# New Approaches with Kat Pasquach

An episode of [Rose City Politics](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1247337855), 23 Sep 2026, 41 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75306180/kat.mp3

Panelists Doug Sartori and Pat Papadeas are joined by Mayoral candidate Kat Pasquach to discuss her reasons for entering politics, her plans, and her platform.

## Transcript

[0:22] Speaker 1: Welcome to Rose City Politics. We are continuing our conversations
[0:28] Speaker 1: with candidates running for mayor and city council across Windsor.
[0:32] Speaker 1: I'm Doug Sartori and I'll be your host for this
[0:35] Speaker 1: episode and I'm joined by my co-host Pat Papadias.
[0:39] Speaker 2: Hello.
[0:40] Speaker 1: Today we're turning our attention to the mayor's race. There
[0:43] Speaker 1: are 11 candidates registered for mayor, and over the course
[0:47] Speaker 1: of this election, we're talking with a number of them
[0:49] Speaker 1: about their campaigns, their priorities, and their vision for Windsor.
[0:54] Speaker 1: As always, we'd like to recognize and thank Liuna Local
[0:58] Speaker 1: 625 for supporting this podcast. Today, we're joined by Kat Pasquatch,
[1:03] Speaker 1: candidate for mayor of Windsor. Kat describes herself as a
[1:07] Speaker 1: community builder, entrepreneur, and proud Windsorite. She was born in Toronto,
[1:12] Speaker 1: spent part of her youth in Moosonee near her family's
[1:15] Speaker 1: Indigenous community, Moose Cree First Nation, and later came to
[1:19] Speaker 1: Windsor to attend the University of Windsor, where she spent
[1:23] Speaker 1: seven years as a student and another nine as an employee.
[1:27] Speaker 1: Her professional background spans indigenous outreach and education, nonprofit housing, entrepreneurship,
[1:34] Speaker 1: arts and culture, and labor advocacy. Since 2023, she has
[1:38] Speaker 1: been president and CEO of Can-Am Urban Native Nonprofit Homes,
[1:44] Speaker 1: having previously served three years on its board. She is
[1:47] Speaker 1: also the founder and operator of Culture Shock Bead Company,
[1:51] Speaker 1: an indigenous-owned business she started with her mother. At the
[1:55] Speaker 1: University of Windsor, Kat served as Aboriginal Outreach and Retention
[1:59] Speaker 1: Coordinator from 2016 to 2025 and was a University of
[2:04] Speaker 1: Windsor Senate Representative for six years. She has also been
[2:08] Speaker 1: involved with a number of community and arts organizations, including
[2:12] Speaker 1: the Windsor-Essex Orange Shirt Day Committee and Art Windsor-Essex. Kat,
[2:17] Speaker 1: thank you for joining us.
[2:20] Speaker 2: Wow, that was incredible. Thank you.
[2:23] Speaker 1: It's quite a resume. Okay, let's start off with the
[2:26] Speaker 1: question that sets the stage for everything that will follow.
[2:30] Speaker 1: Why are you running for mayor of Windsor?
[2:34] Speaker 2: Every time I get asked this, it actually doesn't get
[2:36] Speaker 2: any easier answering, mainly because this journey has evolved. And
[2:40] Speaker 2: I think what I had started off with when I
[2:43] Speaker 2: first put in that application was just this crazy notion
[2:46] Speaker 2: that I could really stir up change. And it's really
[2:49] Speaker 2: built a lot in the past few months since I've
[2:52] Speaker 2: submitted my papers. But At this point in the game,
[2:56] Speaker 2: I know that in order to lead our city in
[2:59] Speaker 2: a different direction and being able to change the status
[3:02] Speaker 2: quo that I've been seeing all of the years that
[3:04] Speaker 2: I've lived here, I know that I can bring that
[3:07] Speaker 2: perspective to the table. And I am going full steam
[3:11] Speaker 2: ahead with my campaign and hoping that people resonate with
[3:14] Speaker 2: the message that I'm going to bring.
[3:18] Speaker 3: You know, in your, first of all, let me just say,
[3:20] Speaker 3: as impressive as the resume is, my favorite part is
[3:26] Speaker 3: being in business with your mother because I love a
[3:28] Speaker 3: good mother-daughter story.
[3:29] Speaker 4: I just want to put that out there.
[3:30] Speaker 3: But you describe your approach as putting people first and
[3:34] Speaker 3: progressive leadership. Tell us a little bit about what that
[3:37] Speaker 3: actually means in practice when you're making a sort of
[3:40] Speaker 3: a difficult municipal decision and how that translates to how
[3:46] Speaker 3: you would lead as mayor.
[3:51] Speaker 2: A lot of the leadership that I've always looked to
[3:53] Speaker 2: were a lot of Indigenous women. And the way that
[3:56] Speaker 2: Indigenous communities work is always collaboratively. There's the idea of
[4:01] Speaker 2: the circle and a sharing circle. Maybe people have heard
[4:04] Speaker 2: about this, even restorative justice circles. And decision making and
[4:08] Speaker 2: sitting in a circle really puts everybody at the same place.
[4:12] Speaker 2: And even when I look at the way that the
[4:13] Speaker 2: city hall is structured and seeing the mayor sitting on
[4:16] Speaker 2: a higher platform than everybody else in that space, there's
[4:19] Speaker 2: this power dynamic that always has set, always been uneasy
[4:22] Speaker 2: with me in any sort of institutional space. And I
[4:28] Speaker 2: know that in terms of the way I think about
[4:30] Speaker 2: progressive leadership, it's really about bringing all voices to an
[4:33] Speaker 2: equal place to have a say in how decision-making is made.
[4:37] Speaker 2: And that really does tie back to the cultural ties
[4:39] Speaker 2: and my cultural upbringing, right? So when I think about progressive,
[4:43] Speaker 2: that lens sort of helps shape the way that I
[4:46] Speaker 2: look at leadership and how I would approach the mayor's
[4:50] Speaker 2: seat moving forward.
[4:53] Speaker 1: It's really interesting. And so I would really like to
[4:57] Speaker 1: hear you elaborate on that and maybe give us an
[5:00] Speaker 1: example of a Windsor issue where you think the current
[5:04] Speaker 1: approach is not working and where your approach would be
[5:07] Speaker 1: fundamentally different.
[5:08] Speaker 2: I think about, I think about, the different voices and
[5:12] Speaker 2: the things that I've heard about the unhoused and those
[5:16] Speaker 2: specifically that are facing addiction. And I think about some
[5:19] Speaker 2: of the comments that I've heard on how we should
[5:21] Speaker 2: be dealing with that. And what I hear a lot
[5:25] Speaker 2: is a lot of judgment and misconception of what folks
[5:28] Speaker 2: are experiencing. And when you bring people into sort of like,
[5:32] Speaker 2: when you think about treatment, And you think about these spaces, like,
[5:37] Speaker 2: let's say like NA and AA, those models are used, right?
[5:40] Speaker 2: Everybody is sitting, you have the opportunity to share, you
[5:43] Speaker 2: have the opportunity to learn about other people. And I
[5:47] Speaker 2: don't think that there are enough people in Windsor that
[5:50] Speaker 2: sort of understand what it is to struggle and what
[5:52] Speaker 2: it is to have addiction issues. And if we actually
[5:56] Speaker 2: took the time to be able to sit down and
[5:57] Speaker 2: see people for the human beings that they are, that
[6:01] Speaker 2: dignity is You start to build up dignity, right? You
[6:03] Speaker 2: start to be able to see somebody and the struggles
[6:06] Speaker 2: that they face and maybe have a better understanding of
[6:09] Speaker 2: why they're in the situation that they are.
[6:11] Speaker 3: I'm going to pick up on what you were talking
[6:15] Speaker 3: about a little bit in terms of housing, homelessness. We'll
[6:18] Speaker 3: pick up on the substantive issue. Housing is clearly a
[6:21] Speaker 3: major priority for you. And you even mentioned it sort
[6:25] Speaker 3: of like really early on. And you proposed expanding cooperative
[6:28] Speaker 3: housing using city-owned land and long-term leases. Why cooperative housing?
[6:33] Speaker 3: What does that model achieve that conventional affordable housing doesn't?
[6:39] Speaker 2: I like the idea. When I was researching cooperative housing models,
[6:43] Speaker 2: I really like the idea of people that maybe have
[6:46] Speaker 2: access to savings that haven't qualified for conventional mortgages. Right.
[6:51] Speaker 2: And that actually includes myself. I haven't been able to
[6:56] Speaker 2: that that being a first home first time home buyer
[7:00] Speaker 2: has sort of always been out of my reach, even
[7:02] Speaker 2: though I've had professional success and secure job over the years.
[7:06] Speaker 2: But when I've looked at some of the cooperative housing
[7:08] Speaker 2: models in other cities and even in other countries, people
[7:12] Speaker 2: are able to come together and be able to put
[7:14] Speaker 2: that purchasing power together. So whether or not somebody has
[7:17] Speaker 2: a set amount of savings, whether somebody has a smaller
[7:20] Speaker 2: pool of access, it's the combined resources that come together
[7:24] Speaker 2: that enable people to buy into that space. And so
[7:29] Speaker 2: somebody maybe that's putting down a higher down payment into
[7:32] Speaker 2: a process like that will have a lower payment than
[7:36] Speaker 2: lower rent, so to speak, than somebody maybe who doesn't
[7:39] Speaker 2: have that access. And they'd be paying a closer to
[7:42] Speaker 2: a market rent into the cooperative housing. And I really
[7:46] Speaker 2: like this idea of like you're meeting people where they're
[7:50] Speaker 2: at based on income and based on savings and coming
[7:54] Speaker 2: together in community. And that's part of the conversation that
[7:56] Speaker 2: we're seeing. We're seeing a lot of struggles in society
[7:59] Speaker 2: that we're not relying on each other enough and we're
[8:01] Speaker 2: not speaking to each other enough. There is a big
[8:04] Speaker 2: disconnect that's happening. It's this underlying undertone that's happening in
[8:08] Speaker 2: our communities everywhere.
[8:10] Speaker 1: You've committed to a zero percent property tax increase in
[8:14] Speaker 1: your first year as mayor. At the same time, your
[8:17] Speaker 1: platform proposes doing more in a number of areas, including
[8:21] Speaker 1: expanded housing, transit, homelessness response, small business supports, investments in
[8:27] Speaker 1: youth programming and arts and culture. Where does the money
[8:30] Speaker 1: come from? What would you be prepared to cut, defer
[8:33] Speaker 1: or do differently to make that commitment possible?
[8:38] Speaker 2: So the nice part about some of the ideas that
[8:41] Speaker 2: I've brought forward don't cost money. And I think right
[8:44] Speaker 2: away about like the youth mentorship programs that we would
[8:46] Speaker 2: be able to enable. Something like that I have been
[8:49] Speaker 2: able to build with no budget whatsoever and then move forward.
[8:53] Speaker 2: And really what that takes is time and dedication from
[8:56] Speaker 2: volunteers and other like-minded citizens. Thinking about that 0% though
[9:02] Speaker 2: and the reality of it is, is the way that...
[9:06] Speaker 2: I think about it right now and the climate that
[9:09] Speaker 2: we're in, I think a lot of people are strapped
[9:12] Speaker 2: for cash. There is a lot of concern about how
[9:15] Speaker 2: and who can afford a tax increase. And I know
[9:20] Speaker 2: that there's a lot of concern about the budget right now.
[9:22] Speaker 2: How are we going to address all of the rising costs?
[9:26] Speaker 2: And I've been chatting with other councillors on their thoughts
[9:28] Speaker 2: about this. Some are saying that this budget is the
[9:33] Speaker 2: single most important thing that's going to be looked at.
[9:36] Speaker 3: And.
[9:40] Speaker 2: I'm hearing other councillors and other prospective councillors talking about
[9:43] Speaker 2: ways that they would like to be able to raise money.
[9:45] Speaker 2: And I'm like, that needs to be a part of
[9:47] Speaker 2: the conversation. And I haven't been hearing enough of that.
[9:50] Speaker 2: What are the things that the city isn't doing right
[9:52] Speaker 2: now in terms of generating revenue that makes sense to
[9:56] Speaker 2: the city? And yeah. like, and I don't hear enough
[10:01] Speaker 2: of that conversation. I know that there isn't enough money
[10:03] Speaker 2: in the budget currently, but like, let's look at ways
[10:06] Speaker 2: to do that.
[10:07] Speaker 3: Okay.
[10:08] Speaker 1: I want to follow up on that because you touched
[10:11] Speaker 1: on affordability and affordability for the community in, in your
[10:16] Speaker 1: response and, One of your opponents has talked about the
[10:19] Speaker 1: whole tax bill, the whole bill for city services. And
[10:24] Speaker 1: I'm curious, in terms of affordability, what are your thoughts
[10:28] Speaker 1: on user fees, on some of the costs that are
[10:32] Speaker 1: imposed on people to live in this city and take
[10:34] Speaker 1: advantage of services? And how does that fit into your
[10:36] Speaker 1: fiscal plans?
[10:40] Speaker 2: So thinking, when I first started hearing about that, I'm like, wow,
[10:43] Speaker 2: that's really going to impact, I think, the lowest income
[10:46] Speaker 2: people in our community, right? Like people that actually have
[10:49] Speaker 2: to rely or really dependent on public services and what
[10:54] Speaker 2: areas that is. And so I think about like the bus,
[10:57] Speaker 2: is it the bus that we're going to be looking
[10:58] Speaker 2: to go increase like the fee to get on the bus?
[11:02] Speaker 2: And I don't agree with that. I don't agree with
[11:04] Speaker 2: that system because people that don't use the bus are
[11:08] Speaker 2: then suddenly absolved of helping carry that cost to the city.
[11:13] Speaker 2: And something like transit is needed and should be invested
[11:16] Speaker 2: by everybody in our community. I don't think that that's
[11:19] Speaker 2: really where we should be looking right now in terms
[11:21] Speaker 2: of it. So if we're talking about from what I
[11:23] Speaker 2: assume might be Francis's plan in order to address those,
[11:26] Speaker 2: I don't think that that is the way forward. It
[11:30] Speaker 2: really just starts to create this disparity between low income,
[11:34] Speaker 2: the middle class, and then those that maybe just don't
[11:37] Speaker 2: access the services the way that the rest of the
[11:39] Speaker 2: community does. I know that the budget is going to
[11:45] Speaker 2: be a very big challenge and it really is surfacing
[11:49] Speaker 2: to the top of conversation in a way that I
[11:51] Speaker 2: guess I didn't anticipate when I first put together my platform.
[11:55] Speaker 2: And where I was really focused and thinking about at
[11:57] Speaker 2: the time was this looming threat of tariffs and the
[12:02] Speaker 2: cost of living that's happening in Windsor. And all I
[12:06] Speaker 2: could think about was prioritizing the safety of expectation in
[12:11] Speaker 2: the first year And then really being able to dig
[12:14] Speaker 2: down and look at the processes and really understand how
[12:17] Speaker 2: things are being spent in the city in the first
[12:20] Speaker 2: year and go from there. Because I really don't think
[12:22] Speaker 2: that the 0% is sustainable. But because there's so much
[12:26] Speaker 2: uncertainty right now, it's something that I'm actively trying to
[12:29] Speaker 2: strive for. The other part of that is thinking about
[12:33] Speaker 2: it's not going to be entirely up to me, right?
[12:35] Speaker 2: It's going to be up to a council of individuals
[12:38] Speaker 2: to sit down and have that hard discussion about, on
[12:40] Speaker 2: whether or not we can actually achieve that. That is
[12:43] Speaker 2: my hope. And the more that this conversation comes up,
[12:47] Speaker 2: the more that I'm able to sit and reflect and say, okay,
[12:49] Speaker 2: maybe I'm not right on this and it's okay to
[12:52] Speaker 2: admit that. And I think that's going to be one
[12:54] Speaker 2: of the strengths that I can share with Windsor Writes
[12:57] Speaker 2: is that I'm going to be able to take accountability
[12:59] Speaker 2: if I am not making the best decision, but there
[13:02] Speaker 2: is going to be a team of people at City
[13:04] Speaker 2: Hall coming together to make the best decisions for everyone.
[13:10] Speaker 3: A lot of a lot of what you've put out
[13:12] Speaker 3: there is really about new approaches. I'm not so sure
[13:15] Speaker 3: the zero percent no increase is necessarily new in terms
[13:19] Speaker 3: of differentiating.
[13:20] Speaker 4: And we'll probably get to a little bit.
[13:22] Speaker 3: Of that today as well. But, you know, you call
[13:26] Speaker 3: for new approaches to, for example, homelessness, addiction and mental
[13:29] Speaker 3: health crisis response. What specifically would you do differently from
[13:34] Speaker 3: what Windsor is doing now on those?
[13:37] Speaker 2: Oh, my God. It's like it's so sometimes it's just
[13:40] Speaker 2: so basic that we forget like the simplest ways to
[13:43] Speaker 2: be able to support people that are facing that. And
[13:46] Speaker 2: right now what I'm seeing, especially because I live in
[13:48] Speaker 2: the downtown core, like my businesses down here is like
[13:51] Speaker 2: washrooms and building dignity. Like there are there's this is
[13:55] Speaker 2: one of the biggest issues that I've been hearing from
[13:57] Speaker 2: residents in the downtown cores. Where do people go to
[13:59] Speaker 2: the bathroom? Where do people go and shower? Like if
[14:02] Speaker 2: somebody is trying to come out of addiction, they need
[14:05] Speaker 2: basic supports in order to move forward and, you know,
[14:09] Speaker 2: access to food. We have shelter supports in the downtown core,
[14:12] Speaker 2: but there is this expectation that people that are accessing
[14:16] Speaker 2: those services have to leave throughout the day. So where
[14:18] Speaker 2: do those people go to the bathroom, right? We've actually
[14:21] Speaker 2: gone out on the street and chatted with folks and
[14:23] Speaker 2: people that are using the shelter services on the day-to-day basis.
[14:29] Speaker 2: And I've asked them, where do you go to the bathroom?
[14:31] Speaker 2: And they say anywhere I can. And that's just the
[14:33] Speaker 2: reality of it. And so if you want to, if
[14:38] Speaker 2: we want to address those needs, we need to start
[14:41] Speaker 2: with basic needs first. And other residents have even said,
[14:45] Speaker 2: we just need to get some port-a-potties down there and
[14:48] Speaker 2: then go from there. It doesn't have to be so complicated.
[14:52] Speaker 2: When we start with small increments, we're going to be
[14:54] Speaker 2: able to build up a better community. So that's where
[14:58] Speaker 2: I think, that's where I would like to start. Okay.
[15:02] Speaker 1: And so just to follow up on that, what would
[15:07] Speaker 1: you ask of the provincial and federal government in terms
[15:12] Speaker 1: of supporting your agenda around new approaches to homelessness, addiction,
[15:16] Speaker 1: and mental health crisis response? What would you want to
[15:20] Speaker 1: see from those higher levels of government?
[15:23] Speaker 2: I want them to stop relying on charities in order
[15:26] Speaker 2: to provide the services. Like I really want to see
[15:30] Speaker 2: them start to take accountability because I've been seeing so
[15:33] Speaker 2: much finger pointing in terms of who's responsible for what.
[15:36] Speaker 2: And at some point we need to say enough is
[15:38] Speaker 2: enough that everybody, it's a collective responsibility on all of
[15:41] Speaker 2: us because I see it as a sort of failing
[15:44] Speaker 2: of society that so many people are facing addiction issues
[15:48] Speaker 2: and are unhoused in our community. If I were to
[15:51] Speaker 2: go to them and ask them, I would, would say like,
[15:55] Speaker 2: we need to stop relying. And I know that this
[15:57] Speaker 2: might be a little contentious, but we need to stop
[16:00] Speaker 2: relying on Christian based charities and their models and start
[16:04] Speaker 2: looking at other types of resources to help support people.
[16:08] Speaker 2: I think that that is one of the reasons why
[16:09] Speaker 2: the Welcome Center has been so successful. I don't, I'm
[16:13] Speaker 2: pretty sure that they are not a Christian based faith organization.
[16:17] Speaker 2: There is room for that. There is space for that.
[16:18] Speaker 2: I don't want to diminish the work they're doing. It's
[16:21] Speaker 2: incredibly important, but it can be incredibly difficult even for
[16:25] Speaker 2: someone like me that's Indigenous to access those types of
[16:27] Speaker 2: services because it doesn't fit with, you know, it doesn't
[16:31] Speaker 2: jive with my life. And I know that there are
[16:35] Speaker 2: other folks that are unhoused that feel the same way.
[16:39] Speaker 3: I think it was a couple weeks ago, we had
[16:41] Speaker 3: another counselor on the show who we asked, you know,
[16:44] Speaker 3: what they've learned from the time they were elected to
[16:46] Speaker 3: that evolution. And part of his campaign, and actually specifically
[16:52] Speaker 3: Rinaldo in Ward 3 in the downtown core, which for
[16:55] Speaker 3: a variety of reasons that we know in terms of
[16:57] Speaker 3: the concentration of services in the core, this is where
[17:01] Speaker 3: predominantly at least these issues are seen.
[17:06] Speaker 4: I'm gonna put it that way.
[17:08] Speaker 3: But your strategy in terms of crime specifically, which is
[17:15] Speaker 3: not necessarily the same thing, but connected in the way
[17:18] Speaker 3: people see these issues, emphasizes prevention, youth programming, mentorship, intervention.
[17:24] Speaker 3: So again, another approach sort of on the steam. So
[17:30] Speaker 3: your approach in terms of public safety, putting emphasis less
[17:34] Speaker 3: on enforcement and more on prevention, how does that approach,
[17:38] Speaker 3: what does that look like in practice for you? And again,
[17:41] Speaker 3: what would you do differently in terms of the crime aspects?
[17:45] Speaker 3: Because I do think sometimes crime, mental health and addictions
[17:49] Speaker 3: is convoluted, but to the extent that we're talking about
[17:52] Speaker 3: specifically crime.
[17:53] Speaker 2: So I guess with that is like, I feel like
[18:00] Speaker 2: sometimes the underlying question, do I believe in more policing?
[18:03] Speaker 2: And the answer is no, I don't. Policing is not
[18:05] Speaker 2: the answer, right? I know that there has been shifts
[18:10] Speaker 2: and changes. I've been seeing social workers teamed up with
[18:12] Speaker 2: police in terms of, you know, being able to go
[18:16] Speaker 2: to those distress calls and how they handle that and
[18:21] Speaker 2: how things are working out there from that point. I
[18:26] Speaker 2: don't think I have enough information to see what's working
[18:29] Speaker 2: and what isn't right now. I don't know if we've
[18:31] Speaker 2: had that model long enough in Windsor to see success
[18:35] Speaker 2: or to see any of the failure points in how
[18:38] Speaker 2: Windsor police is dealing with that. But what I think
[18:42] Speaker 2: about and when I was looking at sort of the
[18:44] Speaker 2: trend of crime in our city, what I'm seeing is
[18:46] Speaker 2: a lot more petty crime, right? I'm seeing like packages
[18:51] Speaker 2: being stolen, right? And people are looking for packages that
[18:54] Speaker 2: are maybe high in value and they'll go and they'll
[18:56] Speaker 2: pawn it or they'll throw something like that up on marketplace.
[18:59] Speaker 2: And sometimes it's just about meeting basic needs, right? And
[19:03] Speaker 2: that is why when I talk about access to basic services,
[19:07] Speaker 2: it's so important because I think we're definitely going to
[19:09] Speaker 2: see a curb if people have access to food and
[19:12] Speaker 2: if people have access to basic amenities. And I think
[19:15] Speaker 2: about Other areas outside of the court, you know, where
[19:18] Speaker 2: we're seeing vandalism and I think about youth that are bored, right?
[19:25] Speaker 2: There's nowhere for youth to go. We're losing a lot
[19:27] Speaker 2: of our third spaces. Where are people active? We're hearing
[19:31] Speaker 2: complaints about people going through the alleys in the evening
[19:35] Speaker 2: and thefts of bikes and so on and so forth.
[19:38] Speaker 2: And I think if people had safe spaces to go,
[19:40] Speaker 2: if our youth had safe places to go, we would
[19:43] Speaker 2: see a real deterrent there. And investing back in the
[19:47] Speaker 2: community is the best way and where we see some
[19:49] Speaker 2: of the most success in other communities on reducing crime.
[19:54] Speaker 2: And we're seeing a lot of that in New York,
[19:56] Speaker 2: which I think is incredible. When you actually stop and
[19:59] Speaker 2: look at the programs that they're putting out there, it's
[20:02] Speaker 2: been amazing seeing the response and seeing how the culture
[20:07] Speaker 2: in the city has shifted.
[20:11] Speaker 1: Your expanded platform calls for more frequent transit, expanded evening
[20:17] Speaker 1: service and Sunday service and restoration of the Windsor Detroit
[20:21] Speaker 1: tunnel bus. So focusing specifically on the tunnel bus and
[20:28] Speaker 1: expanded services, what problems are those investments intended to solve
[20:33] Speaker 1: and how would you pay for it?
[20:35] Speaker 2: So how would we pay for it? It's definitely, this
[20:38] Speaker 2: is definitely a part of the long-term game. And when
[20:41] Speaker 2: I talk about transit, I need to like back up
[20:46] Speaker 2: the conversation just a bit because I think about what
[20:50] Speaker 2: I've been hearing about the toxic work culture of our
[20:53] Speaker 2: city employees. And I hear about so many distressful things
[20:56] Speaker 2: about what's been happening to our transit drivers and the
[20:59] Speaker 2: frustrations that they're experiencing there that need to be addressed.
[21:04] Speaker 2: I don't see something. I will say that in the
[21:07] Speaker 2: first year, especially with the idea of a zero percent increase,
[21:11] Speaker 2: this isn't going to happen immediately. Right. All of these
[21:13] Speaker 2: plans are I'm expecting to lay out over the next
[21:17] Speaker 2: four years. But that being said, if we are going
[21:20] Speaker 2: to see a shift and we're going to see a change,
[21:21] Speaker 2: we're really going to have to sit and talk to
[21:23] Speaker 2: the transit workers and the people that work there to
[21:26] Speaker 2: see what is happening, what needs to be improved. And
[21:29] Speaker 2: how we want to go about that collaboratively. And it's
[21:31] Speaker 2: going to be a big discussion and it's going to
[21:32] Speaker 2: be a hard conversation. And I don't think anybody's ever
[21:35] Speaker 2: really wanted to have it up until this point. So
[21:39] Speaker 2: moving forward, how we're going to pay for that, I
[21:42] Speaker 2: guess what needs to be said is at some point
[21:45] Speaker 2: we do have to raise taxes because the way we
[21:47] Speaker 2: want to grow in this city, it's inevitable. We're not
[21:50] Speaker 2: going to be able to hold the line on 0%
[21:52] Speaker 2: forever forever. But in the first year, is that the
[21:55] Speaker 2: most reasonable thing for me to say? I'm going to
[21:57] Speaker 2: go and change everything right away. I just don't think
[22:00] Speaker 2: that that is the right approach until I know what
[22:02] Speaker 2: it is exactly needs to change and how we're going
[22:04] Speaker 2: to change it.
[22:06] Speaker 1: So you talked about a number of potential investments and
[22:11] Speaker 1: a four year plan for Windsor Transit. But if you
[22:14] Speaker 1: could make one significant change to the transit system in
[22:17] Speaker 1: the first year, what would it be?
[22:20] Speaker 2: Buses around schooling and students moving throughout the city and
[22:24] Speaker 2: being able to help reduce that congestion during peak hours,
[22:27] Speaker 2: I think would be most beneficial to residents immediately.
[22:30] Speaker 3: Okay, I'll get to the dreaded road question. The alternative,
[22:38] Speaker 3: and I guess buses need to be on roads and everything,
[22:40] Speaker 3: but road safety is in fact actually one of your
[22:43] Speaker 3: four pillars in the original platform. Doug mentioned earlier expanded platform.
[22:48] Speaker 3: And it's been really interesting to see from the time
[22:50] Speaker 3: that you first announced, and correct me if I'm wrong,
[22:52] Speaker 3: you were the first candidate to announce, you know, we
[22:56] Speaker 3: almost see an evolution, really, of your platform. But road
[23:01] Speaker 3: safety was one of your four pillars in the original platform.
[23:04] Speaker 3: So it obviously made sense. made it to your priority
[23:08] Speaker 3: list really early on. What is the single kind of
[23:11] Speaker 3: biggest challenge you would make or change, sorry, you would
[23:14] Speaker 3: make to improve road safety in Windsor?
[23:17] Speaker 4: Why was that one of your top four priorities?
[23:20] Speaker 2: Because of all the speeding in the city. Oh my gosh,
[23:23] Speaker 2: it's just inevitable and it is everywhere. And I've driven
[23:27] Speaker 2: all across Ontario. I've used up to travel regularly every
[23:30] Speaker 2: weekend to different communities. And everyone's speed limits are between
[23:34] Speaker 2: 30 to 40. Why are we going 50 to 60
[23:37] Speaker 2: to 70 in some of our residential neighborhoods? I see
[23:41] Speaker 2: that as a fairly cost-effective way to be able to
[23:43] Speaker 2: increase road safety, and I don't understand why we've allowed
[23:47] Speaker 2: this trend to continue for so long of people being
[23:50] Speaker 2: able to move at much higher speeds across the city
[23:54] Speaker 2: in ways that are unsafe. I mean, I guess the
[23:58] Speaker 2: cost of rolling out new signs would be an expense,
[24:02] Speaker 2: but for the most part, I think that's one of
[24:04] Speaker 2: the easiest ways to be able to create safer neighbourhoods.
[24:08] Speaker 2: There's so many areas, even on my street, where I
[24:10] Speaker 2: see signs that community members have come together and say,
[24:13] Speaker 2: slow down. There are children in this neighborhood. And they're
[24:17] Speaker 2: constantly asking that. And we see like the speed bumps,
[24:20] Speaker 2: but how effective are they really, right? You're still going
[24:24] Speaker 2: at the same speed down the street. And so if
[24:27] Speaker 2: we ask, if we actually are signaling speed bumps with
[24:30] Speaker 2: a slower speed limit, that's, to me, it just makes sense.
[24:35] Speaker 2: And why is Windsor always so far behind all of
[24:38] Speaker 2: the other changes that are happening in other cities?
[24:43] Speaker 1: Okay, changing gears a little bit. You've made transparency a
[24:48] Speaker 1: really big part of your platform. What information does the
[24:51] Speaker 1: public currently not have that you believe it should have?
[24:56] Speaker 2: About me?
[24:57] Speaker 1: No. What information about, you know, municipal business? What is
[25:04] Speaker 1: not transparent enough right now?
[25:08] Speaker 2: Oh, I mean, okay. That's, thinking about this question, actually,
[25:13] Speaker 2: I got posed with like 300 questions from my team.
[25:17] Speaker 2: They're like, we're going to get you prepared for this
[25:19] Speaker 2: interview today. And I was like, I was terrified reading
[25:22] Speaker 2: some of the questions you put together for me. And
[25:24] Speaker 2: this one kind of came up as well. I it's
[25:31] Speaker 2: been really interesting hearing the conversations about how the agenda
[25:35] Speaker 2: gets built during council meetings and who is deciding that
[25:39] Speaker 2: and how you get items and how counselors are able
[25:42] Speaker 2: to actually access that and get issues in front of
[25:45] Speaker 2: everybody to discuss. I think that there needs to be
[25:48] Speaker 2: more transparency there because we want residents to be engaged, right?
[25:52] Speaker 2: We want residents to be able to have access on
[25:55] Speaker 2: how things are coming out. And even the way that
[25:58] Speaker 2: we're getting noticed and agendas are being shared. And oh
[26:02] Speaker 2: my gosh, like that's not a democratic process whatsoever. And
[26:06] Speaker 2: I think that that's one of the simplest ways to
[26:08] Speaker 2: be like, hey, this is an easy way to say,
[26:10] Speaker 2: this is how you get involved. This is how you
[26:12] Speaker 2: can enact change in the city. This is how you
[26:14] Speaker 2: get your voice heard. Why is it so condolented? Why
[26:17] Speaker 2: is it such a struggle right now for everyone, councillors, residents,
[26:21] Speaker 2: to be able to have a voice in City Hall?
[26:25] Speaker 3: So transparency and the flip side, or at least, you know,
[26:28] Speaker 3: bread and butter of certain, especially when the electorate is
[26:33] Speaker 3: looking to change, transparency and accountability are two things that
[26:38] Speaker 3: come to mind. So on the issue of accountability.
[26:41] Speaker 4: What would that look like?
[26:43] Speaker 3: Under administration, under your leadership, if you're elected mayor, how
[26:48] Speaker 3: would Windsor residents know whether you're actually delivering what you promised?
[26:51] Speaker 4: What does accountability look like for you?
[26:54] Speaker 2: Accountability really ties into communication. And when I've chatted with
[26:58] Speaker 2: some of the other folks that are at City Hall
[26:59] Speaker 2: right now, I think that Windsor has like a failing
[27:02] Speaker 2: grade in terms of how they communicate processes, right? It's
[27:07] Speaker 2: been really interesting to the information that's sort of come
[27:09] Speaker 2: my way now that I put my name forward about
[27:12] Speaker 2: things that are happening in the city that are actually incredible, right?
[27:15] Speaker 2: There's really cool things that are happening in the city
[27:17] Speaker 2: in terms of supports and services, but we don't hear
[27:20] Speaker 2: about this. Even when you try to go look for
[27:22] Speaker 2: that information, it's like, I don't have access to this.
[27:27] Speaker 2: I'm going to give the example of last night, there
[27:28] Speaker 2: was a conversation happening at the art gallery about housing
[27:31] Speaker 2: in our community and and the mental health supports and
[27:35] Speaker 2: the way that shifts, uh, shifts are happening, the way
[27:37] Speaker 2: that there are medical services now that can help immediately, uh,
[27:42] Speaker 2: immediately meet the needs of, um, those experiencing like addiction
[27:46] Speaker 2: on our streets. I haven't heard anything about that as a,
[27:49] Speaker 2: as a resident. And I put my name forward for
[27:51] Speaker 2: this municipal election. I'm not like oblivious to these things
[27:54] Speaker 2: happening in the community. So it's been really interesting to
[27:57] Speaker 2: see that that, um, if you're not communicating anything, then
[28:02] Speaker 2: nobody even knows how to keep you accountable, right? If
[28:05] Speaker 2: you're just keeping everyone in the dark about everything, then
[28:08] Speaker 2: that's a really easy thing to hide behind.
[28:13] Speaker 3: We released a podcast earlier on the incumbent who is
[28:20] Speaker 3: running for re-election, and we asked him about the strong
[28:23] Speaker 3: mayor powers. I think it was I don't know. My
[28:26] Speaker 3: sense was it was the question that kind of hurt
[28:28] Speaker 3: him because in his view, didn't like the framing of
[28:33] Speaker 3: the word strong mayor and what the public has done
[28:36] Speaker 3: with that. But you said that people should remain concerned
[28:41] Speaker 3: about how strong their powers are used. I think that
[28:43] Speaker 3: ties into transparency and accountability. But you've also said that,
[28:47] Speaker 3: you know, they they can be used in certain circumstances.
[28:51] Speaker 3: At least that's my reading of your platform. If elected,
[28:56] Speaker 3: how would you decide when it is actually appropriate to
[28:59] Speaker 3: use those powers rather than work through council?
[29:03] Speaker 2: I think so. This is this is where I think
[29:06] Speaker 2: like a worst case scenario. Right. And it's it's unlikely,
[29:10] Speaker 2: but it. But what if we get a council that.
[29:14] Speaker 2: makes all of their decisions that are not based on
[29:16] Speaker 2: fact or science or any of the reports that administration
[29:20] Speaker 2: is putting forward, right? Like, what if we end up
[29:23] Speaker 2: with a council that is spending all of our money
[29:28] Speaker 2: on priorities that are not important to the city or
[29:30] Speaker 2: just don't make sense for our community? And I could
[29:34] Speaker 2: think about, if I were to flip things, right, the
[29:37] Speaker 2: outrage that residents feel that our tunnel bus was canceled.
[29:42] Speaker 2: What if the mayor was in a position to do
[29:44] Speaker 2: the opposite and say, hey, actually, I'm going to bring
[29:48] Speaker 2: back tunnel bus. I'm going to overturn this decision. I
[29:51] Speaker 2: think that people would have been applauding him, right? But
[29:54] Speaker 2: that wasn't how this played out in this situation. I
[29:58] Speaker 2: think taking a really strong stance on saying I'm absolutely
[30:01] Speaker 2: never going to do that really pigeons holes. And I
[30:04] Speaker 2: understand that maybe that was what Francis believed was going
[30:07] Speaker 2: to be the win in his campaign is that I'm
[30:09] Speaker 2: never going to use this because I don't want to
[30:11] Speaker 2: be anything like Dilkens. But when I started looking at
[30:14] Speaker 2: other mayors who used the powers in order to help
[30:19] Speaker 2: cut red tape for housing development, I was like, that
[30:22] Speaker 2: is something I can get behind. Right. If we are
[30:24] Speaker 2: going to speed up processes because something has to go
[30:27] Speaker 2: all the way back to committee or maybe even back
[30:29] Speaker 2: to public consultation before it can be approved. This is
[30:32] Speaker 2: one of the ways that I think it was designed.
[30:35] Speaker 2: That was what strong mayor powers were designed to do
[30:38] Speaker 2: was help speed up housing. Honestly, I didn't realize at
[30:42] Speaker 2: the time how contentious this would be, but I am,
[30:45] Speaker 2: I am hearing the voices of so many residents saying like,
[30:48] Speaker 2: we don't want it. We don't want you to do that.
[30:50] Speaker 2: And I agree, like to go and overturn democratic processes
[30:54] Speaker 2: doesn't sit right with me. And that kind of goes,
[30:56] Speaker 2: that goes right back to the process that I was
[30:58] Speaker 2: talking about earlier of sitting in a circle and collaborative
[31:01] Speaker 2: decision making.
[31:03] Speaker 4: So.
[31:05] Speaker 1: Yeah, that's I think something we really wanted to get
[31:09] Speaker 1: at is how you in your decision making process reconcile
[31:14] Speaker 1: the priority that you've stated for collaboration, transparency and listening.
[31:20] Speaker 1: And I think you've given some indication about when you
[31:23] Speaker 1: would make that choice. I'm curious, though, how like. In
[31:28] Speaker 1: your reflection on this, how do you categorize that? How
[31:32] Speaker 1: do you think about like when you would need to
[31:35] Speaker 1: impose your will versus listen and be collaborative?
[31:42] Speaker 4: Oh, I.
[31:43] Speaker 2: I guess I sort of think, like, I keep thinking
[31:46] Speaker 2: back to this example of, like, other decision making that I've,
[31:49] Speaker 2: other decision making tables that I've been at, right? I'm like,
[31:52] Speaker 2: I think that we should do this. I think we
[31:53] Speaker 2: should take this really strong stance. And my committee members
[31:56] Speaker 2: have been like, Kat, like, calm down, slow down. Let's
[31:59] Speaker 2: try some other ways to approach things before we get
[32:03] Speaker 2: to your idea. And it's very humbling. And it's very, um,
[32:08] Speaker 2: It's a moment of like self-reflection. And what I realized
[32:11] Speaker 2: gets really tied into that is someone's ego. And if
[32:14] Speaker 2: you can keep your ego in check, it really, like
[32:17] Speaker 2: I said, like it humbled me. And to be able
[32:20] Speaker 2: to stop and say, okay, my approach is not right.
[32:23] Speaker 2: And I can have that conversation. And just what I
[32:26] Speaker 2: was sharing with you earlier of just being able to say, okay,
[32:30] Speaker 2: maybe I'm not making the best decision, but this is
[32:32] Speaker 2: going to be a collective decision. It's just been... That
[32:36] Speaker 2: is a track record that I have, that community members
[32:39] Speaker 2: and other organizations that I've worked with have seen. And
[32:43] Speaker 2: I just have to say that, right? And I have
[32:46] Speaker 2: to say that with you now and say this so
[32:48] Speaker 2: that people can hear my voice, that that is, it's
[32:53] Speaker 2: not easy. And I don't see enough accountability for people
[32:57] Speaker 2: in decision-making positions right now to admit when they're wrong.
[33:01] Speaker 2: And I'm more than willing to do that.
[33:03] Speaker 3: Okay.
[33:06] Speaker 1: Relatedly, so you've spent the summer knocking on doors and
[33:09] Speaker 1: talking to Windsor residents. And what have you heard that
[33:13] Speaker 1: has surprised you or changed your thinking since you entered
[33:17] Speaker 1: this race?
[33:20] Speaker 2: I feel like this could go two different ways. So
[33:22] Speaker 2: what surprised me was how many people don't understand the
[33:30] Speaker 2: different levels of government and responsibility. What is municipal jurisdiction?
[33:34] Speaker 2: I got asked a lot about health care, about teaching
[33:37] Speaker 2: and schools and education and what happens in classrooms. And
[33:42] Speaker 2: you have to be so careful and so tactful in
[33:44] Speaker 2: how you respond to that. Just trying to provide that
[33:47] Speaker 2: like this isn't actually the purview of the municipality. But
[33:51] Speaker 2: you still want people to be engaged and encouraged. Right.
[33:54] Speaker 2: And have those conversations and kind of redirect them to
[33:56] Speaker 2: the people they should be having the conversation with. Another
[34:00] Speaker 2: thing I didn't expect was to see how powerful some
[34:03] Speaker 2: of the messaging that I've put out is and how
[34:05] Speaker 2: relatable I am. I really wasn't expecting that whatsoever. And
[34:12] Speaker 2: working and connecting with so many different members of our
[34:14] Speaker 2: community and seeing them express their solidarity and their support
[34:21] Speaker 2: of me, I was taken aback. I'm still kind of
[34:24] Speaker 2: sitting on that, even after some experiences last night. It's humbling.
[34:28] Speaker 2: It's like, wow, people are really, really do believe in
[34:31] Speaker 2: the platform that I put forward. And I'm excited to
[34:34] Speaker 2: see where this, this lands us, where this goes.
[34:38] Speaker 3: I know we're sort of reaching the wrap up, but
[34:41] Speaker 3: I do want to ask you because you've been forthright
[34:43] Speaker 3: in not only, um, uh, identifying two of what I think,
[34:49] Speaker 3: you know, despite what people want to see on social
[34:52] Speaker 3: media is admittedly, you know, um, the two folks that
[34:56] Speaker 3: are known names in this race. You know, you've got
[35:01] Speaker 3: an incumbent mayor who's been in there for 12 years.
[35:03] Speaker 3: You named them even, I've got to say, you know,
[35:05] Speaker 3: that was like an interesting, it's like, okay, we don't
[35:08] Speaker 3: have to say this incumbent or that incumbent, but, you know,
[35:10] Speaker 3: and then you've got another councillor who's been.
[35:12] Speaker 4: There for 12 years.
[35:13] Speaker 3: So, and then you've got, you know, a total of
[35:17] Speaker 3: 11 people running. So in addition to yourself, nine, what
[35:21] Speaker 3: is that?
[35:21] Speaker 4: 10 others? No. How many people do we have? Nine others.
[35:25] Speaker 2: Okay.
[35:25] Speaker 4: I'm doing the math.
[35:27] Speaker 1: Eight others.
[35:29] Speaker 4: Hold on a second. There are 11 people running.
[35:31] Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay.
[35:31] Speaker 3: Perfect.
[35:32] Speaker 2: Okay.
[35:33] Speaker 3: So, you know, I saw 12 and I'm thinking, okay,
[35:36] Speaker 3: 12 years on council. For each of them, one is counting. Well,
[35:39] Speaker 3: Drew Dilkens has been on for a lot longer. Having
[35:42] Speaker 3: said that, you know what I'm saying. Here are two
[35:44] Speaker 3: well-known names that a lot of people don't need. And
[35:46] Speaker 3: you had to break through, right? Along with sort of a.
[35:52] Speaker 3: Another large group of people running for mayor to get
[35:56] Speaker 3: your name out there, first of all, in terms of
[35:59] Speaker 3: name recognition, which I think you've done personally very, very well,
[36:02] Speaker 3: like in a race where you have been elected. But,
[36:06] Speaker 3: you know, I guess what I'm asked, I want to
[36:09] Speaker 3: ask you is, what do you think this election is
[36:11] Speaker 3: going to come down to? Because what I think people
[36:14] Speaker 3: are thinking is, okay, you've got two folks that people
[36:18] Speaker 3: think are the frontrunners, right? And there's always opportunity for
[36:21] Speaker 3: somebody to break through. Right. Especially when those two are
[36:27] Speaker 3: long established. And if people are looking for what does
[36:30] Speaker 3: that look like? Because I think one is positioned as
[36:32] Speaker 3: the change candidate, is the et cetera. So I guess
[36:35] Speaker 3: what I'm asking you is what do you think this
[36:37] Speaker 3: election is going to come down to in terms of
[36:40] Speaker 3: what you have to offer to voters that they can't
[36:44] Speaker 3: get from those two candidates?
[36:51] Speaker 2: Wow. No, I mean, I was obviously expecting this question
[36:55] Speaker 2: and it's, it's, um, like what makes me different and.
[37:01] Speaker 3: What different is your, you know, what, what you can offer.
[37:06] Speaker 2: I think a lot of the regular everyday residents in
[37:08] Speaker 2: the city that don't necessarily come from privilege, see something
[37:12] Speaker 2: in me. And that has been the part that like
[37:16] Speaker 2: leaves me feeling so like flustered and, and humbled. Um, Because,
[37:21] Speaker 2: you know, being a small business owner, I've shared in
[37:23] Speaker 2: the media that I've been unhoused. You know, I've lost
[37:26] Speaker 2: family to addiction. And I know that I'm bringing a
[37:32] Speaker 2: perspective that has never really had a voice at City Hall.
[37:36] Speaker 2: And people see that, right? Like, I am an artist
[37:38] Speaker 2: in the community. I am a community leader for my
[37:43] Speaker 2: Indigenous community. And me putting my name forward has really
[37:48] Speaker 2: sparked this conversation of, I have someone to vote for
[37:51] Speaker 2: now because I see myself in you. And that was like,
[37:55] Speaker 2: what has been so powerful. And like, I can feel it. Like,
[37:58] Speaker 2: even as I'm sharing with you now, like I need
[38:00] Speaker 2: to take this energy and I needed to help motivate
[38:03] Speaker 2: me to keep going because there's been days where it's
[38:06] Speaker 2: been challenging. Right. And just to be able to be
[38:09] Speaker 2: real and have this conversation openly with you and to
[38:12] Speaker 2: share with all of the listeners. And I know there's
[38:14] Speaker 2: so many people out there that listen to this podcast,
[38:16] Speaker 2: which is why I was so nervous to do it. Um,
[38:20] Speaker 2: We just we want to see real people representing us
[38:24] Speaker 2: in decision making positions. Right. We want to see that.
[38:27] Speaker 2: And then we're seeing that change sort of sweeping across
[38:30] Speaker 2: the United States. And I and I don't always love
[38:33] Speaker 2: comparing Windsor to the United States, but there's so much
[38:36] Speaker 2: momentum there because we're seeing so much anger and hate
[38:41] Speaker 2: leading in other areas that we really do need to
[38:43] Speaker 2: find ways to stick together. I know that I've had
[38:47] Speaker 2: a lot of conversations with people who have never voted
[38:49] Speaker 2: and have never cared to vote because they've never seen
[38:51] Speaker 2: themselves represented. And they see that in me. And that is, um,
[38:56] Speaker 2: that was a powerful thing for someone to come and share.
[38:59] Speaker 2: Even just last night, you know, another small business owner
[39:02] Speaker 2: that I met said, he's not, I've never voted once
[39:04] Speaker 2: in my life. I've never cared to. And then I
[39:05] Speaker 2: saw you were running and I am so excited. Can
[39:08] Speaker 2: I have a poster to put up on my window?
[39:09] Speaker 2: Like that was, that was so cool. Um, And it
[39:15] Speaker 2: keeps pushing me forward and it gets me really excited.
[39:18] Speaker 2: But really, all of these things and the voices and changes,
[39:24] Speaker 2: all of the things that help encompass who I am
[39:26] Speaker 2: have really helped me excel as a leader outside of
[39:30] Speaker 2: City Hall. And I'm really hoping that I can convince
[39:33] Speaker 2: enough people to get to the polls and that at
[39:35] Speaker 2: the end will be a big win for me. If
[39:37] Speaker 2: we can get our dismal voter turnout up, I will
[39:41] Speaker 2: feel so proud of the work that I have done
[39:43] Speaker 2: at the end of this campaign.
[39:46] Speaker 1: Kat, thank you for taking the time to have this
[39:47] Speaker 1: conversation with us. We really appreciate you coming on and
[39:51] Speaker 1: we wish you well through the rest of the campaign.
[39:54] Speaker 1: And to the folks listening, thank you so much for
[39:56] Speaker 1: tuning in. We'll continue releasing conversations with candidates as we
[40:00] Speaker 1: head towards the October 26th municipal election. In the meantime,
[40:04] Speaker 1: I'm Doug Sartori along with Pat Papadeas.
[40:07] Speaker 4: Thanks for coming on, Kat.
[40:08] Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks for joining us on Rose City Politics.
[40:25] Speaker 4: Thank you.

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