When I’m chatting with residents in our ward about their priorities, one of the top things people want to see addressed is encampments and homelessness. To that end, over the past few weeks, my assistant Charity and I have spent time meeting with Main Street Project and St. Boniface Street Links, two of the major homelessness outreach service providers operating in our city, to learn about their work throughout the city, and how it applies to our ward.
Here at City Hall, I presented to the Public Works committee in support of transit changes that respond to our residents’ needs as well as road safety improvements on McLeod, and met with staff to learn about improving the city’s traffic calming program. I continued to meet with school groups about their challenges (many of them related to traffic and road safety around their schools) and their goals.
It’s been a great joy attending various community events such as the Colombian Festival, Elmwood Supply Company’s Spring Showcase, and the Glenelm Spring Cleanup. Attending commemorative events such as the Polish flag raising and Netherlands flag raising in honour of Liberation Day are always special, and serve as a meaningful reminder of the beauty and strength of our multicultural city.
I also participated in a food security visioning workshop and Age-Friendly presentation hosted by the Human Rights Committee of Council.