ISSUES

St. George Street Redevelopement

The City of Moncton's St. George Street Improvement Plan—shaped by extensive public input—presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revitalize this key downtown corridor. City Council has approved an overall vision to transform St. George into a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly downtown hub that supports Moncton residents, local businesses, and our growing community.

I live just a few short blocks from St. George Street, and if elected I will help ensure that the process unfolds as described by maintaining ongoing dialogue with community members, local businesses, and schools.

It’s also time we addressed the vacant land parcels and boarded-up buildings along St. George. City Council should explore all available options to press landowners to either develop or sell these properties.

As your new Ward 2 Councillor, I will:

Be a strong voice on Council for full implementation of the approved vision while opposing any shortcuts

Hold Ward 2 Town Hall Meetings 3 to 4 times per year, ensuring residents can express concerns and share ideas with me and with one another

Commit to meeting every small business owner and service provider on St. George Street to hear redevelopment concerns before major work begins

Advocate that the province allow a vacancy tax to discourage landowners from indefinitely holding vacant properties and unoccupied buildings in the heart of our city

These steps will help ensure St. George Street becomes the thriving downtown corridor Moncton deserves.

Schools and School Safety in Moncton Ward 2

Image of the Wabanaki School Naming ceremony

Public schools are the heart of our Moncton communities. Record population growth over the past five years has forced schools to add portables and even bus students to schools across town.

As Moncton continues to grow, both Anglophone and Francophone districts will likely seek sites for new schools in the coming term. Moncton City Council needs to be proactive, planning and setting aside land now to ensure new schools can be built within the communities they serve. Almost every Monctonian agrees that relocating Moncton High to Irishtown was a huge mistake—we can't repeat it.

Moncton’s schools have also had to bear the extra burden of safety and security, whether from crime or unsafe traffic patterns. Schools also serve as community infrastructure—from evening gym and auditorium rentals to neighbourhood playgrounds. School safety is inseparable from general community safety.

As your new Ward 2 City Councillor, I will:

Advocate for stronger bylaw enforcement in school zones

Prioritize school-zone safety by pushing for Moncton to direct new safety services and infrastructure to schools first, expanding elsewhere as funding allows

Insist that city-owned land developed for housing also anticipates future school needs

Push for new significant housing proposals to estimate added school-aged children and compare against existing school capacity

Build council consensus to collaborate with the province on revising urban school land rules (e.g., counting adjacent public parks toward field requirements) so new schools can be located on smaller, city-appropriate land parcels.

These steps will help keep our kids safe, reduce strain on existing schools, and support smart growth in Ward 2.

Safe Streets for Moncton

Ensuring people of all ages and abilities feel safe on our streets starts with good planning. Conversations about road safety too often pit drivers against cyclists or pedestrians. Yet the moment drivers step out of their cars, they are pedestrians, and many people alternate between driving, walking, and/or cycling. Safer streets are safer for everyone.

For those of us who take transit, better route planning means less time waiting outside at bus stops, while better bike infrastructure keeps cyclists of all ages safe from departure to destination. Small, smart changes can make a big impact, such as making walk signals automatic on busy streets to reduce the number of pedestrians crossing when they shouldn’t.

As your new Ward 2 City Councillor, I will:

Support traffic-calming infrastructure and reduced speeds in residential neighbourhoods to protect children, seniors, and those with limited mobility

Advocate for active transportation infrastructure (such as bike lanes) safe enough for the children and seniors who use it

Research and push for deliberately planned transit routes and bike lanes on grids instead of the inefficient patchwork of random bus loops and disconnected bike lanes we have now

Study and propose low-cost, common-sense improvements such as automatic traffic light walk signals to prioritize pedestrian safety

These practical steps will make Ward 2 streets and sidewalks safer for everyone.

Housing and Homelessness in Moncton

Homelessness has risen to crisis levels in our city, and Monctonians have every right to be alarmed. Along with the often-overlapping mental health and opioid crises, homelessness may be the most serious challenge our city faces.

Meanwhile, housing in Moncton has become unaffordable for far too many people. Home ownership is increasingly out of reach, rents have skyrocketed, and vacancy rates are far too low. These conditions risk pushing even more people into homelessness.

The housing affordability crisis and homelessness crisis are linked. Many people currently experiencing homelessness were evicted because they were unable to pay rent. While we need to help those currently experiencing homelessness, we cannot stop new people from becoming homeless unless we find ways to lower rents and increase the supply of affordable housing.

The public has demanded that their elected officials—at all levels of government—act with urgency. Instead, we too often see buck-passing, with governments at one level shifting responsibility to another, and our community members falling through the cracks between well-intentioned but insufficiently comprehensive programs.

In a crisis, every level of government must do everything it can, and all must work together. We have heard promising announcements recently in Fredericton and Ottawa, but much more needs to be done. At the municipal level, Moncton should be using all the tools at its disposal to respond to this crisis.

As your new Ward 2 City Councillor, I will:

support efforts to increase housing density, ensure developers are incentivized to build a mix of market-rate, affordable, and deeply affordable units, and encourage the growth of non-market housing wherever possible, so that every Monctonian can find safe, secure housing they can afford

advocate for common-sense regulation of short-term rentals to prevent further conversion of long-term rental housing into Airbnb-style temporary accommodations

press the province to allow a vacancy tax on owners sitting on vacant land or unoccupied buildings in the heart of our city

Smart Growth for Moncton Ward 2

Moncton is one of Canada's fastest-growing cities, and today’s planning choices will shape our community for decades. Managing growth is essential. Density—building up rather than out—creates walkable, vibrant neighborhoods, supports local businesses, reduces car dependence, eases traffic, and preserves greenspace. Suburban sprawl, its opposite, hollows out downtowns, reduces walkability, encourages car-reliance, worsens traffic, and eats away at the greenspace around cities. Instead of repeating costly, preventable mistakes seen in other cities and spending millions to fix them later, Moncton can get smart growth right from the start—aligning with the city's Urban Growth Strategy’s focus on compact, sustainable development.

As your new Ward 2 City Councillor, I will:

Support higher density housing downtown to meet demand and encourage a vibrant, walkable city centre

Support development guidelines that preserve as much of the mature tree canopy as possible when constructing new buildings, instead of the cut-and-replant approach we too often see

Encourage the creation of more community parks with mature trees, native pollinator plants, community gardens, dog parks, playgrounds, and multi-use features to make them true neighborhood hubs

Advocate for an efficient Codiac Transpo grid with frequent back-and-forth routes along main arteries, including St. George, instead of inefficient one-way loops

Push for improved bus stop signage so every stop is visible from a block away, even in bad weather

Recommend reforms to the Public Transit Governance Committee to ensure that its members include people who actually use our transit system

Transparency and Accountability

Without transparency, how do you know your Ward 2 councillors are truly working on the issues that matter to you?

Moncton’s efforts to improve municipal democracy have stalled since the 2016 Enhancing Democracy Report, which recommended better public engagement and a comprehensive Democracy By-Law. Despite discussions as recently as December 2024—proposing annual ward-specific town halls and other reforms—the by-law was deferred, never adopted, and appears abandoned. That’s ten years of talk with nothing to show for it.

To my knowledge, no formal ward-specific town hall meetings have ever been held in Ward 2, and local business owners I’ve spoken with say their councillors don’t visit.

Moreover, Council quietly discontinued publishing councillors’ monthly activity reports in early 2024, removing one of the few channels for public transparency. With major projects like the St. George Street Redevelopment on the horizon, we need more—not less—communication between Council and residents.

Moncton needs a fighter to improve transparency and get City Hall's best ideas across the finish line.

As your new Ward 2 City Councillor, I will:

Push Council to restore the practice of submitting monthly activity reports for publication—I’ll post my own monthly updates on my website in the meantime

Advocate to refine and implement the stalled Democracy By-Law reforms

Hold town halls in Ward 2 at least three times per year—in the absence of a by-law, nothing prevents councillors from hosting informal sessions to connect directly with constituents

Contribute meaningfully to the discussion in public meetings, make my views on issues clear, and respect the role the media play in reporting on Council activities

Help build the culture of transparency at City Hall that Moncton deserves