giveaway allows native trees to flourish and increase our tree canopy, at-home gardening teaches new skills and with the increasing cost of food can make a measurable impact on the pocketbook of families while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions from associated transportation. As I like to say, practical environmentalism.

  • I am also in support of increased community gardens and teaching these skills. Many cannot afford to drive and our transit infrastructure is lacking. As a result fast food is too easy and prevalent and fresh produce seems like an expensive luxury especially with ever increasing cost of groceries.  We can build better community engagement and make an impact on our traffic and the wallets of single mothers and fathers and families in general if we grow more of our own food and shared it. 

• Accountability & Engagement

  • I intend to be the most accessible candidate and councillor in Niagara. It is my commitment to respond to any communication within 24 hours. I encourage everyone to reach out and contact me via text, phone call, email or social media. 

  • If elected I intend to:

    • Immediately ask the new council to approve a motion requiring councillors to provide a paragraph explaining why they want to join committees, some of which come with extra salary. Both of our incumbents  just voted against this proposal. Is it so much to ask our representatives for a few words why they want to join a committee for extra money?

    • Create a community group/council that meets directly with me in between council meetings to drive increased engagement and communication. I also intend to work closely with my regional counterparts to drive Ward 2 interests and priorities and be the conduit for regional responsibilities and efforts to be relayed to my fellow ward 2 residents.

    • Publish annual performance review. In the private sector we have performance reviews which allows us to reflect on what we achieved, identify deficiencies and refocus priorities and set goals and actions plans for the coming year. We deserve no less from elected representatives. One of our incumbents campaigned on self-imposed two-term limits and is now going for his fourth but what has been accomplished? A platform should mean something after election day. 

    • Unlike our incumbents, I will actually show up for meetings and engage regularly. My meet and greet event is a perfect example of how I will act if elected. We are all better together, working together to progress on the issues that are not unique to any one area

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Our issues can not be fixed in 4 years much like they did not develop over 4 years. It will take effort and time to repair decades in the making but the time is now to course correct and steer us where we want to be. IT will take every tool in our toolkits and engaged polticiians and communities working together. And I believe we can do it and am excited for the journey.