ThoroldToday will be profiling every candidate in the upcoming municipal and school board elections on Oct. 24. Up next: Councillor Victoria Wilson.
Victoria Wilson, 41, is wrapping up her first term as Thorold City Councillor but she says there’s still so much more she hopes to get done.
“I am proud to have offered a fresh perspective to the city,” Wilson says, in an interview with ThoroldToday. “I really feel like I’ve been a voice for all of our residents and have brought a perspective of that young growing family demographic to City Hall. I hope I have the opportunity to continue the success that we’ve had and see it through.”
Wilson’s decision to throw her hat in the ring four years ago was spurned on after seeing no female representation on city council.
“I found that very disheartening,” says Wilson. “I believe we’re a diversified community and I think we’re growing with so many different cultures and age groups. We need to have a voice for all those people at the table in City Hall.”
There are many achievements during her first term as councillor that Wilson is proud of.
“We’ve accomplished a lot of great things,” she says. “Big ticket items, like the fire hall and the operations centre, parks and trail improvements with the Battle of Beaverdams Park and Decew Trail.”
But more important to her are the smaller achievements.
“There was a lot of behind-the-scenes framework that affects services and taxes for residents that I was really proud to be a part of,” Wilson says. “I was very instrumental in getting council to approve some of these things such as key positions or experts we needed in City Hall.”
Wilson points to recent City Hall hires such as an HR Manager and a Public Relations Specialist.
“My personal favourite was the Economic Development Officer,” says Wilson. “We’re starting to see the benefits of that in just attracting new businesses straight to Thorold. All these things are really going to have a massive effect on the taxes and the improvement of services.”
To make decisions as a councillor, Wilson draws on 20 years of experience in human resource management and finances.
She is also part of the city's Joint Accessibility Advisory committee, which has pushed her to consider life in Thorold from different perspectives.
If she gets re-elected, there are already a few projects on her roster.
“The next big thing I want to tackle is getting a long-term care facility in our area,” Wilson says. “That’s actually going to be a massive crisis in all of Ontario. I’ve been working already on some connections on the provincial level to see if we can attract some long-term care facility and get approval for it. That’s something I’m excited to see.”
Tackling infrastructure projects such as Broderick Avenue are also on Wilson's agenda.
“I want to make sure they don’t get pushed off and trying to find funding from both the provincial and the federal government to help with those areas is key too,” she says.
Wilson, who has been living Thorold for 12 years, says it’s easy to want to make the city a better place.
“I know we’re growing in leaps and bounds but I think it’s so important for us to have smart, sustainable growth,” she says. “It’s a very special town, it’s unique in so many ways. Not only in the ways we interact and pitch in, in times of need, but also from a business perspective, our location is just outstanding. There’s so much that can be done and done well. I think it’s so important that we have the right people in place that have that vision that will help see that through.”
At the end of the day, Wilson hopes to get re-elected because there’s still so much more that she wants to do.
“The first four years you kind of set some framework in place, but there’s still a lot to be done,” she says. “I hope that the residents choose me to help move the city [forward] in a positive, sustainable and healthy growth. I hope they want to see me do it again.”
