Waterloo Region Votes: Time for change in Cambridge?

There's been a lot of talk about the need for change in Cambridge during this municipal election.

Incumbent Doug Craig has been mayor since 2000. He has four people challenging him for his job: roofer-handyman Randy Carter, landscaper and businessman Colin Tucker, former city councillor Ben Tucci and former Liberal MPP Kathryn McGarry.

All of the current councillors are seeking reelection, which means there's the potential Cambridge might not see that much change in leadership.

• Cambridge mayoral candidates on why they're running

Early on in the campaign, Craig was asked about the narrative from his fellow candidates that the city needs a change in leadership. He didn't mince words.

"They always want to have change and my answer to that is very simple: I have been the change," Craig said.

"I have been the transformational change that has changed Cambridge. With everything from a digital library to a school of architecture to the pedestrian bridge - all of these things. And I am the change that has been going forward in terms of dealing with the opioid crisis — we have been leading pretty well Ontario in how to deal with it, and I will be the change in the future."

Debate over SCS

Whether voters agree with Craig or not, whoever is mayor after Monday's election will have a number of issues to tackle right out of the gate.

Cambridge has been hit particularly hard by the opioid crisis and homelessness. Residents have complained about tent cities where people who are homeless set up camp off trails, in parks or on private property. Residents have also complained about needles found throughout the city, including near schools, on sidewalks and at bus stops.

• Protesters demonstrate at Cambridge recommended supervised injection site
• Cambridge passes bylaw to ban downtown injection sites

Public health has said it wants to put a supervised consumption site in the Galt core, a move the previous council rejected, voting to ban such sites from the core areas of the city.

There was a rally in the summer with people on both sides of the issue marching in Galt and carrying signs.

None of the five candidates support placing a supervised consumption site in the Galt core.

McGarry, who worked in healthcare before her four years as an MPP, says she wants it to go at Cambridge Memorial Hospital because putting it in Galt would hurt businesses.

"It is a very complex issue. As a nurse, I see things in a holistic manner, but it also means that I also believe that good economy and jobs that people hold are part of an overall plan to improve people's lives and make sure that they have what they need for a better future," she said.

Determine the need for an SCS

Craig has sparred with his regional counterparts over the issue as well, saying the region isn't listening to the wishes of the city.

• No Cambridge mayoral candidates want supervised consumption site right now
• Kitchener acts 'holier than thou' in opioid crisis, Cambridge mayoral candidate says

Meanwhile Tucci says he wants to see a survey done of the demographics of those who would use an SCS because he said he doesn't believe the people, particularly those on the streets in the Galt core, are all from the city.

"Do your work and let's really determine whether the need is in Galt because it's homegrown — I know it's the wrong word to use but you understand where I'm coming from — or is the need in Galt because other jurisdictions that play holier than thou, like Kitchener, that suggest that they'll take an SIS [supervised injection site] because they care for their people and Cambridge doesn't care for its people," he said.

Multiplex and new development

Another issue hanging over the head of the next council is the sports multiplex. Initially set to go on land owned by Conestoga College, councillor Nicholas Ermeta made the motion to move it off those lands and place it in a more central location.

Now, council has voted to split the multiplex up, putting ice pads at the Cambridge Centre Mall. But the rest of the project remains in limbo.

Cambridge is also on the cusp of some major developments, which will transform the Galt core, including the Gaslight District. With some residents saying they're too afraid to go into the downtown area, it will be interesting to see how things will change physically over the next four years.

• Waterloo Region Votes 2018 | Full coverage from CBC K-W