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Name: Jason King

What position are you running for? Councilor Ward 14

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?

In my Summerside Plan, we will be aiming to create London’s first 400 series highway adjacent commercial district. I see this as a principal opportunity for London to attract new business opportunity to the city that has not been accessible in the past which will bring a plethora of jobs and opportunity to the southeast corner of the city. Our largest obstacle is the cost of living crisis we are suffering from right now which has significantly reduced the disposable income of the middle class. The trade war with America is also a significant problem as large corporations especially in the manufacturing industry face uncertainty and may be hesitant to invest and grow at all right now. The city needs to have the attitude of saying YES to any and all business opportunities that knock at the door and be very welcoming and offer competative offers to assit in drawing in new business. Fanshawe is already in the process of adjusting their business model and framework to meet the needs of todays work environment. To attract and retain talent to live and work in London, we need to double down on improving the quality of life in London which means cleaning the city up and doing the basic city services much better than it has been.

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 had some merit and good ideas. In particular, I like the concept of making the waterfront more of a focal point. However, the people of ward 14 are not interested in another downtown revitalization project at this time. They don’t feel safe going downtown and avoid it altogether. They won’t want to go downtown until the homeless and addict situation is gone. I agree with the poeple of ward 14. I recommend staying the Downtown Plan for at least the next two years so we can work on improving the existing conditions of the downtown, do better at delivering the basic city services across the city, attract new business to the city everywhere and ease up on the city spending to provide some much needed tax relief to the residents.

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?

The conditions of crime, violence, public disorder, the homeless and addition crisis are all the result of failed federal and provincial policies. I would encourage the federal governement to mandate the justice system to get tough on crime, tighen up the bail conditions so that repeat violent offenders are kept in jail and do not get bail. To coincide with that effort, the province needs to partner with the federal government to create more prison spaces so we have a place to keep the criminals. The province needs to bring back the psychiatric hospitals because is is not a dignified existence to force the mentally ill to live on the streets. Our police need to crack down on the drug use and possession in the streets. We did not tolerate this before and it worked at keeping our streets safe. The province needs to stop with the harm reduction model and fully commit to rehabilitation and treatment such as the Alberta Model. Quite possibly, we need to have a serious discussion about involuntary treatment. At some point we need to recognize that it is an indignity to a person to allow them and society to be harmed and suffer from addition. All of these measure will bring investments into our community by businesses which will in turn bring more jobs and confidence in the retail marketplace for shoppers.

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

London is doing very well at bolstering our housing inventory. We are already seeing a signal in the marketplace favourable to buyers with reduced listing prices. We need to continue to this effort. My Summerside Plan will bring access to jobs, services, transportation and public amenities in an area of the city that has been completely baron of these things. The creation of a community center in Jackson and a new commercial district between Bradley and Highway 401 and a new transit hub will be a huge economic engine for the city and bring much needed jobs and amenities to Pond Mills, Summerside and Jackson.

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?

These are tough decisions to make. It will need to be a case by case process and will need to take into consideration the reasons for the decay of the facility, the current available usage and social value of that offering as well as the future potential of the venue. These deliberations will need to be balanced against the costs of refurishment and anticipated operating and upkeep costs into the distant future.

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 would like to see a complete overhaul of how the transit system works. We should do away with the route system that has busses snaking clear across the city. In its place, we should have regional neighbourhood buses that gather up folks and bring them to a community transit hub station where they can access express busses that directly moves them to a destination area. From that point, they can get on another regional neighbourhood bus that takes them in close proximity to their destination. To further increase the rate of movement of express busses, we need to sync the green lights on our major arterial roads. This will expedite not only transit traffic but also vehicle traffic. A net benefit will also be traffic calming as there is no incentive to speed or drive aggressively. This will reduce traffic collisions, EMS and police responses saving taxpayors money.For my Summerside Plan, a transit hub station at Jackson Road and Bradley Avenue would include a shuttle bus service that would receive expresses from all over the city and operate shuttle busses into the industrial park at Bradely and Veterans area delivering workers to their jobs at the appropriate times. This station would also be an inter-city bus transport terminal for commerical bus services to pick-up Londoners travelling between cities. As of now, these services are picking people up a gas stations, various parking lots and other unacceptable and uncomfortable locations. To make this work, we will also need to widen Bradley Avenue to 4 lanes between Wharncliffe Road and Veterans Memorial Parkway. The current London Plan and mobility plan do not have any plans to widen Bradley Avenue east of Highbury Avenue. This is a huge problem already and needs to happen within the next two years.

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 am of the mind that at this point in time, we need to deregulate as much as possible, fast tract approvals and facilitate a YES attitude to new business right away. We cannot risk any more misses for opportunities to bring new business and jobs to London. Government needs to get out of the way.

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?

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?

The basic infrastructure of roads, water, wastewater and sewers naturally should be the first plan of action for any future development. The anticipated future needs of the infrastructure in the distant future should also be considered in its planning so that it meets the needs well into the future rather than needing upgrading between future plans. The development charges should be kept to at cost level for the development needs and no more. There must be oversight on the future sales of properties to ensure those savings are reflected in the pricing to ensure fair and affordable markets for purchasers. We also need to be very fair but reasonable on our property tax assessments on properties to maintain a viable market place and ensure opportunity for home ownership and business opportunity.

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 think we ensure affordability, economic competitiveness and advantage by scrapping the Climate Emergency Action Plan.

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?

These mayor powers are an affront to democracy and directly diminishes representation for communities and individuals. It is also designed to remove self-determination away from municipalities in favour of consolidating and centralizing more power to the province. I would disagree with any Mayor who uses these powers and be very vocal about that abuse of our democracy.

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?

A vibrant creative and cultural scene is important for cities to foster and develop. I believe that cultural and creative events are best left in the hands of the citizens and private funding. I think the city can be valuable in creating and providing venues for festivals and creative functions as well as providing ancillary services in promotion and development assistance for arts and culture.

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