Lori Baldwin-Sands was first elected to council in 2006, and this is her fifth term in the council chamber. She notes the unique opportunity she has had to watch the city grow: “How we’ve been able to embrace many of the things and transition from a smaller community to a now larger community and a growing community.”
We asked what has stood out for her in this current term of council.
“There are many things for me that personally stand out. Number 1 is all of the housing and bringing people together in order to make that housing work. So the projects that we’ve been able to do with the YWCA, the projects that we’ve been able to do with other not-for-profit agencies throughout this community, and bringing housing to all members.”
She continued, “When I first started on council, it was operated in silos. Those silos have been pretty much broken down, and everyone is working together and all moving in the same direction toward more housing for community members. So it’s that variety that we need. So it’s not just all of the housing that is going in, but providing that mix of housing for all of the members of our community.
“When I was first on council back in 2006, I was chair of social services. And that was one of the walls that I wanted to break down: more seniors’ affordable housing. And that’s when we were able to get the project on Scott Street, the project on Elysian Avenue, and working with those developers at that time to provide that. But there hasn’t been that renewed vigour to create more of those spaces that are so critically needed.”
She has a strong commitment to building a community/aquatic facility in St. Thomas.
She added, “I’ve asked city staff to look at what is called the Uxbridge model, which is something that is being built currently in Uxbridge, which is the 25-meter pool plus a therapy pool. Plus three gymnasiums, and one of those gymnasiums to have a performance centre. Now, finding that location where we need that acreage that hasn’t been used for other things in the community that I’ve also supported, it’s finding that magic piece.”
Baldwin-Sands has had a lengthy relationship with the city’s Health Recruitment Partnership.
“That’s our mandate with health recruitment is for family physicians. The hospital itself works on the specialists. So we can, if there has been in the past, a doctor who is a specialist who wants to come to our community, we give them the direction to the hospital. That’s one of the advantages that we have. But also, if a family doctor is coming to the City of St. Thomas, their spouse may also be a medical practitioner, whether it be a specialist, etc. So we’ve worked to accommodate family units for example. So those are the connections that we can make with the hospital and continue to work together to make this a healthier community.”
The new council will need to take a hard look at regional growth, she stressed.
She has also long been involved with the Kettle Creek and Catfish Creek conservation authorities.
“And how we are moving forward with provincial guidelines on merging those two with others as well to make a very large Eastern Lake Erie Conservation Authority. And that’s going to result in a lot of changes. I’ve been a very strong advocate of the environment. I still sit on the National Climate Caucus, which is elected officials from across Canada and I’m very fortunate to be one of those 10 people that have been selected to sit on that National Climate Caucus to help educate and inform on the simple things that we can do within communities to make it better for all and addressing some of these climate change issues.”
As for her campaigning efforts, she makes it clear it is all about her record on council.
“I have always talked about how I’m independent, how I’m independent in thought, and in my work, I try to do that. I’ve been known as a collaborator, someone who builds consensus amongst the people that I work for. You will find that if you ask some of the other members of council, they will say, and I hope they say, that I’m very respectful of the view that they have, the attention to detail that they provide, as well as being respectful of the attention to detail that I provide.
“And I find myself very, very strong in the research department and like to dig into those details to see if we can get that consensus that we need to build around the table.”
Written by Ian McCallum
