HaltonHillsToday is profiling every candidate in the upcoming municipal election. Up next - candidates running for mayor.
Mayoral contender Ken Paige has a whole host of policies to pursue if chosen by Halton Hills to lead the community.
Being a chartered accountant, it's easy to guess what guides him: fiscal responsibility and a line-by-line examination of finances. He said he will also develop policies addressing growth and affordable housing, among others.
“We need to have a very comprehensive process around the budgeting,” he said.
He doesn't agree with the Town’s tax increases throughout the years. According to him, the public is “worse off this year than they were last year because property taxes are higher than the rate of inflation.”
In the first 100 days of getting elected, he promises to “get a handle on what is the budget process and who’s involved with that.”
“How can we ensure that the right people are at the table, thinking about what are the priorities and where can we look for opportunities to not spend money?”
He doesn't believe that “slash and burn” is the way to go because “it's a harsh way to think about reducing cost.”
Growth also tops Paige's agenda. He and his wife moved to Glen Williams because of the livability of the area - something he said he wants to achieve for the rest of Halton Hills. For him, that means infill development to “control growth.”
In particular, Vision Georgetown and “how we incorporate those people into the community is a big deal.” The project aims to provide housing for some 20,000 people.
Infill or higher-density development tie into his other priorities - affordable housing and a made-in-Halton Hills transit solution.
“That doesn't mean bringing in big, articulating buses that don't have any people on them day and night. What it means is we have solutions which are aimed at a smaller community,” he said.
He would also like to see further diversification of the job market in Halton Hills. For him, this means new manufacturing industries as well as “technical workers, whether it's in quality, whether they're chemists, whether they're accountants. Those are the kind of jobs that we want to attract here.”
Paige once sat as an alderman in the pre-amalgamation Toronto burrough of East York. He hopes to use his experience in politics to deliver the results he's promising. He has a long career as an accountant under his belt.
