“I have extensive experience in analyzing budgets and creating cost savings through continuous improvement activities. Within my role, I ensure governance, transparency, and ethical practices are followed for every decision made, all of which are available for transparency purposes by business owners and external auditors. I intend to use these same skills that I have learned over the last 25 years for effective leadership and building public trust.”

Why do you want to be a city councillor? 

I am running because as a father, I want all the next generation to have opportunities to live and grow in Guelph when they become adults. In order to do this, change needs to be made now. Many families are struggling financially, and this will lead to issues for future sustainability and affordability. I am committed to making this city a great place to call home, now and in the future. I was part of the self-nomination process in 2025, and I have gained experiences and insights that can make a positive difference. I am committed to making change, and I will be accountable for ensuring City Council makes choices that make sense for a sustainable future.

What is your background and experience, and how do you think that will serve you as a city councillor? 

My background in Procurement has given me the practical skills for managing budgets and balancing stakeholder requirements, which also includes strategic decision making and long term planning. I have extensive experience in analyzing budgets and creating cost savings through continuous improvement activities. Within my role, I ensure governance, transparency, and ethical practices are followed for every decision made, all of which are available for transparency purposes by business owners and external auditors. I intend to use these same skills that I have learned over the last 25 years for effective leadership and building public trust.

Given Strong Mayor Powers, how do you see your role as a city councillor when the mayor can override the will of council with just three votes? 

The use of strong mayoral powers come with significant responsibility, it is a signal that the Mayor does not have faith in Council to adequately deliberate and come to a consensus for key topics.  All issues have to viewed with objectivity, the purpose is to improve the daily lives of residents, and making the city a better place to live.

The strength of Council is to provide well rounded viewpoints that represent the voices of their constituents and engage in the ideas, providing financial stewardship while addressing city issues or problems. Losing this consensus and deliberation process would be very undemocratic and should be avoided at all costs.

Affordability is important to a lot of voters, and municipal budgeting can be very difficult. How will you balance the needs of a growing city with the demands for low or zero tax increases over the next term? 

We need City Council to be more financially responsible and stop being reckless with property tax increases, this is an unsustainable practice that is impacting everyone from youths to seniors. Other municipalities that are facing the same issues and pressures from the Provincial government do not have these same increases, we need to prioritize critical infrastructure and separate our needs from our wants, every family has to do the same, it should be no different in municipal government.

I am not going to sugar coat this, hard decisions will have to be made on how each function is funded. Going forward, each operational department will have to find efficiencies and new ways of doing things, the goal is provide exceptional customer service to residents at a competitive cost, similar to what private industry operates.

An example of this would be to modify the current continuous improvement program within the city, a request for three “improvement ideas” a year from each employee. This could be related to health and safety, process documents, jobs requirements, or cost saving ideas, the goal is small incremental improvements every year to increase productivity and reduce operational costs.

Council this past term has done a lot of housing policy, but that hasn’t translated into more shovels in the ground. How will you help close the gap over the next four years? 

In order to get more units built, the city needs to parter with non-profit organizations and cooperatives to build and manage these developments. The City and Municipality do not make great landlords, we need to provide resources and empower the people that provide it as their core strength. This could be done by,

• Offering excess land that city owns and providing property tax deferment
• Create a sustainable equity share program with affordable housing buyers when public funds are used to build housing.

Aside from the demands for more housing, land use planning also means assuring that there’s enough room to account for growth in business, institutional and commercial land uses, how will you balance all these priorities? 

Housing is the first priority, we need to address affordability and cost of living for the current and future residents of Guelph. These are key factors that organizations look at when expanding to new regions, we will not be competitive to draw economic development without first addressing these issues. I would prioritize and promote brownfield developments first, infrastructure is already available in these locations saving the Municipality development costs. This will also save undeveloped areas and provide flexibility when looking at future growth and market trends. In conjunction, we need to develop and review land requirement ratios, based on future growth projections and economic trends to ensure we have adequate land inventory to meet the future demands of the City.

Water availability is a growing concern. How will you ensure that Guelph has the capacity it needs to support this growing city? 

Water availability is the fundamental and most critical service that the city provides, and Guelph is in a precarious position because of our reliance on groundwater as being our major source for the city.

In order to effectively manager our water supply,

• Start planning today to for long-term infrastructure investment, these projects are expensive and capital investments are required.
• Collaborate with local advocacy groups on the strategic long-term plans for sourcing , conservation, and service delivery
• Remain diligent in managing growth coupled with sound development policies

The most critical function of the city is to provide clean, safe, and a reliable water supply for residents now, and in the future.

Trust in government and institutions is major issue. How will you keep your constituents well informed about city hall business, and help them feel included when it comes to decision making? 

Trust is not given, it is earned by acting in an ethical and accountable manner. This starts with your campaign platform through the election process, transparency is required at every stage. I would advocate for simplified financial reporting that residents can understand, engage residents through solicited feedback or online polls. The key is working with your co-counsillor to work together and provide this information through various channels, such as print and social media.

The other key area to build trust is responding to inquiries from residents, Councillors have a duty to engage with residents to understand their concerns, the best way for that to happen is to see the issue or concern through your own eyes, going to the site and see if for yourself. This will give you a better understanding of the issue and how to address it.

What would you say is *your* issue? What is the one thing you want to talk about on the campaign trail this fall and have a thorough debate about it before this election is over? 

Affordability as previously mentioned above and infrastructure. The current ten year capital plan is already underfunded by almost $500m, we need to address this and reprioritize our projects, every year of delay, adds significant costs to the project. The asset management plan has classified $78m of city assets rated as “Very Poor” and another $117m as “past due”, this is driving the cities level of service in the wrong direction and will substantially drive up capital expenditures in the future, a risk bases approach will need to be utilized to address these deficiencies and ensure cost control when making future repairs or improvements.

What perspective do you think you will bring to council that is not currently reflected? 

While working in Procurement and Supply Chain Management, one of the key responsibilities I have learned is cost control and driving continuous improvement. I am driven by financial metrics and achieving the best value for the stakeholders. One of my guiding principles is asking myself, “if this was my money, would I make the same decision?” while working on project teams or evaluating proposals. The city needs clear simplied reporting metrics to track progress and performance.

Is there anything else you want to tell voters as they make their decision?

This is a pivotal time for Guelph residents, you need to exercise your right to vote and pick the best two candidates that represent the needs of you and your family. Voter turnout at the last municipal election was just over twenty percent for Ward 6, if you demand change we all need to get out and vote.