Waterloo Region Votes 2018: New leadership coming to Region

When Ken Seiling retires this fall, it will be the first time in 33 years someone else will serve as chair of the Region of Waterloo.

There are four people seeking theposition: Jay Aissa, Jan d'Ailly, Rob Deutschmann and Karen Redman.

Aissa, a businessman, ran for regional chair in 2014 and finishedsecondwith 25,611 votes compared to Seiling's 63,884 votes.

d'Ailly is a former Waterloo city councillor. Deutschmann is a personal injury lawyer, andRedman is a current regional councillor and former MP.

Affordable housing

The four candidates agree affordable housing is the top issue in the region, largely because it intersects with other areas, including the ongoing opioid crisis.

Redman, who has worked with Habitat for Humanity, has said in some cases, the region needs to get out of the way of people who are making strides in this area.

• Affordable housing is the top issue in Waterloo region, chair candidates say

Deutschmann, however, said there are too many different people doing different things.

"There are too many organizations that are working, almost in silos, and the Region needs to take a role in terms of leading the charge with respect to this issue," he said.

Need for better transportation options

All four candidates list transportation as one of their top issues for this election.

Aissa largely opposed the LRT in the last election. This time around, his platform says he supports a rapid transit system "that will benefit every community" in the region. On his website, he said the public must be consulted on transportation plans and that could include a referendum.

d'Ailly said he would like to see an active transportation plan for the whole region, not just the urban cores. He also wants to advocate for two-way, all-day GO service to the region.

In his platform, Deutschmann said he wants to see continued investments and improvement to transportation, including bus service that feeds into the LRT route. He would also like to see a GO Train in Cambridge and like d'Ailly, he would continue to advocate for two-way, all-day GO.

Redman said she lookstoward expanding the LRT into Cambridge.

Listen to our full panel discussion with the regional chair candidates: