Candidate Focused on Infrastructure, Housing

A St. Catharines woman wants to be the next mayor as she says she knows there's a better way to serve.

Ann-Marie Zammit has the list of needs.  "From the failing sewer infrastructure, to the increasing number of people sleeping in the streets, to the former GM land that is leaking toxins into the environment, and to the stalled growth in our downtown core."

She wants housing that's affordable, that's also public housing.  "There are jurisdictions that are in Ontario, and Canada, and around the world that have "solved the homeless problem", and I want to have those best practices brought here."

As for underground infrastructure, she says that can't wait to be fixed, as recent floods proved.

The flooding was preventable, and regional and provincial governments will be pushed harder for help.  "Now we are looking at a city that is growing, and the infrastructure is not keeping up with that.  So, it is critical infrastructure, people have literally been wiped out of their homes."

She understands equipment is decades old, but that's no excuse.  "There's been a lot of pointing, that's it's a municipal issue, or it's a regional issue.  I believe pointing fingers at other levels of government and not stepping up and doing something is a failure in leadership."

She is competing for mayor against Mat Siscoe, Jimmy Jackson, Anthony Adeoye and Henry Bosch, all of who we've reached out to for comment.