Danny Drew for Mayor of Guelph
(Mostly) In OpenDyslexic font for accessibility
Put People Before Profits
I’m running as mayor of Guelph to flip things on their head and put the needs of the people ahead of the wants of those who sit on hoards of stolen wealth. To make a more just society. To ease the grinding anxiety felt by most of us who are just one step away from total poverty, and to pull up those who have already fallen in.
There are more and more people forced to live on the streets, desperate for housing, while our police burn through nearly 20% of Guelph’s yearly budget. We’re stuck footing the bill for illegal mass surveillance programs and other tools of oppression, not to mention the construction fiasco that is their new headquarters. Another “Urbacon” such as Cam Guthrie promised wouldn’t happen again.
Our poorly designed transit system is neglected while what little money we have is siphoned off to subsidize suburbs sprawling into what used to be forests and farmland, making more people dependent on cars while the price of gas skyrockets and the world heats up.
We do our best to protect the environment while we’re told by a water bottle company pumping out over a billion plastic bottles a year that they’ve investigated themselves and determined that this doesn’t impact our water supply.
Guelph’s once flourishing arts scene not just downtown, but across the city is slowly being crushed under a rising tide of gentrification. Our vibrant culture pushed to the margins by countless identical cannabis stores and high-end restaurants
Things can be better than this.
Most of us want something better than this.
It’s within the power of the city’s government to make growth pay for growth as opposed to paying the rich for the illusion of growth. To increase transparency and efficiency such that the money freed up from foolish spending can go towards improving life for everyone, especially those who’ve been left behind by our current society; a world run by the rich for the rich. Revenue can also be increased by smarter, more human, and more environmentally friendly city design, not just expansion. We can rebuild the sense of community we’ve all been feeling slip away over the years at the same time as we build this city into a thriving place with wealth for everyone. By us, for us.
Primary Planks
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Fight predatory land development groups and civic inefficiency: Stop throwing money into the sinkhole of suburban sprawl.
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Make transit free and accessible to everyone as well as vastly expanding and improving the system. It shouldn’t be a punishment to ride the bus, and it’s a service, not a business.
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Rein in an out of control police force: Redirect money spent on illegal and unnecessary tools by racist and frivolous police. Reduce crime at its source - Poverty and desperation.
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Develop a coordinating body for the city’s countless Helpers (as Mr. Rogers would put it) so that their efforts can be made more efficient. Seriously address wastage of food and other useful products by businesses small or large, and whether purposeful or through neglect or ignorance.
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Build a stable foundation for housing and economic security through the establishment or support of Community Land Trusts, Housing and Worker Co-operatives, along with Tenant’s and Worker's Unions. Tax short-term rentals and vacant homes. Make “affordable” housing actually affordable.
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(updated Sep. 8, 2022)
