1. Affordable Housing

We are in the midst of a housing crisis and have been for the last two decades and change. For many of our citizens, home ownership is a pipe dream. It is well past time our municipal government addresses this great deficit of affordable housing by using all methods currently available to them. If elected, Owen Smith will exempt development fees for developers seeking to build multi-unit housing. This will provide increased incentive for developers to increase the supply of housing to meet the over-inflated demand.

He will also propose and support plans to rezone certain areas of the city to allow for more housing units to be built on already developed land. Additionally, Owen Smith will seek to put the estimated 250-500 vacant homes in the city of Windsor back onto the market to further increase the supply.

2. Fixing Unemployment

Windsor has had the highest unemployment rate in Canada for five and a half of the last twenty years, including as recently as last year. This shows that our representatives have been consistently unable to address our employment issues. As a councilor, Owen Smith would support plans to diversify our industries off of just the automotive industry, which is reliant on the highly volatile international market.

In addition, Owen Smith will support many housing projects as mentioned in the affordable housing section of his platform which will provide jobs in the construction industry, from plumbing to carpentry, and masonry to HVAC. He will also support small and locally owned businesses.

3. Reallocation of Resources

If elected, Owen Smith would not support plans to increase taxation. Rather, he would re-evaluate the municipal budget in order to decrease spending in areas that are not necessary to the functioning and improvement of our city and increase funding to the sectors that are. It is necessary to invest in projects and programs that have a continuous positive effect on our community. The city of Windsor recently spent over 15 million dollars on the pavilion outside of city hall. That amount of money could be better suited to investing in housing and industry.

4. The Drug Epidemic

Addiction is a disease of isolation. It thrives in those who are already down on their luck and feeds on their solitude. It also places an immense burden on our healthcare system, justice system, foster care system, and on the overall morale of our community. This problem is prevalent in all wards of our city and it is one that Owen Smith plans to set right. He will do this through having the city purchase a small amount of the derelict homes in our municipality and converting them into sober-living houses. SLHs have been proven to work in conjunction with 12-step programs and will allow for addicts to get sober and re-enter our community on stable footing so that they will not fall into relapse as often happens.

This plan will also provide jobs for the large number of graduates from social-work related programs offered at both the University of Windsor and Saint Clair College.

5. Traffic Control

It is no secret that traffic accidents are a common occurrence in our city. To combat this, Owen Smith would implement a Leading Pedestrian Interval at high foot traffic crosswalks so as to increase pedestrian visibility to drivers and decrease collisions. Additionally, currently 70% of the traffic lights in Windsor are automated. This should be closer to 100% as they are proven to improve the flow of traffic and, if implemented properly, can be automatically or manually adjusted during times of increased traffic flow, such as during periods of roadwork. This change will decrease commuting and idling time, thus saving drivers money on gas and allowing them more time with their families.