Here is what Zack will push hardest for, and the reasoning behind each. Three fronts: end the crises, build resilient community, fix the basics.
In 2022, one in four Canadians were unable to cover an unexpected expense of $500. Over one in ten Canadians have experienced some form of homelessness in their lifetime. Homelessness is not a personal issue but a policy issue, and the longer it is ignored, the more costly it becomes to solve, and the more unnecessary deaths it causes.
People in power are not doing anything out of the kindness of their heart. They do what is cost effective. When you and I have a demand, no matter how reasonable, it comes with a cost. By organizing together, neighbours and coworkers make their demands the cost-effective choice.
The city of London cannot lower your rent or raise your wages. But you as Londoners can. Zack will launch a city-wide initiative to organize Londoners to improve their living conditions.
Landlord licensing that includes a public database of every landlord and all of their properties, so tenants who want to organize can build an accurate power analysis and win their demands systematically.
London does not have the power to put a vacancy tax on commercial properties, but that should not be an excuse not to fight the vacant properties that steal from London's potential. Demand they be filled, or sold to someone who will fill them.
Read the Farhi file: who he is, what he holds, and who has taken his money →
Poverty is the father of crime: tackle the root cause instead of only paying for the aftermath. The London Police's COAST teams, just 4 teams of 2 people (an officer and a crisis nurse), already respond to 25% of 911 calls. Expand COAST and the volunteer auxiliary program, and officers stay free to respond just as fast, at a reduced budget.
Before proposing any of this, Zack completed the London Police Citizens Academy: 8 weeks inside how policing in this city actually works.
About COAST: the program (CMHA Thames Valley) · CBC's early review
Council voted to raise its own pay from roughly $67,000 to roughly $94,000. Zack will fight for a ballot initiative to match council pay to London's median income of $71,000. And he does not believe council should vote on its own raises at all. If council's pay matches Londoners' income, council has an incentive to fight for better-paid Londoners.
Londoners deserve to know who is lobbying our local government. It is in the interest of large corporations to spend a portion of their profits buying political influence. The least the city can do is write down who's asking.
Zack has personally taken a Ward 2 corner and slid because the plows aren't consistent on the side streets. He wants London to take plowing back in-house instead of relying on contractors. It is the city's job to keep our roads safe.
Construction matters, but it shouldn't throw people's lives into disarray. More time planning efficient detours, better communication, more traffic controls. And fix what flooding keeps breaking: whole areas of Ward 2 flood consistently, and residents are left to fend for themselves.
Zack bikes, and he's a fan of good biking infrastructure, but the Wavell Street lane doesn't work for anyone in its current form: not for parents, not for drivers stuck behind stopped vehicles, not for residents blocked in twice by snowplows. He'll work with biking advocates and residents to rework it so it serves everyone.
London never stops growing, and it is surrounded by some of the most sought-after farmland in the world. So grow denser, not wider. Density puts what you need closer to where you live.
Every contrast with the incumbent's record is documented in council minutes, news coverage, and public campaign-finance filings.