We hosted the Right to Belong Townhall on June 20th, 2026 at the Victoria Hills Community Centre which led to the creation of the following platform. I am committing to championing these ideas. For them to come to fruition depends upon your support.
Every resident of Kitchener has the right to life, liberty, and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof. Every resident is equal and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination. The City shall ensure that every resident has access to free of monetization:
1) Adopt Human Rights Lens & Language. How the city views and talks about people shapes how they are treated. The base assumptions of the organization need to move away from neoliberal business framing to that of community led governance. Have city services serve ‘residents’ not ‘customers’. Replace corporate policy with public space policy.
2) Conduct Equitable Access Review Residents of dense neighbourhoods like Brybeck, Paulander, and Mooregate are contributing more to the City than they are getting in return. Their parks have less equipment, their bus stops are unsheltered, their property standards complaints are unheard. It is time the City faces its history of geographic racism and classism through an equitable access review and subsequent funding realignment.
3) Build More Public Bathrooms There is nothing more infuriating than having to use the bathroom and having nowhere to go. Let’s set up a public bathroom fund and accompanying bylaw to build more bathrooms and hire staff to maintain them. Private bathrooms can opt into the public bathroom program and avoid paying into the fund.
4) Pilot Basic Income Initiatives The City should provide significant support to advocacy efforts around basic income initiatives as well as OW & ODSP reform. The City shall pilot basic income type programming such as lived expertise consulting and expanded in-residence programs for artists and community liaisons.
To belong means to be treated with dignity with fundamental human value. Safety means having access to the resources to discern between conflict and abuse, between uncomfortability and harm.
5) Upgrade Key Facilities into Safety Hubs Building on the success of the downtown ambassador program, to put trained community intervention staff in community centres, recreation centres, and libraries to act as a frontline crisis support for anyone seeking safety. Involve local residents in the selection process for their community with a focus on hiring local youth and people with lived experience.
6) Set up a Hub for People Returning from Incarceration Waterloo Region currently acts as a reintegration point for people returning from incarceration. We should set these people best up for success in our community through transitional housing, reunification support, and cultural programming for Black & Indigenous members.
7) Resume Safe Consumption Sites We have a pain crisis and need adequate tools to respond. The Province’s current direction is turning the entire public realm into an unsafe consumption site full of trauma. The City should make sure there are ample safe consumption sites to keep people alive, stabilize their medication use, and connect them to holistic trauma and pain support. Through these sites the City should fund research on the most effective pain management tools.
8) Adopt Peace City Declaration The federal government is investing more in harmful, expensive wars. Explore municipal tools that can minimize the expansion of military investment locally.
To belong means having access to the tools of meaning making. This requires spaces to gather and resources to create.
9) Envision Arts and Culture Master Plan Let’s co-create a vision that better leverages local arts infrastructure with local artists. This should leverage local data, newcomer cultural activity, class analysis, and the calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation report. By expanding the artist in-residence program we can leverage the community building power of local creatives.
10) Enable Indigenous Spaces There are several clear calls for space from indigenous communities. This includes the need for a local healing lodge and the call to turn the former Charles Street terminal into a racialized communities hub.
11) Revive Downtown Community Spaces Acquire underused downtown sites like Market Square or Manulife Centre to create more space for artists, non-profits, and recreation facilities. Explore expansion of Downtown Community Centre and Gaukel Street pedestrianized street; and redevelop Homelessness Memorial and Charles Street terminal through local community input.
12) Launch Public Education Fund There is a civic engagement and education crisis. Only one fifth of eligible voters participated in the 2022 election. The City needs a public education division. Similarly, there are local community groups doing important education work and the City should increase the level of resourcing in this area.
13) Embed Localized Language Services Kitchener is an increasingly multilingual city. As such, there should be expanded language services throughout all infrastructure. This can be localized to meet communities where they are at.
14) Consolidate Holiday Support Fund There is a diversity of cultural and religious programming occurring in our region. However, some families do not have the resources to fully participate. This fund would bring together current food and gift programs into a larger pot to support a wider range of festivities.
15) Empower Public Dance Programming The City needs more joy! Let’s bring together a diverse network of dance instructors to ensure that free dance programming is offered at City Hall and other City facilities throughout the year.
