Contributed by Kristyn Wong-Tam – It is with great humility that I am running in the upcoming election to represent you as your NDP Toronto Centre champion at Queen’s Park!
As your local City Councillor, and with your support, we have accomplished much to create healthier, stronger neighbourhoods by investing in the people who make our communities great. Together, we created new affordable housing, small business tax reform, new parkland and enhanced public space. We also expanded cycling infrastructure and safer roads, and increased investments in the community, recreation and public health services. But there is so much more to be done and cities can’t do this work alone.
So many of the issues that face downtown communities require the political support and investment from the Provincial government. Despite vocal advocacy, our calls have been left unanswered and I know how high the stakes are for residents across Toronto Centre.
Doug Ford is taking the province and our city in the wrong direction. We’ve watched Doug Ford cut public health services, download social programs, lengthen waitlists for housing, abandon tenants, and weaken municipalities from his perch in Queen’s Park. Toronto Centre can’t afford another four years of regressive Ford politics.
My love for Toronto Centre and our neighbourhoods run deep. It is my home. When my family immigrated to Canada in 1975, our first apartment was in Regent Park and it was there I learned to speak English at Sprucecourt Public School. As a queer teen, I found community and support in the Church Wellesley Village. As a university student, I was an overnight worker in a women’s shelter run by the Catholic Church near Allan Gardens and later in my 30s, I opened a successful business on Church Street. I am raising my family in Toronto Centre and there is no place I would rather be.
This is one of the most important elections our province has ever faced. We have an opportunity to not only defeat Doug Ford, but elect a progressive NDP government, a government that will work for families and fix what matters most across our diverse downtown communities. Let’s do this together! Our office is open at 242 Carlton Street.