Council candidates: Andrew Fraser

Introduce yourself to readers. Who are you?

I’ve called Stratford home since 2016, raising my family while building two careers: I’m a realtor of 15 years and a mortgage agent for 10 of those years, giving me a practical view of housing and affordability. Both my parents were educators, shaping how I think about community. I’ve coached youth soccer for seven years. I ran for mayor in 2018 and placed third: the lesson I took was that council is the only place to start, earn trust, deliver, then build from there. I believe in community engagement and want to be a voice for residents who need one.

What are the core issues you are focused on this election?

Three things come up at almost every door: taxes, housing and whether this city can actually deliver. After three straight tax increases, households and small businesses need a freeze and a real value-for-money review before new spending, not just another increase. Housing affordability and homelessness need practical, measurable action, not announcements. Grand Trunk needs to be built, with a schedule and accountability. Underneath all of it is transparency: residents deserve plain-language answers, real notice before council votes, and a record of how each councillor voted so they are held to account, and there are no surprises after the fact.

Next year’s budget, like last year’s, will be presented and guided by the mayor. As a councillor, what will you do to keep the tax levy low?

As a councillor I don’t set the budget alone, but I can insist on the discipline behind it. Every discretionary and capital item should pass a value-for-money review before it gets a cheque, and multi-year budgeting should replace the year-to-year guessing that has driven three straight increases. I’d also push for plain-language budget summaries residents can actually read, so pressure for restraint comes from an informed public, not just council debate. Keeping the levy low means asking harder questions earlier, not scrambling for savings after the budget is already set. Freeze the taxes, stick to the budget.

Housing and homelessness in Stratford continues to be a challenge. What, in your opinion, is the strategy the city should be taking in building more homes and/or improving affordability?

Housing affordability is personal to me: as a realtor and mortgage Agent, I see every day how far a Stratford paycheque stretches against today’s prices. The city needs faster approvals for attainable and missing-middle housing and should put its own land to work where sites make sense. On homelessness, I’d rather see proven local agencies, like the Connection Centre and House of Blessing, resourced to expand into real organized capacity than dollars spread thin across scattered individual subsidies. Policing should be a last resort behind trained social responders, not the first response to a housing crisis.

Are you in favour of the current council’s direction on the GTR? If not, what strategy would you be in favour of?

I support the goal of Grand Trunk, a real community hub with the YMCA and library, but not the pace. This site sat vacant for 17 years and cost taxpayers roughly 27 million dollars before a shovel moved. I want council to publish a firm construction schedule with real penalties if it slips again, and to have parking, transit and policing questions answered before, not after, ground is broken. Stratford has waited long enough for announcements. What we need now is delivery, on budget and on a timeline residents can actually hold council to.