Every year the levy climbs and the potholes stay. Kingston households are paying more without a matching improvement in what they receive.
I will vote against reflexive rate increases, demand line-by-line budget review before any levy rises, and publish where the money actually goes so residents can judge for themselves.
Research invented in Kingston becomes a company in Toronto, Boston or Zürich. We train the talent and export the value.
Special funding, free municipal land allocation and grants for startups founded on Queen's University innovations — plus dedicated incubator space — would keep those companies and their jobs here.
Groceries are the squeeze households feel weekly. The fastest relief available to a city is helping people grow some of their own.
Municipal promotion of backyard vegetable gardening, community garden plots, seedling access, and active promotion of Canada's Food Guide.
A fair challenge, and here is the mechanism. There is no sales tax on basic groceries — so why tax the seedlings, vegetable plants, soil, fertilizer and tools people need to grow food? Taxing those is taxing food indirectly.
In principle the exemption should be Canada-wide. To act immediately, a municipality should issue online refunds on submitted receipts for qualifying gardening purchases, then claim those funds back from the provincial and federal governments through special grants.
The same logic applies to restaurant meals and flower plants: council cannot set the rate, but it can run relief locally and advocate upward.
Less headline, no less important.
Service levels should be published, measured and reported. Where a department underperforms, fix the management before asking residents for more money.
Kingston exports its graduates. Serviced industrial land, faster permitting and an active pitch to manufacturers would let people build careers here instead of in Toronto or Ottawa.
Potholes, faded lines and missing signs are the city's most visible promise to residents. A published repair schedule, street by street, with dates you can hold us to.
Flower plantings, maintained boulevards and streetscapes worth walking. A city that looks cared for is a city people invest in.
Rigorous promotion of the Thousand Islands, Sandbanks and Kingston's own waterfront and heritage — with the wayfinding, parking and transit to match the visitor numbers.
Currency is a federal file, but investment is a local one. Growing industry here, and investing in Canadian rather than foreign markets, is how cities contribute to it.
Disagree with something here? Tell me — I'd rather argue with you than avoid you.
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