Woolwich — Ward 2
2 candidates responded
Sheryl Tilley See responses
- Partner with non-profit and supportive housing providers
- Prioritize clearing encampments to maintain public access to shared spaces
- Assign clear municipal responsibility for public-space management
- Actively advocate to the province for defined funding triggers and program supports
- Publish ongoing performance metrics (e.g. housing placements, shelter bed access)
Please describe one concrete policy, program, or decision you would support to address both encampments and permanent housing.candidate's own words
Establish a legal framework for the non-consensual mandatory detention and treatment of individuals with severe additions, similar to Alberta's Compassionate Intervention Act
Would you like to provide any additional context for your views on housing?candidate's own words
NO corporation or individual landlord shall be allowed to demolish, imperil or remove any permanent, low income housing in order to build larger, more expensive housing.
Steven Haase See responses
- Prioritize rapid acquisition or conversion of existing buildings
- Partner with non-profit and supportive housing providers
- Use publicly owned land for permanent or interim housing
- Establish and maintain clear minimum standards (sanitation, safety, outreach)
- Expand the hours and capacity of extreme-weather shelter protections beyond current levels
- Require that enforcement actions be linked to the availability of adequate indoor alternatives
- Establish clear regional leadership with coordinated municipal roles
- Actively advocate to the province for defined funding triggers and program supports
- Publish ongoing performance metrics (e.g. housing placements, shelter bed access)
Please describe one concrete policy, program, or decision you would support to address both encampments and permanent housing.candidate's own words
I'd support Woolwich publishing a full inventory of township-owned land and buildings that are surplus or underused, and offering suitable sites to non-profit housing providers on long-term, low-cost leases. The Region already funds and runs housing and support services, so the township's most useful contribution is land in the right places: close to transit, groceries and health services in our communities. A site like that could hold supportive or transitional units first and permanent affordable homes later. That gives outreach workers a real indoor option to offer, which matters because enforcement should only happen when someone has somewhere adequate to go. It also means the township isn't building or running housing itself. It's putting public assets to work alongside partners who already know how to do this work. I'd want the inventory to be public and updated every year, so residents can see what the township owns and how it's being used. Woolwich doesn't have the scale of encampments that larger cities do, but every community in the Region should take on part of the solution.
Would you like to provide any additional context for your views on housing?candidate's own words
I want more homes in Woolwich, especially affordable ones. That means supporting things like secondary suites, garden homes, and modest apartment buildings on main streets, at a scale that fits each village. Building within existing communities uses roads, pipes and services we already pay for, which is better for both the township budget and the environment. That's also why I'm asking council and the township to respect the four-storey guideline in downtown St. Jacobs. I'm not trying to stop growth. I want it in places where it strengthens the village and its character without adding costs to future taxpayers.