I am currently one of the City Councillors representing St. George's ward in St. Catharines, and I live in the ward with my family. I am employed as a teaching assistant and occasional research assistant at Brock University; as a Continuing Education Instructor at Niagara College; and I teach on-line for Canadore College. All of my employment is part-time and permits me to do the vast majority of my work from home and on my own schedule.
Prior to pursuing my Hons. B.A. (with distinction) in Sociology, I started my career as the right hand, so to speak, to an eight member senior management team for a company that manufactured fiberglass reinforced products. From there, I moved on to a local human resources firm as their project co-ordinator. Then, before moving into a public sector position, I was the office manager and then consultant for a local public relations firm. While working for the PR firm, I worked on several successful projects that involved communications and co-ordination between all levels of government.
While working for a local municipality, I was responsible for public relations, research and special initiatives for two mayors, a city manager, and the senior management team. I worked closely with all of these people, as well as councillors and attended meetings and other events to speak on behalf of the mayor or city manager. I developed both the Orientation package for the incoming city councillors after the 2003 election and the corporate public relations strategy.
Following my work with the PR firm and local municipality, I ran my own event planning and public relations business for five years before making the decision to pursue more education.
I have an in-depth understanding of how municipal politics and administration currently operate and how they can improve.
My community involvement has been varied over the years, including the following:
- Cowork Niagara - member, committee volunteer - 2014-present
- Pearl Gloves for MS Society of Niagara - Charity Boxing match - 2013(training began)-present (Fight Night is November 21, 2014)
- Niagara Workforce Planning Board - Board of Directors - 2014-present
- St. George's Ward Association - Organizer - 2014-present
- Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl for Kids Sake - 2014
- Canadian Blood Services - repeat donor - 2014
- Niagara Social Justice Forum - Organizing Committee - 2013
- Tough Mudder participant/fundraiser for Wounded Warrior Project - 2012 & 2013
- Ontario Trillium Foundation - Niagara Grant Review Team - 2009 to 2012
- RONA MS Bike Tour (Niagara) - 75km fundraising ride - MS Society of Canada - 2009 - 2011
- St. Catharines Standard - Community Editorial Board/Niagara Voices - 2009 to 2010
- Mayor’s Committee on Community and Race Relations - Event Chair - 2007 to 2009
- Quest Community Health Centre - founding Board member; Secretary/Treasurer - 2006 to 2009
- Mommy Talk - Founder - 2005 to 2007
- Niagara Entrepreneur of the Year Awards - Public Relations Chair - 2003 to 2004
- St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Program - Public Relations Co-ordinator - 2001 to 2003
- Canadian Cancer Society - Niagara Unit - Media Relations/Promotions Convenor - 1998 to 2001
My education, which most notably (for our purposes here) includes certification in Municipal Administration from the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario, also includes:
Brock University
- Pursuing Master of Arts degree in Sociology - 2014 (anticipated)
- Hons. B.A. in Sociology, graduating with first class honours and distinction - 2012
Leadership Niagara (Inaugural Group) - 2007
- Community Project was called Weaving Strengths and brought together several dozen community leaders to discuss community collaboration
Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario
- Municipal Administration Certification - 2006
Niagara College of Applied Arts & Technology
- Teaching Adults Certificate - 2010
- Municipal Administration Program - 2004
- Management Development - Effective Leadership - 2004
- Ontario Management Development - Leadership Skills - 2003
- Executive Office Administration - 1998
Laura's Platform
I hesitate to call it a "platform" because, of course, municipal politics does not work the way that provincial and federal politics do. There aren't supposed to be "party" politics at the municipal level. Councillors aren't supposed to vote on issues based on "party" affiliations (which isn't to say that it doesn't happen; just that it's not supposed to).
At the municipal level, the goal of a Councillor is to present their issues and get a majority of their fellow Councillors to support them. There are fewer guarantees that an individual Councillor's "platform" will be supported by other Councillors than there are in traditional "party" politics.
Having said all of that, these are the things I will put my efforts into:
Fiscal responsibility - balancing the needs of residents and businesses, while always being cognizant of stakeholders' ability to pay. We need to do things that will attract people to live or start businesses in St. Catharines, but we can't lose sight of what building, increasing services, etc. does to our taxpayer base. We need to consider both short-term and, especially, long-term impacts of the decisions made to spend money. We need to ensure that taxpayers (residential, business, and industrial) feel they are getting value for their tax dollar.
Accessible communities - building communities and community infrastructure that makes it easier to get around the city whether one is pushing a stroller, using an assistive device, riding transit, cycling, walking, or driving a car. I have experience working closely with public works and engineering departments, and I have a fair bit of civil engineering knowledge through my family. I want to see our infrastructure maintained and improved, while also implementing a more connected active transportation network.
Youth - we've heard a lot of talk about youth retention for at least 10 years now. Yet, here we are with the fourth highest population of seniors in Canada (Census 2011). Obviously, part of this is because there are simply more seniors than there are youth (speaking in terms of general demographics). But part of it is because St. Catharines has not been the place that the youth who are raised here or who come to attend school here choose to stay. We need to create an environment that makes them want to stay. I want my children to stay in St. Catharines. I want them to feel like they have education, career, and recreation opportunities that are difficult to beat anywhere else. And if I can help to make this city a place where my kids will stay, then it will be a city where your kids are likely to stay as well.
Community and citizen engagement - not only for city staff and councillors to engage in more open dialogue with citizens, but also to give citizens more opportunities to provide staff and councillors with feedback. I will always be available by telephone, e-mail, or through the ward meetings I plan to have. As your city councillor, my job is to listen to you. Without open and honest communication, we can't achieve what this city needs to be more vibrant and attractive to all of us.
Consensus and community building - working to get individuals and groups to have more open, respectful discussions with each other in an effort to create an environment where we can work more cohesively. There are a number of groups in St. Catharines that are already working together to create more of a sense of community. I think, in St. Catharines, we have a number of smaller communities (Port Dalhousie, Merritton, etc.), but I'm not sure how much we feel like a community as a whole. So far, most of the groups are entrepreneurial in nature, but I think this is a good start. Further, while I don't necessarily agree that Niagara should be one large municipality, I do believe that it's imperative that we start working together, across municipalities and organizations, throughout Niagara.
To be frank, I didn't number the items in the list above, because it is challenging to put them in a priority order. There is a great deal of overlap amongst them, with all of them really needing to be worked on at the same time. For instance, improvements to transit service will make our communities more accessible, while also being a step toward creating a more hospitable environment for youth.
As I said, there are - unfortunately - no guarantees that I can accomplish these things as a lone councillor, but I will use my communication and consensus building skills to work with my council colleagues, and I will keep all of these things in mind with every decision I make at the Council table.
As always, please don't hesitate to contact me through the blog, via e-mail: lauraipforstgeorgesward@gmail.com, through my Facebook page: Laura Ip for St. George's Ward, or on Twitter: @L__Ip. My LinkedIn profile can be found here. I'd love to hear your feedback.
Fine print:
Laura Ip's Election Campaign (“The Campaign”) has made every reasonable effort to ensure that the information displayed on this website/blog is accurate and responsible. The Campaign does not accept responsibility, or legal liability, for information that may have become incorrect, or misleading due to the passage of time or other conditions. Every reasonable effort is made to keep all information displayed current and up to date. To the best of our knowledge information is accurate at the time of writing and publication. Any opinions expressed on this website/blog are given without prejudice.
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