12 questions, 5 mayoral candidates

CONNOR LUCZKA, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On Oct. 26, Stratford citizens will pick the city’s next council. Last Tuesday, 20 days before election night, the Stratford & District Chamber of Commerce hosted the mayoral and councillor candidates for a special evening where residents could meet with them face to face and hear what they have to say about Stratford’s future.

It also had a live Q-and-A with the mayoral candidates moderated by CJCS host Jamie Cottle, with questions supplied from the city’s business community and curated by organizers. For an hour and a half, Martin Ritsma, Jo-Dee Burbach, Mark Hunter, Robert Ritz and Andrew Rea fielded 12 questions from Cottle, ranging from affordability to housing and all things in between.

A ward system for Stratford?

When asked if they supported a ward system, the candidates were mixed.

Ritsma doesn’t believe Stratford is big enough currently to support multiple wards and worries about good candidates not making it onto council because only one or two would be voted in for their specific area.

Burbach believes a ward system could improve accountability, but it would depend on how it was implemented. There are a few questions she has about the system: the costs, the methods and the like, and she also pointed out that Stratford had a ward system in the past but moved away from it.

Hunter was open to the idea, but said he would not predetermine any investigation into how to improve accountability. He questioned the desire for a ward system.

“And the answer was better communication,” Hunter said. “And I agree that city hall needs to communicate with our city better. I think we need reliable, consistent communication with all of the community to keep everybody informed of all that's going on. In short, I'm open to exploring this, but I think there may be other ways to solve this problem.”

Ritz was in favour of neighbourhood or ward representation rather than a system where ward elections take place. In short, Ritz advocated for each councillor being designated a ward for representation wherein they would be responsible for communicating with those residents, though wouldn’t be elected by said residents.

Rea fully supported a ward system moving forward and said he would do everything in his power – except use strong mayor powers – to get such a system in place by next election.

Procurement practices with the City of Stratford

Nearly all of the candidates agreed that procurement practices in the municipal system were difficult to adjust, considering they are provincially mandated – though they all said that some adjustments could be made so local businesses may have a better shot at acquiring municipal contracts.

“Provincial legislation says that we must take the lowest bid unless there's a justifiable reason we have for selecting a different service. For instance, if there's a value-added proposal or perhaps a poor recommendation from another customer, so we have very little room to maneuver in that provincial legislation,” Burbach said. “We can't favour businesses solely because they pay taxes for operating in a specific municipal boundary, but if the location of the contractor will affect service levels, then the location can be considered. So I think there's some other mechanisms for the city of Stratford to support and encourage local businesses to apply for municipal contracts.”

Hunter agreed with Burbach, though said he would support directing staff to favour local companies when hiring a third party under the discretionary threshold. Any contract under a specific dollar amount does not need to go through a procurement process, but can be done at staff discretion.

Ritz said he wants to see the city move towards “pre-qualified bids for appropriate projects,” meaning that establishing a company is qualified would happen first, before comparing prices. Furthermore, he would look for ways to give local businesses greater consideration.

Rea would work with council and staff to see what policies could be changed or updated, wanting to make it easier for citizens to be involved in city decisions, all while helping local businesses thrive and contribute.

Ritsma, likewise, was in favour of making adjustments, though recalled something a voter told him recently: that local companies bid on projects out of town, and making sure the most competitive bid wins is the only way to keep things fair across the board.

A year-round tourist destination

On the topic of a year-round tourist destination, Hunter and Burbach pointed to the many organizations working towards that goal, with Burbach also adding that improving snow removal in the winter would make Stratford more appealing to guests and residents.

Ritsma pointed to last year, the 1.7 million tourists that came and the expansion of the city’s transit options, Flix Bus and the GO Train, saying he looks forward to continuing that work.

“Stratford in winter offers something special: peace and quiet,” Ritz said. “People who love coming here in the summer can enjoy a different experience in the winter – a comfortable stay, a good meal and a walk through our parks in the snow … We did not always need another expensive attraction to give people a reason to visit.”

Rea wanted to see better infrastructure in place before the tourist season expands: spacing out events, having more available transportation resources and enough parking. He wanted to see Stratford’s tourism industry branch out from the theatre world and be future proofed for generations to come.

Municipal land transfer taxes, development charges

When asked about fees around the construction and sale of homes, like a municipal land transfer tax and development charges, all the candidates expressed a desire to remove barriers to homeownership and other red tape.

Ritz wanted to streamline the timeline for projects: clear requirements, better coordination and a smoother approval process.

Rea added that as a non-homeowner, the housing market affects him deeply. He wanted to see major change, so that in four years time future mayoral candidates will have other issues to debate, rather than the ones being brought up year after year.

Ritsma pointed out that Stratford has one of the lowest development charges in the province and those charges enable many of the services the city needs to provide, something Burbach and Hunter agreed with.

Burbach also said Stratford doesn’t have a “missing middle” when it comes to housing, rather a “missing bottom,” advocating for affordable housing, while Hunter said the development charges for a house pretty well breaks even in terms of the cost of servicing that house, so lowering development charges would put more of a burden on the general taxpayers.

The Grand Trunk renewal project

When asked about the Grand Trunk renewal (GTR) project and their individual visions for the site, Rea didn’t mince words.

“Localized virtue signaling aside, I think we need to repair our reputation with the provincial government first,” he said. “Making a decision in a closed door format that was not done in view of the public to resort to litigation over strong mayor powers when we could just, I don't know, have a mayor that doesn't use strong mayor powers, does not put Stratford’s government in provincial good graces. So we got to fix that first and foremost before any assistance on any projects, and then invite them to the table on any potential that they might be worth investing there as well.”

Ritsma defended the work that has been done so far, saying that after one of the most inclusive engagement events, the city distilled 166 ideas into five and is now in the market sounding stage of the development.

Burbach would like to see a vibrant, mixed-use neighbourhood on the site, detailing the features she would like to see before addressing the “elephant in the room”: Ritz’s comprehensive vision that was published and discussed at length this year. She began to list the costs of his project, before she was stopped for time.

Hunter as well defended the work city council has done, pointing out the plan for the community hub, which would see a new library and YMCA being built, will be a major asset for citizens – and achievable.

Ritz, for his part, simply said he wanted to move forward with the project, with a financing plan designed to pay for itself, funded through a market-rate condominium and shared spaces.   

Concrete action for the homelessness issue

In regards to the homelessness issue, Ritsma, Hunter and Burbach all expressed a desire to get the Erie Street supportive housing project up and going. The city has $5 million allocated for the 13-unit project and is shovel ready, though is waiting for provincial operating funds to get started. All three advocated for supportive housing, housing with wraparound social service support included.

Burbach added that she was in favour of adding emergency shelter beds to the city’s warming centre.

Ritz said he would bring community partners together to work toward a common solution and Rea, again, wished to repair provincial relationships in order to get more resources for support.

Policing levels and gender-based violence

Answering a combined question on policing levels and what they would do to combat gender-based violence, most candidates were in agreement that policing levels required a nuanced look. All candidates committed to doing what they can to prevent the latter.

Burbach wanted to move the conversation from surviving gender-based violence to preventing it, through unlearning and re-education, a sentiment shared by Hunter and Ritsma.

Ritz wished to support the professionals working in the field, while Rea said every elected official needed to address and take immediate action to make sure support is available.

Increased funding for social services

As pointed out by Hunter, Burbach and Ritsma, social services are a provincial responsibility being administered by the municipality. All wished to see the department further funded, though noted the city is already doing more than it is required to foot the bill.

Ritz advocated for further efficiency by seeing where similar programs were being offered by the city, the library and the Y, preventing overlap.

Rea committed to doing a full departmental audit to make sure the city is doing things as rationally and efficiently as possible, identifying anything that was “a boondoggle, virtue signal or anything else that reeks of fiscal waste.”

“I want to emphasize the great work that our social service department does every day,” Ritsma said. “But in order for these people to do more work, we need to increase the funding, and that funding comes from two sources: your tax levy and grant dollars through the province. And this comes back to the importance of us working shoulder to shoulder with the province, finding opportunities to connect with (MPP) Matthew Rae and Sylvia Jones, our Minister of Health, to bring those services that are needed in Stratford.”

Recruiting more doctors

All the candidates were in agreement that more doctors were needed in Stratford and that health care was more easily accessible.

With some differences between their answers, all said one way or another that the key to attracting more doctors is to improve Stratford.

Snowfall and accessibility

In regard to snow removal, Rea said it is a complete failure on the city’s part anytime people in wheelchairs and mobility scooters have to use the road rather than a sidewalk during the winter, saying that he will making sure the city’s public works department know his priorities this winter.

Ritsma commended the 24/7 work being done by the department during winter, pointing out that there are 400 kilometres of road to clear continually during a winter event. The one change he would like to see is reminding residents to not use the roads unless it is essential, during such an event.

Burbach advocated for a service review through an accessibility lens, understanding that everyone needs to see where the current service levels are at and identify which roads and sidewalks are most important for those with accessibility issues, in order to target those with priority during a winter event, something Hunter agreed with.

Ritz believed targeting one sidewalk of a street rather than both could improve efficiencies.

Closing downtown streets for cars

Candidates were asked their opinions on shutting down certain streets downtown to promote more walking and cycling, either permanently or on weekends. All of the candidates said they wouldn’t make such a decision in a bubble and were in agreement that the balance held now was working.

Supporting seniors

In regards to supporting seniors, Burbach wanted to bolster communication so seniors and their families know what resources are available to them. She “would love” to support free transit for seniors so that they can get around more easily, and was in support of a dedicated senior centre downtown.

Hunter wanted more smaller housing options in the city, so seniors had the ability to downsize and free up more family homes for those looking to get into the housing market, and wanted better accessibility – sidewalks and access to health care.

Ritz looked to the GTR as a possible location for seniors’ activities, a one-shop stop for everything a senior would need: transit, recreation, access to services and areas to socialize.

Rea, as the youngest mayoral candidate, clarified that he would let the senior community dictate what they wanted to fix their issues. What he has heard on the campaign trail so far was transportation, inclusivity and medical support.

Ritsma, like Hunter, wanted to build up housing stock. He pointed to the new 288-bed peopleCare location being built next to Stratford General Hospital as a good next step, which is set to open January 2027.

You can find a recording of the full Q-and-A on the chamber’s YouTube page, here: tinyurl.com/cephdffy.