Hello again, London Leaders, the readers of London Ontario Online News. Thanks for your support, and here comes the Wednesday column that’s all about local government. With less than three weeks to go before everything changes again in new ways, it’s important to pay attention and use good information when making decisions that affect our city and the people in it.
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Election 2026
Straight to business: we’re having a moment.
This is a turning point in the election campaign, I’d suggest. This is the point when Susan Stevenson, Ward 4 councillor and mayoral candidate, made her move. This was when she focused on homelessness, the lodestone issue of the election. And it seems to be an effective strategy.
Stevenson’s press conference on the matter is outlined here in the London Free Press and here by CTV London. Stevenson is promising, if elected in just under three weeks, a review of homelessness spending, an overhaul of housing supports and continued advocacy for an addiction treatment centre.
I’d like to surface Josh Morgan’s comments.
The Free Press reports that Morgan “said many of the items she announced Monday are things the city is already doing or information that can easily be found.”
And the story says: “Morgan said the city does not directly fund harm reduction.”
And, quoting Morgan: “We spend $0 on harm reduction kits.”
But Stevenson still gets the publicity, leading the coverage with eye-catching headlines and so on.
Let’s be clear that the reporting is accurate: Stevenson is indeed targeting homelessness spending. The clarity is lost, however, when we get into arguments about the details: who’s funding what, who’s using which approach and why, and so on. It’s very loud right now.
Many of us in the local media are seeking to cut through the noise with discussions like this Monday podcast, from The Loon’s Matt Brown and Steve Cordes, in which they discussed Steve’s interviews with Morgan and Stevenson, picking apart what they said.
It’s a lot, though, eh? It takes effort to understand all of this. And people remember those flashy headlines more easily than a nuanced argument. That’s just the way we’re made.
People are taking part in advance voting now, whether or not they have clarity. And, it’s another example of Stevenson making a lot of impact with her messaging, even as the same stories report the flaws in it and present them as counter-arguments. Josh Morgan pushes back, and others fact-check or take statements apart and try to win the argument, but Stevenson still gets her message spread across the city. This is the power of a strong narrative, and it’s showing in most of the ward races, too - notably Ward 13, as mentioned below.
While everyone else is trying to win the argument, Susan Stevenson is trying to win the election.
But has she left it too late? Clearly this is a key moment, and will likely add new votes to Stevenson’s support or perhaps even convert votes by others. And, every time she addresses this issue, more people look for an alternative because they are not keen on the change she represents. Much of this is actually benefiting Josh Morgan, and there is real chatter around town about some of the other candidates picking up votes in the same way.
For months I’ve been convinced that Stevenson has the noise but she doesn’t have the numbers. It’s been hard to see how she could build the tens of thousands of votes needed to take the mayor’s chain. Last time, Morgan polled some 46,000 votes out of a total of 70,000 and could conceivably call on most of those people again. Where’s the Stevenson support coming from?
Well, perhaps we had a glimpse this week, in the public conversation spinning off from these mayoral campaign appearances. We haven’t seen a poll, so it could still be smoke and mirrors. And, this increasingly media-friendly candidate is the legitimate face of a lot of strong, often controversial, local opinions and she does seem to be growing her base, even as she sends many potential voters flying to other banners. She talked tough, for example, at the Rogers tv mayoral debate, saying she’d fire the city manager, as the Free Press discusses here. (I’ll also link to the actual debate here.) That seems to have ruffled feathers.
There are a lot of concerned faces among London’s political types lately. Suddenly, it’s: could she? And has she left herself enough time?
We’ll find out in 19 days.
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Here’s a piece from Kate Dubinski of the CBC looking at the issue of homelessness, addiction and mental health in an informative way: LINK. That’s part of a CBC London series worth following.
The LFP covers the mayoral debate run by Corus Radio here.
For a dissection of the Rogers tv mayoral debate, head to this Saturday post by Matt Brown, in which he and two guests give us 24 minutes of good, good information. Those guests are veteran journalists Christine Taleski and Bob Smith.
Want to hear full conversations with Stevenson and Morgan? That Craig Needles has you covered - full podcast interviews with each. (And I’ll also point you at chats our own Steve Cordes had with Stevenson and Morgan.)
And it’s good to see Kirsten Krose making another contribution to the debate. Here’s more from her platform, via an interview with the Free Press. It includes a 10-year plan to address housing and homelessness issues.
(I also want to reshare this Needles podcast from July, in which he interviews mayoral candidate Bronagh - rhymes with Verona - Morgan. It doesn’t feel right to leave her out, with lots of positive discussion connected to her campaign and her heartfelt contributions to the debates. There are 12 candidates for mayor.)
Campaigning in the core (and nearby neighbourhoods)
Let’s visit one of the other 14 City Council contests taking place right now. In the Ward 13 race, incumbent David Ferreira told CBC London that he’s fighting misinformation about downtown issues such as homelessness and drug use, and we should follow the data on it.
“We need to get rid of the politics of it all,” he comments.
I’m not sure the electorate sees it that way. I agree with him, and this topic needs to come with a message of empathy for voters who see troubles on the street every day. Ferreira has six (now five - see below) challengers trying to unseat him, and a wafer-thin majority of 34. This ward is a real nail-biter and a head-scratcher.
Here’s that excellent report from Andrew Lupton at CBC: LINK.
Ward 13 candidate withdraws, apparently
Andrew’s story includes this important paragraph saying one of the seven Ward 13 hopefuls is out of the race.
Candidate Nicholas Saika-Voivod was active on social media early in the campaign but told CBC News he’s no longer seeking votes, and is instead asking supporters to support (Andrew) Crook.
Let’s move on. All this election talk is very draining. I think we can all be forgiven if we’re feeling a little tired of it all.
At least it’ll be over soon. And then we’ll have a whole new bunch of people around the horseshoe eagerly saying things. Oh, humans.
Let’s just look forward to the long weekend, shall we?
Further municipal issues
There’s still City business going on, with a couple of standing committees getting only a little attention this week. Here’s a bit of it.
The bylaw enforcement people are risking the wrath of God, aieee. Here’s the story. That’s about parking charges during funerals and should never have made the media - the City just needs to sort this out. Please do not make the grief-stricken pay for parking.
And there was a protest by ACORN, the tenants’ rights group, at City Hall, demanding a better licensing program for landlords: CTV. And here’s ACORN’s own website post about this - great photos.
And look out for media coverage generated by today’s agenda drop. It’s Full Council next week and there may yet be stories to tell.
Darmok and Jalad on the ocean
That’s your City Hall chat for this week. There will likely be an update in Friday’s ROUNDUP - a media release tells me Josh Morgan is making an announcement later today about support for businesses hit by tariffs. Let’s look out for that.
And I’m done for now. Thanks, as always, for subscribing, whether it’s free or paid. I’m noodling some Paid-only content, likely including audio recordings, so lmk if that sounds good to you. All this time I’ve felt we should be doing something more for that particular group, and as always we’re part-time and doing what we can do. Maybe coming soon.
We’re almost at the election and just seven days away from the last Full Council meeting of this term. I’ll be back next week with something from that, although it may force a change in schedule because it starts at 1 in the afternoon. Don’t worry if you don’t get a post until later that Wednesday.
Cor, luv a duck, where does the time go? That’s it for now.
Beam me up.
- Mike
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