When approached as to why he is running for mayor of St. Thomas, Frederick – a junior staff accountant at Graham Scott Enns in St. Thomas – doesn’t mince his words.
“St. Thomas is where I’m from, and it’s a place that I care about deeply. I’m running for mayor to help ensure that as we grow, we do so in a way that strengthens our neighbourhoods, creates local opportunity, and keeps St. Thomas the community that we love.”
And while he is the first in his immediate family to seek political office, there is an interesting connection to public office.
His aunt is former city councillor Tara McCaulley, who, earlier this summer, was named executive director of the Elgin Business Resource Centre in St. Thomas.
Frederick has a degree in software engineering from Western University but transitioned into accounting.
The 27-year-old Frederick said he has thought long and hard about running for mayor.
“I felt there were two different strategies or approaches that I could take. And I ultimately decided on mayor because I care a lot about the city. And the opportunity for impact is much larger than being one of eight city councillors.”
For Frederick, the future would see a re-link to close the gap in the former London & Port Stanley rail line north of Talbot Street and the creation of an integrated transportation network.
Part of that network being improved public transit.
“I just think we can do better. I want to build a St. Thomas into the future that is connected, livable, and safe for the people who live here.”
Another priority for Frederick is a diversified housing supply.
“I think a big part of that is what we’re able to offer. So if we are only offering apartments for rent or we’re only offering single-family homes for sale, there’s this whole array of options in between that we just don’t have, or we do have, but there are so few of them that you can’t get into it.”
Frederick referenced the residential development immediately south of Memorial Arena, which will see as many as 2,000 apartment units come on stream.
Much-needed housing with the PowerCo EV battery plant scheduled to begin production in a couple of years.
“In that same vein, it’s going to be up to the next mayor and council to make sure that this project (PowerCo) succeeds. So much time and money have been put into it already that if it fails, it would be so disastrous for the city.
“We need to make policies as a city that ensure the success, whether that be expanding electric vehicle charging or incentivizing people to purchase electric vehicles. Now, that’s more on the provincial government and federal government side. But we can support policies that contribute to the success of this plant, which we have put so much effort into.”
Frederick continued, “There are applications for batteries outside of just electric vehicles, and there will continue to be into the future. So I hope to see a move towards more electric vehicles. And at the same time, there will still be uses for the batteries that they produce, even if electric vehicles don’t skyrocket in popularity.”
He would like to see more attention paid to maintaining the city’s assets.
“Like the sidewalks, the roads, the public spaces that the city owns. These are all capital assets on the city’s balance sheet. And they need to be cared for and maintained so that they’re able to be used long into the future.”
“I want to build a St. Thomas into the future that is connected, livable, and safe for the people who live here.”
In addition to social media, door-knocking will be an integral part of Frederick’s campaign.
“ I know that’s an effective technique. Get out to meet people, see what their concerns are, and how I can bring their voice to the city’s politics. And yeah, just getting out and meeting people and seeing what people have to say.
“Because the voters are like a free focus group. They can kind of mold what you need to do, based on listening to what their concerns are and acting on their concerns.
“And you can get that at no cost by door knocking and just saying, hey, what does the city need? When I become mayor, what can I do for you?”
“You know, my family’s been here for four generations. I’m not planning to go anywhere anytime soon. I have gone to live in the U. S., but there was always something pulling me back.”
Written by Ian McCallum
