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Name: Corrine Rahman

What position are you running for? Councilor Ward 5

What do you see as the principal opportunities and obstacles facing London’s economy over the next Council term? What should the City do to support business growth, job creation, entrepreneurship and investment, and how should it work with employers, Western University, Fanshawe College and others to attract and retain the talent London needs?

The principal obstacles facing London’s economy are tariff and counter tariff measures, economic uncertainties and consumer confidence. Businesses are having to be agile to survive, adjusting their supply chain, looking for Canadian-made alternatives and new partners and clients.

The City has developed a new economic development strategy with input from the sector to help address business growth, job creation, entrepreneurship and investment. The next term of Council must play a stronger leadership role in the oversight and implementation of this plan. As co-chair of the London Economic Response team, I’ve been a strong advocate for diversifying our economy and broadening our approaches to economic growth. At City Hall, I’ve worked with a number of businesses to help them move their businesses forward.

London now has a new Downtown Plan. Which elements would you prioritize and what results should Londoners expect to see during the next Council term? Please address the downtown business environment, public spaces, housing and office conversions, cultural and civic destinations, safety, transportation and implementation accountability.

The Downtown Plan is an ambitious strategy with a broad range of approaches to improve our downtown. I’d prioritize advocacy first to the Federal government as we have most recently, supported through the Big City Mayor’s Caucus. The urgent health and homelessness crisis must be addressed to restore public trust and support for the downtown. This is not a small request and must be matched with our own commitments. We’ve invested in policing but the open air drug strategy needs to pivot to more enforcement based measures that deter people from using drugs out in the open.

I am interested in developing the River district, strengthening our public spaces and our cultural and civic destinations. I believe this can be done with good public and private investment (where we are not the landowners). I’m supportive of office to residential conversion incentives. Close to 12,000 Londoners call downtown home. We must ensure that their needs can be met close to where they live.

When I speak with residents in my ward, they are interested in a transportation and a parking strategy that makes it easy to spend time in the downtown without paying significant parking charges. We have a number of municipal lots in the city that could be used differently to support the strategy. I’m supportive of facade grants and looking at ways to diversify the potential uses of vacant buildings. The city could incentivize fit ups for new spaces in the core.

London faces an urgent health and homelessness crisis. Residents, employees and businesses also have concerns about violence, property crime, public disorder and confidence in public spaces. These conditions require related but distinct responses. What actions would you support in each area, and what responsibilities should fall to the City, police, the health system, other orders of government and community partners?

I am supportive of pursuing new federal support streams to help address the complex challenges we are seeing in our downtown. Health and Homelessness strategies require significantly more provincial investment, and London needs sustained funding for supportive housing, affordable housing, withdrawal management, and treatment options. Our community would benefit from a second HART Hub, expanded treatment beds, and a more coordinated continuum of care.

Our criminal justice system also has a stronger role to play. Public disorder, repeat offences, and safety concerns cannot fall solely on businesses, outreach workers, or municipal services. We need a justice system that supports recovery, accountability, and community safety.

London needs more mental‑health and addictions treatment beds, and our hospital system must be positioned to think beyond short‑term financial pressures — many of which stem from chronic underfunding — toward long‑term, outcome‑based solutions. Other cities are moving in this direction, and London should not be left behind.

We must strengthen our partnership with the Health and Homelessness tables and service providers across the city. I believe Council members should sit at these tables to bring real‑time information back to Council, ensuring decisions are informed, coordinated, and grounded in the realities frontline workers face every day.

No one should feel unsafe on our streets. Businesses should not have to absorb the costs of ongoing public disorder. Residents, workers, and families deserve a downtown that is safe, vibrant, and welcoming.

What changes would you support to increase housing supply and affordability and create neighbourhoods with access to employment, services, transportation and public amenities?

I’ve been supportive of affordable housing CIPs across the city, and I fully support Council’s commitment to expanding supportive housing. This term of Council, over 50,000 units have been approved. I’ve supported increases to transit service hours and additional transit investment through assessment growth. I believe neighbourhoods should have equal access to services and public amenities, and that is something I will continue to fight for in Ward 5. Currently, our city spaces are oversubscribed, undersized, and somewhat outdated. Residents in this part of the city deserve a new community centre, library, and social services located close to home.

Investing in these facilities will relieve pressure on existing services and allow for broader access to programming.

London’s cultural facilities, venues and public spaces are essential to the life of the city, and several face age, capacity or funding pressures. What cultural infrastructure should be prioritised during the next Council term, and how should the City decide where to invest?

I believe the City can support investment in revitalizing spaces and activating existing public spaces. The next term of Council could also consider using a future City Hall redevelopment as a bold investment in a cultural facility, similar to other City Halls across Canada that include art exhibition areas, outdoor live‑music spaces, and libraries. During the planning process for a new City Hall, I added engagement with agencies, boards, and commissions to the work to be brought back to Council, as we need to broaden the vision for this building.

London’s economic success depends on reliable local, regional, national and international connections. How would you improve local transit and service to major employment areas and shift workers, intercity bus and air links, and passenger rail? What should businesses and employees be able to expect in terms of frequency, reliability and access?

I’ve been supportive of transit investment, including the current legs of BRT now under construction, and I believe strongly in positioning London as a regional hub. I’m pleased to see our continued push for higher‑performance rail in Southwestern Ontario. As a London Transit Commissioner, I have supported discussions around the alternative service delivery model as a way to connect more people across the city. I’ve also supported transit expansion into employment areas, and I’m encouraged by the investments Porter Airlines has made at London International Airport.

What changes would you make to municipal approvals, regulation, procurement and customer service to make it easier to invest, build and operate a business in London?

I believe we need to make small business approvals easier. I can point to many challenges that the business community has faced trying to open a business. We need to make it easier to invest, build and operate and I remain open to conversations with business owners to address these challenges. Procurement needs to be more open and transparent. I am pleased to see our procurement is heavily Canadian and local but we need to find ways to address local procurement concerns. Lastly, I’d like to see an overhaul to Service London reporting. If someone advances a complaint there needs to be more follow up and follow through on their concern. I want more reporting to Council on what actions have been taken to address a concern.

London City Council approved the 2025–2035 ReconciliAction Plan in May 2025, committing the City to 155 actions over ten years. What should the next Council do to translate these commitments into a clear, properly resourced implementation plan developed with Indigenous partners? How would you advance reconciliation through economic development, procurement, planning, cultural investment and municipal services?

The next Council will have to work with Indigenous partners towards implementation. I appreciate that the economic plan has reconciliation imbedded in it as well. I do believe that our shared stewardship of the river and the land is an important area where we can address further the health of the river to the benefit of all communities up and down stream.

London’s growth depends on roads, transit, water and wastewater systems, emergency services and community facilities. How would you determine which investments proceed first, pay for growth fairly and maintain competitive property taxes?

Growth no longer pays for growth under the new funding model. We have significant unfunded growth needs in the city and many competing priorities. I would determine what should be funded first based on several factors.

1) We must work within the constraints of the funding envelope. Growth‑related infrastructure funding through the development charges rebate program comes with conditions, and I would prioritize spending that aligns with our long‑term objectives, supports job creation, and increases the mix of housing.

2) I value keeping property taxes low. I’m open to exploring new ways to fund larger‑scale projects if it means advancing the city and addressing some of our chronic transportation and infrastructure challenges.

3) Emergency services and community facilities cannot continue to be deferred. We need to stop putting off these projects and continue exploring partnerships that can help bring them to life.

London City Council approved the Climate Emergency Action Plan in 2022. The Plan calls for a 55 per cent reduction in community-wide greenhouse-gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. Which elements of the Plan would you prioritise, accelerate or change during the next Council term? How would you ensure that climate action strengthens resilience, affordability and economic competitiveness for residents and businesses?

The CEAP was approved before this term of Council took office. I struggled with how ambitious the plan is for our community when it relies on other levels of government to also support the actions. At this point, we will not reach our 2030 emissions target. The economic competitiveness element of the plan is essential at this time due to other economic challenges. In the next iteration of the plan, I’d like us to scale down on the actions (150 is too many in my opinion), focus on what’s working- investments from other levels of government into the Circular economy, greater partnerships with local leaders in the green economy.

For the next term of Council, I want us to invest in strengthening our tree canopy and looking for ways to further support electrification in our community.

How should Council respond when strong-mayor powers are exercised, and how would you use your role as a councilor to provide effective scrutiny and accountability?

When strong Mayor powers are used, I will continue to seek understanding, assess the risks and make a calculated response to the use of the authority. When it comes to the budget process, I do believe that with a strong Mayor budget there could still be more opportunities for oversight, scrutiny and accountability.

What role should arts, culture and the creative industries play in London’s economic and community development? How should the City support cultural organisations, artists, venues, festivals and creative businesses while ensuring that municipal investment produces lasting public value?

I believe culture is a key component to economic and community development in the City of London. I do believe that we need to lean into the UNESCO City of Music designation. We are a music education and production hub, is this reflected in our investments? I don’t believe so. To better support these initiatives we need to strength the arts and culture sector in our community so that they are more closely aligned, working together instead of at cross purposes and have better connection to City Hall.

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