Belinda Karahalios
Occupation: Mom. Wife. President of the New Blue Party of Ontario. Former Member of Ontario’s Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Cambridge and formerly worked in healthcare for a charity.
How long have you lived in Cambridge?
Over 7 years
Do you reside in the ward/city you are running in?
I live in the beautiful and historic community of Preston.
Why are you running in this election?
I am running to defend taxpayers and advocate for principle and the opinions held by Cambridge residents just as I did as Cambridge MPP. Cambridge residents should not feel that their legitimate questions regarding the decisions made by City Hall or Queen’s Park will be ignored or even worse, vilified.
What qualifies you to represent your ward?
I am the best person for the job. For four years as MPP, I was not afraid to stand up for Cambridge residents and to stand on principle. I will not be bullied into voting against my conscience or turning a blind eye from doing the right thing.
Why should people vote for you?
Ward 3 residents that want change at City Hall can feel confident that a vote for me will be a vote for a councillor who won’t just go with the flow but who will stand up for them, ask the tough questions, and demand their tax dollars are spent prudently.
What do you see as the main issues facing residents of the ward?
Affordability. Cambridge City Councillors voted in favour of an egregious 4.24 per cent property tax increase for 2022 (more than triple the prior year’s increase) in
addition to an increase in the water rate and capital debt. This is reckless and unsustainable spending especially considering rising inflation.
What do you see as the main issues facing residents of Cambridge on a broader scale?
Current Cambridge City Council has made life significantly less affordable by approving reckless and unstainable annual property tax increases,
in addition to making critical decisions in secret and void of transparency. In addition, drug use, drug trafficking, crime, and homelessness continues to
negatively impact our community.
What is the most important thing you want to see changed in Cambridge?
I want to see change to a City Hall that is more responsive to Cambridge residents and transparent in their decision making. Cambridge City Councillors should be making every effort to prevent new or higher taxes and come up with ways to cut wasteful spending and save taxpayer money.
What services need to be improved in Cambridge?
City Hall cuts services while also increasing our property taxes at a reckless and unsustainable rate. If property taxes are increased by 4.24 per cent - more than triple the prior year’s increase - it should result in improvements, not decreases, in core services, such as garbage pick-up and critical infrastructure.
Is Cambridge growing too fast, just the right amount, or not fast enough?
One of the reasons Cambridge is growing is because it is a great place to work, live, and raise a family, just as my family discovered. Having said that, we need to stand up to federal and provincial governments who want to dictate our growth and then download the responsibility locally.
What can be done at the local level about the rising cost of housing?
Cambridge City Council is contributing to the rising cost of housing with reckless increases in the property tax rate of 4.24 per cent (triple from the year before) as well as increases in the water rate and capital debt. We need to save taxpayer money and freeze property taxes.
What can be done locally about the homelessness issue?
The status quo is not working. Clearly, the way The Bridges shelter is operating has contributed to the homelessness issue, not improved it, and we must ask why that is because with the imposition of a drug injection site, the homelessness issue will only get worse.
How do we make Cambridge an even better city to live in?
Focusing on cutting wasteful spending and saving taxpayer money to ensure no new or increased taxes. We must also not be silenced or attacked for wanting to debate policy proposals based on the facts and questioning whether ideological top-down proposals are having the intended results.
Visit www.votebelinda.ca learn more about Belinda
