Like many areas in town, Ward 6 is a comfortable neighbourhood on the edge of change.
Encompassing the easternmost section of town that lies north of the QEW, the ward is almost exclusively residential – and through most of it, astonishingly homogenous in housing type.
But new development arriving north of Dundas Street will undoubtedly add variety and density to its suburban feel.
The ward’s northern and eastern boundaries run along town limits. The QEW marks its southern limits. Its eastern boundary runs north along Trafalgar Road up to Dundas Street, then jogs east to run up Eighth Line. It includes the neighbourhoods of Falgarwood, Joshua Creek, Wedgewood Creek, Joshua Meadows, and the Winston Park industrial zone.
Each ward elects two councillors. One serves on town council only, in a $53,964 position considered part-time. The other sits on both town and Halton Region council, earning a total salary of about $114,000.
Here are the candidates for both town council and town and regional council seats, presented in alphabetical order. All live in ward six unless otherwise noted.
Ward 6 town council candidates
Lama Aggad is the producer of a Lama TV, an online media platform looking to connect Arabs around the world.
She says she has used that media platform to help political candidates communicate with voters and has used her language skills to better political understanding in ethnic communities.
She says her media experience gives her transferrable skills to help the community.
“There's an absolute hunger out there for council to better serve the residents of Ward 6,” she said, noting that she will be accessible by dedicating her cellphone number for residents.
What three issues are most important to you?
Community safety by enhancing all safety measures for a safer community.
Land use planning and development that serves existing residents and plans effectively for future/new residents.
Fiscal responsibility to keep our taxes low at inflation.
Trained chiropractor and assistant professor Natalia Lishchyna has held the job of Ward 6 town councillor since winning a byelection in 2015.
Along with working in the health care field, she has completed the Institute of Corporate Directors program at the University of Toronto and sits on a number of governing boards.
Those include the board of governors at McMaster University, the Ukrainian Credit Union, the Canadian Chiropractic Protective Association and local charitable groups like Oak Park Neighbourhood Centre.
“In addition to my council and professional experience, my family has grown up in northeast Oakville and both of my kids graduated from Iroquois Ridge High School,” she says.
Lishchyna says finances, green space and infrastructure are her key priorities.
“Although there are many issues that Council will deal with over the next four years, I would like to specifically advocate for (1) maintaining strong finances and keeping debt and taxes low, (2) protecting and expanding our green spaces and (3) maintaining our infrastructure in a state of good repair and investing in facilities that all residents can enjoy.
Affordability has been a key issue for many families during and post pandemic so it is more important than ever to make sure that tax dollars are spent effectively to provide all the services that residents need and care about.
The pandemic has shown us how important outdoor activity is for our health and well-being and so the protection, expansion and enhancement of our green spaces and urban forests needs to be prioritized as the community grows.
Finally, access to state-of-the-art facilities like libraries, community centres, arenas and other infrastructure adds significantly to the livability of our town.”
Ward 6 town and regional councillor
Tom Adams – Acclaimed
Tom Adams, first elected to represent the ward, has been acclaimed to the Town and Regional councillor role.
“I look forward to continuing to work with the residents of Oakville to make our home even more livable in the years ahead.
We have important work to continue. This includes managing the huge amount of urban growth throughout our community while protecting our greenspace, building and maintaining our infrastructure and preserving our strong finances.
We need to continue to ensure growth pays for growth to the maximum extent allowed by the province to protect existing residents from further subsidizing the development industry. We also need to plan for more attainable housing for both the current and the next generation of Oakville residents.
We have more work to do to improve traffic safety, to add to our pedestrian and cycling facilities, to build and renew parks, to protect our environment and respond to climate change and to create a community that is welcoming to our growing diversity.
There are many challenges ahead and I look forward to working with my council colleagues, our municipal staff team and the many engaged residents of Oakville to take us into an even better future.”