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Kingston’s mayoral candidates walk and talk with Bill Hutchins – Kingston

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With the municipal elections fast approaching, Global Kingston spoke with each of Kingston’s four mayoral candidates to ask them why they are running this time around.
If you’re still undecided, watch these in-depth interviews with each candidate to help you decide between Eric Lee, Rob Matheson, Bryan Paterson and Vicki Schmolka on Oct. 22.
Global Kingston will also be airing a mayoral debate on Oct. 17, so be sure to stay tuned to Global Kingston or to watch the debate online.
Eric Lee
Eric Lee is known to many Kingstonians as the ‘elevator guy’ from the old S&R Department days.
Although Lee doesn’t have any political experience, he is hoping to rise to the top floor of city politics. He lists tax reform as one of the key platforms in his first-ever campaign for mayor. Lee says he wants to repeal the vacancy tax rebate law, which he blames for the number of vacant storefronts in the city’s downtown core at the moment.
He also wants to focus on protecting tenants from landlords, who he says don’t take care of their properties despite tenant complaints.
READ MORE:
‘I’m the person for this’: Eric Lee, 68, files to join Kingston mayoral race
Watch the full interview below:
Rob Matheson
Rob Matheson served one term as city councillor for the Loyalist-Cataraqui District from 2006 to 2010 and then left politics to become a local cab driver.
He has also run for mayor once before, and councillor in the last municipal election for the Trillium District, loosing to Adam Candon, but Matheson believes its time for his political comeback.
The mayoral candidate describes himself as a champion of the working person, and he believes the current council has not been keeping the community’s best interest in mind.
READ MORE:
Kingston councillors pass motion to review transparency issues for closed meetings
Matheson says the current council bungled the purchase of the Cataraqui West Open Space Lands — protected wetlands that can never be developed — with money spent that could have been better allocated. The mayoral candidate would also change Kingston’s annual tax rate, saying Paterson’s 2.5 per cent increases are also not sustainable.
Watch the full interview below:
Bryan Paterson
Incumbent mayor Bryan Paterson has served one term as mayor and hopes to serve at least one more. He says he wants to build on the momentum of growth started by the current council while promising to keep annual property tax hikes at or below 2.5 percent.
READ MORE:
Mayor Bryan Paterson announces he will run again
Paterson listed the third crossing, the airport expansion and the improvements on Breakwater Park as accomplishments solidified while he was in office.
Paterson says he wants a chance to build more housing and to address the city’s low vacancy rate by pushing for more developments.
READ MORE:
Potential leak of closed-meeting details has some Kingston councillors concerned
Paterson responded to criticism about how he and his council closed the deal with Homestead Land Holdings Ltd. to build two high rises — 19- and 23-storey buildings — on Queen Street. The approval of that deal was done behind closed doors and later voted on in public, a process some have criticized for its alleged lack of transparency.
Paterson defended the negotiations, arguing that some things needed to be done behind closed doors in order not to tip off Homestead of the city’s plans.
Watch the full interview below:
Vicki Schmolka
As a former city councillor, Vicki Schmolka represented the Trillium District from 2006 to 2010, and she believes city hall has lost its way and needs to get back to basics, like fixing roads and sidewalks. Schmolka was chair of planning committee for four years, and she believes the current council has been disrespecting residents who tried to get involved in the planning process of certain developments.
READ MORE:
Kingston reaches deal with developer for two downtown high-rise apartments
Schmolka has also been a critic of the recent deal city hall made with Homestead Landholdings to build two high-rises on Queen Street, finally approved at 19 storeys and 23 storeys. Schmolka believes projects like these don’t follow the city’s official plan, and if she were mayor, she would opt for more residential development in the downtown core, but with buildings six- to eight-storeys high at the maximum.
Watch the full interview below:
© 2018 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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Anglais
‘Business as usual’ for Dorel Industries after terminating go-private deal

MONTREAL — Dorel Industries Inc. says it will continue to pursue its business strategy going forward after terminating an agreement to go private after discussions with shareholders.
« Moving ahead. Business as usual, » a spokesman for the company said in an email on Monday.
A group led by Cerberus Capital Management had previously agreed to buy outstanding shares of Dorel for $16 apiece, except for shares owned by the family that controls the company’s multiple-voting shares.
But Dorel chief executive Martin Schwartz said the Montreal-based maker of car seats, strollers, bicycles and home furniture pulled the plug on a deal on the eve of Tuesday’s special meeting after reviewing votes from shareholders.
“Independent shareholders have clearly expressed their confidence in Dorel’s future and the greater potential for Dorel as a public entity, » he said in a news release.
Dorel’s board of directors, with Martin Schwartz, Alan Schwartz, Jeffrey Schwartz and Jeff Segel recused, unanimously approved the deal’s termination upon the recommendation of a special committee.
The transaction required approval by two-thirds of the votes cast, and more than 50 per cent of the votes cast by non-family shareholders.
Schwartz said enhancing shareholder value remains a top priority while it stays focused on growing its brands, which include Schwinn and Mongoose bikes, Safety 1st-brand car seats and DHP Furniture.
Dorel said the move to end the go-private deal was mutual, despite the funds’ increased purchase price offer earlier this year.
It said there is no break fee applicable in this case.
Montreal-based investment firm Letko, Brosseau & Associates Inc. and San Diego’s Brandes Investment Partners LP, which together control more than 19 per cent of Dorel’s outstanding class B subordinate shares voiced their opposition to the amended offer, which was increased from the initial Nov. 2 offer of $14.50 per share.
« We believe that several minority shareholders shared our opinion, » said Letko vice-president Stephane Lebrun, during a phone interview.
« We are confident of the long-term potential of the company and we have confidence in the managers in place.”

Anglais
Pandemic funds helping Montreal businesses build for a better tomorrow

Many entrepreneurs have had to tap into government loans during the pandemic, at first just to survive, but now some are using the money to better prepare their businesses for the post-COVID future.
One of those businesses is Del Friscos, a popular family restaurant in Dollard-des-Ormeaux that, like many Montreal-area restaurants, has had to adapt from a sit-down establishment to one that takes orders online for takeout or delivery.
“It was hard going from totally in-house seating,” said Del Friscos co-owner Terry Konstas. “We didn’t have an in-house delivery system, which we quickly added. There were so many of our employees that were laid off that wanted to work so we adapted to a delivery system and added platforms like Uber and DoorDash.”
Helping them through the transition were emergency grants and low-interest loans from the federal and provincial governments, some of which are directly administered by PME MTL, a non-profit business-development organization established to assist the island’s small and medium-sized businesses.
Konstas said he had never even heard of PME MTL until a customer told him about them and when he got in touch, he discovered there were many government programs available to help his business get through the downturn and build for the future. “They’ve been very helpful right from day one,” said Konstas.
“We used some of the funds to catch up on our suppliers and our rents, the part that wasn’t covered from the federal side, and we used some of it for our new virtual concepts,” he said, referring to a virtual kitchen model which the restaurant has since adopted.
The virtual kitchen lets them create completely different menu items from the casual American Italian dishes that Del Friscos is known for and market them under different restaurant brand names. Under the Prasinó Soup & Salad banner, they sell healthy Greek options and their Stallone’s Sub Shop brand offers hearty sandwiches, yet the food from both is created in the same Del Friscos kitchen.

Anglais
Downtown Montreal office, retail vacancies continue to rise

Some of downtown Montreal’s key economic indicators are heading in the wrong direction.
Office and retail vacancies in the city’s central core continued to climb in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to a quarterly report released Thursday by the Urban Development Institute of Quebec and the Montréal Centre-Ville merchants association. The report, whose first edition was published in October, aims to paint a socio-economic picture of the downtown area.
The survey also found office space available for sublet had increased during the fourth quarter, which may foreshadow even more vacancies when leases expire. On the residential front, condo sales fell as new listings soared — a sign that the downtown area may be losing some of its appeal to homeowners.
“It’s impossible not to be preoccupied by the rapid increase in office vacancies,” Jean-Marc Fournier, the former Quebec politician who now heads the UDI, said Thursday in an interview.
Still, with COVID-19 vaccinations set to accelerate in the coming months, “the economic picture is bound to improve,” he said. “People will start returning downtown. It’s much too early to say the office market is going to disappear.”
Public health measures implemented since the start of the pandemic almost a year ago — such as caps on office capacity — have deprived downtown Montreal of more than 500,000 workers and students. A mere 4,163 university and CEGEP students attended in-person classes in the second quarter, the most recent period for which figures are available. Border closures and travel restrictions have also brought tourism to a standstill, hurting hotels and thousands of local businesses.
Seventy per cent of downtown workers carried out their professional activities at home more than three days a week during the fourth quarter, the report said, citing an online survey of 1,000 Montreal-area residents conducted last month.

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