There are three candidates in the race to represent Ward 2.
You can find out what ward you're in here.
You can learn about the people running for mayor of Waterloo here.
Khaled Berbash
Khaled Berbash has not yet replied to the CTV News survey.
Royce Bodaly
Who are you?
I am the current Ward 2 City Councillor and I’m running for re-election. After graduating from Laurier in 2004 with an honours degree in economics and accounting, my wife and I chose to stay here to raise our family. We have lived in Ward 2 for 15 years.
Why are you running?
I love working with community members to make the city a better place to live, tackling problems large and small. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made on issues like Affordable Housing, Climate Change, Safe Streets and Belonging; in spite of some challenging times. Notable achievements such as, establishing the city’s first ever affordable housing strategy, the creation of an energy road map to meet our corporate greenhouse gas emissions goals, a variety of traffic calming initiatives and the hiring of our Anti-Racism, Indigenous Reconciliation and Accessibility team. I am running for re-election because I’m passionate about continuing to tackle these important issues we face as a city and I am eager to bring my passion, commitment and experience back to Council.
What do you think is the most pressing issue facing the City of Waterloo and how do you plan to address it?
The most pressing issue is tackling the affordable housing crisis.
I’m proud that Council embedded affordable housing as a priority in our 2019-2022 strategic plan. Doing so led to the establishment of an affordable housing reserve fund with a stable funding source. This funding has been used to support affordable housing initiatives across the city, which are having a significant positive impact on residents.
We have also recently created the city’s first ever affordable housing strategy; a 10-year plan to create and retain affordable units across the city. It is imperative that the next term of Council begins the important work of implementing the 30 actions within the strategy. Particularly important is the implementation of inclusionary zoning; a tool which requires developers to build a small percentage of affordable units within new developments. We also need to look at allowing more gentle density and missing middle options to create more attainable housing in our community. Affordable housing is a complex topic, requiring the cooperation of many levels of government, but also requires the city to use all the tools in our toolbox to tackle this issue.
Shaheen Mujahid
Shaheen Mujahid has not yet replied to the CTV News survey.
