What I would actually do with the seat.
There are four. Each one below is written the same honest way: what the problem is, where it stands today, and the specific things a Ward 3 councillor can push for.
Housing the people already here can afford
Orillia’s problem is not that nobody wants to live here. It is that what gets built does not match the incomes of the people who already do, and young families and seniors are the ones squeezed out. Council does not build housing. Council decides how quickly and how easily housing can be built, what the city does with the land it owns, and whether Orillia arrives at the County and the Province with a plan or with a complaint.
What I will push for
- A public timeline and status report on every city owned site identified for housing
- Zoning and permitting changes that make purpose built rentals and gentle density the easy option rather than the exception
- Every fee and development charge decision judged against one test: does this get attainable units built
- An annual housing report card presented in open council, in plain language
The city has identified three municipally owned sites as possible locations for social housing. The County of Simcoe, which delivers social housing and homelessness services on Orillia’s behalf, has adopted a ten year housing and homelessness strategy. Housing already sits inside council’s own 2022 to 2026 priorities.
A coordinated answer on homelessness, addiction and mental health
This is where residents feel the gap between orders of government most sharply. The city holds bylaws, parks, and a seat at the County table. The County delivers housing and homelessness programs. The Province funds health and addiction care. Nobody living it cares whose file it is, and they are right not to.
I have spent years walking families through systems that are hard to navigate. That is the work, and it is the same work at council.
- Orillia's own data at every County table, so funding follows what is actually happening here
- Supportive housing with services attached, not shelter beds alone
- Outreach that connects people to care, with enforcement used only where safety genuinely requires it
- One point of contact at the city, so residents and business owners stop being passed between departments
Social housing and homelessness programs for Orillia are delivered County wide by the County of Simcoe, with the city as a member municipality. Council’s 2022 to 2026 priorities already include Helping Our Most Vulnerable, naming homelessness, mental health and the opioid crisis directly.
Every tax dollar explained in language you can check
For the 2026 budget, council approved a 1.48 per cent tax levy increase and a capital plan worth more than fifty one million dollars, including Jarvis Street phase two, road and sidewalk renewal, and the relocation of the Orillia Youth Centre. A low percentage is only good news if service levels actually hold behind it, and that is decided in meetings most residents never watch.
Tax levy increase council approved for the 2026 budget.
Roughly what that adds per year for every one hundred thousand dollars of assessed value.
Size of the 2026 capital plan, funding infrastructure, equipment and community projects.
- A plain language note on every budget vote I cast, published the same week
- Service level reporting published beside the tax rate, so cuts cannot hide behind a low percentage
- Capital projects ranked against published criteria instead of whoever asks loudest
- Procurement that gives Orillia businesses a fair and visible shot at city work
A ward built for the families moving into it
West Ridge is where a lot of Orillia’s young families landed, and the services have to catch up to them. My training is in child and youth care, and my volunteer years have been spent building places for kids and parents to belong. This is the file I know from the inside.
- Sidewalks, crossings and lighting on the walking routes to Orchard Park and Notre Dame
- Transit timed to school, college and shift schedules, not only weekday business hours
- Ice, field and park capacity planned against the number of West Ridge kids actually registering
- Youth space and programming that builds on the city's investment in relocating the Orillia Youth Centre
- A council that treats newcomer families as neighbours to include, not a file to manage
How you will know whether I did any of it.
A platform is only worth the follow up. After each council cycle I will publish a short update: what came to the floor, how I voted, and what happened to the commitments on this page. If something here turns out to be the wrong answer once I see the full file, I will say so out loud and explain why, rather than letting it quietly disappear.