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Name: Hadleigh McAlister

What position are you running for?  Councilor Ward 1

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?

London is a city with great economic potential. Unfortunately, lately our economy has been suffering because of a heavy reliance on the United States. We need to be bold and look for new international opportunities while also bolstering our domestic capacity and work towards a more sustainable and self sufficient economy. With two post secondary institutions we should be working collaboratively with them to ensure that local educationally programs support employment needs in our city. It is also important that the City of London follow the direction set out in the new Economic Development Plan that was recently passed.

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.

I appreciate how ambitious the new Downtown Plan is and I think that council can play a bigger role in ensuring its success. I am particularly interested in the part of the plan that speaks to strategic property acquisitions. We have a number of vacant buildings downtown and by purchasing them we can set conditions for future use and redevelopment. We have also seen success with office-residential conversion and I would like to continue to see underutilized office space repurposed. Once the BRT routes are all operational I think downtown can and should be utilized as a central transportation hub. We do also often hear about the need for greater safety downtown and I think that will require the continued use of a dedicated core unit of LPS, which should include mental health and addiction support personnel.

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?

London, like many municipalities in Canada, is dealing with an urgent health and homelessness crisis. To make real headway on the issues driving it we need greater resources and funding from higher levels of government. Local government cannot solve homelessness and what we’ve seen in many municipalities is an emergency response to the crisis. In response to this crisis the city has increased basic needs capacity, shelter space, created new spaces (like the micro-modular shelters), created a homelessness response team, and got new supportive housing units online. What is problematic with this approach is that many of the services fall under Provincial health jurisdiction.

It was encouraging to see the HART hub model adopted by the Provincial government, as it was at least a partial recognition of the complex health needs required to address homelessness. If this is the direction the Provincial government wants to go they will have to increase the number of spaces available, not only in London, but across the Province. To ensure that more people do not fall into homelessness the Province also needs to look at increasing ODSP and OW rates.

In terms of the role the City of London should play moving forward we should primarily be focused on the housing side of homelessness. We have and should continue to support affordable housing projects (including transitional and supportive housing) and provide the services mandated to us under the Municipal Act.

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

Over the last four years this council has done a lot to increase our housing supply and develop new affordable units. Many of these projects do take years to complete and we are starting to see more units become available as we near the end of this council term. I supported and will continue to support the acquisition of land to support affordable housing projects. I am immensely proud to have been a part of the LMCH board that got the first new public housing built in fifty years at Southdale Reimagined. These efforts have helped us in our goal to get three thousand affordable units built in London. The need is still great in our city and we must continue our efforts to address housing affordability. We should continue to support infill to ensure that we are utilizing existing infrastructure and along transit corridors where possible. It is also important that as we build up and out that our transportation network and public amenities keep pace with our growing population.

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?

Londoners across the city should have equal access to public spaces and our investments should be targeted to areas that don’t have space or are old and in need of updates. We have to be strategic with investments and recognize that not everything can be done at once. Having phased in projects over the course of a multi-year budget is prudent planning. There might also be partnerships that can be explored to share spaces, sponsorships, and even funds from higher levels of government to support cultural facilities or public spaces.

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?

London is continuing to grow, and we need to ensure that we have a integrated multi-modal transportation system in place for our residents. It is essential that we continue to invest other transportation options such as public transit, cycling, and sidewalks. We must ensure that we have a transportation system that is safe, affordable, and accessible to everyone. We must also continue to advocate to higher levels of government to ensure that air and rail networks meet the needs of our residents and businesses.

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?

In the digital age I think it is important for any service provider to be able to have clear timeliness and transparency. By that I mean service areas should have timelines for providing responses and people should be able to see where a request is in a process, what further documentation may be need, and when they can expect a resolution. Service London for instance is a great tool but it needs to be refined and made more user friendly. Having a person to talk to can also make dealing with city a smoother process. We have seen that with our Service London representatives and also through our Pathways to Approval desk.

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?

During this term we held a historic council-council meeting with Oneida of the Thames. It was a great opportunity to learn, listen and build a working relationship with a neighbouring indigenous council. I have since had meetings with representatives of Oneida since then on topic we discussed at that meeting, specifically around continuing to work with the city on indigenous housing projects (such as the one on Elm St in Ward 1) and finding spaces for indigenous programs and service supports. Moving forward I would like to see greatly consultation, collaboration, and coordination between the City of London and our neighbouring indigenous councils.

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?

London is playing catch up in many ways on ageing infrastructure. What we are witnessing right now is growing pains of years of projects being put off or delayed. I know that construction is not a popular subject right now but we are seeing progress. I think we have done a good job leveraging available Federal and Provincial infrastructure dollars so far. We will need to continue to do so moving forward to ensure that not all these growing demands fall on the property tax base. Growth should pay for growth, but not all of those demands should fall on the property tax base. For instance if the Province wants to set housing targets they also need to provide appropriate levels of housing enabling infrastructure funds. Likewise for large transportation projects the Federal government need to step up with funds to support them.

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?

I would like to see London continue to grow its tree canopy. We are the forest city after all, and we should be proud and diligent stewards of our natural environment. We do also need to be vigilant and plan accordingly for wildfire conditions. It is important that we respond to poor air quality warnings. We need to ensure that Londoners have accessible public places they can go for clean and cool air.

The Climate Action Reserve Fund contributions have been greatly reduced over the last four years. To ensure that we can fund initiatives in the CEAP a discussion needs to be had through the multi-year budget on restoring funding that allows the city to meet its climate objectives.

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

The role of council should be to question the Mayor’s use of the powers and the need to exercise them in the first place. An effective council should be able to collectively debate and then decide with a majority vote on the direction the city should take. Recognizing, that ultimately the Mayor decides whether or not to use the powers afforded to them, I think council should make every effort to amend directives brought forward if necessary or required.

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?

Arts and culture are economic drivers and we’ve seen that in action in a few areas. For instance both Film London and the Music office under Tourism London are substantial revenue generators in our city. The return on investment is there and we need to continue to capitalize on those successes. I think we can do more to leverage our UNESCO City of Music designation by supporting more small and mid-size venues throughout London.

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