Ward 8: Diverse issues, diverse candidates

When Paul Hubert ran for city council in 2006, Ward 8 was only partially developed.

Now, it's almost completely built out, with parks surrounded by apartments, and many newcomers, students, seniors and first-time home buyers making up the ward.

"It's a very interesting time of transition in the ward," said Hubert, who is not running for re-election in the Oct. 22 municipal election.

That's left the north-west ward wide open for new representation and there are nine people vying for the spot, the most of any of the city's 14 wards. And five of those nine candidates are visible minorities, the largest percentage of candidates of any race in the city.

The ward is bounded to the west by the city limits and to the north by the CP Rail tracks, to Wonderland Road and Beaverbrook Avenue to the east and the Thames River to the south.

"The composition of the ward has changed. There are many newcomers, many visible minorities who have moved into the area, as well as first time homebuyers," Hubert said.

"The park on Capulet Lane is surrounded by apartments. At the same time, Ward 8 has some very entrenched neighbourhoods of old London, with Hunt Club, Hazleden and Clara Breton Woods. Those are all typically more White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant."

Candidate Osam Ali said the ward is reflective of London as a broader whole.

"There are people with who are well educated about the issues, who want to make a good contribution and at the same time they come from diverse backgrounds," Ali said.

"People here are really worried about their taxes, and I think we need city council to be diverse in skills. We need council to be made up of good, grassroots community members, not top-down. We understand the needs of the people."

Ali said the bus rapid transit plan has been a big issue as he's canvassed, as well as supervised injection sites.

The ward takes in a large part of London's newly developed subdivisions in the area of Oxford Street and Hyde Park Road and those bustling neighbourhoods west of Wonderland Road.

Candidate Matt Reid agreed that bus rapid transit is one of the biggest issues on Ward 8 voters' minds, but also mental health and addiction services in London.

There are also local concerns about the location of skate parks and playgrounds in the ward, he said.

"I think this ward really shows that the face of London is changing. We have far more diversity than ever before, which is a step forward," Reid said. "It's not just about having visible minorities running, or someone who is gay, we also have a lot of socio-economic diversity among the candidates, and I think that's a good reflection of the city."

Also running in Ward 8 are Bill Downie, Matthew Greer, Nour Hamid, Morena Hernandez, Moon Inthavong, Tariq Khan and Steve Lehman.

Ranked ballots, the work of Women and Politics encouraging candidates to run and new funding rules that don't allow union or business support have opened up the field of candidates, Hubert said.