Background of McLeod, Donald

Mr. Donald McLeod holds B.A. Major in History, spent 9 years with two Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA), a Reserve Unit of the Canadian Armed Forces in Montreal, and was deployed with various Regular Force units, overseas and across Canada, achieving the rank of Sergeant. During his years with Royal Canadian Artillery he understood self-sacrifice, dedication, leadership and teamwork these are the sterling qualities he has today.

According to Donald, he has been living in Brampton with his family for the past 22 years and sadly he has witnessed the city transformed from a neighborhood community to poorly planned, sprawling mass of houses inter spaced with unsightly big box malls. “Traffic congestion has clogged roads, increasing commute times and stressed our infrastructure. Taxes have continually increased while services have declined and professional politicians have been either unwilling or unable to effectively manage the changes that have taken place”, Donald told OASES NEWS during the interview. Read the excerpts.

Why running for the Mayoral position in the city of Brampton

I want Brampton to be a leader in Innovation – I want Brampton to be an Inspiration – I want Brampton to be Inclusive and I want to lead Brampton Forward, and that is the reason I have decided to run for Mayor.

Investment opportunities

Businesses are attracted to cities that have good government, reliable transportation, a vibrant cultural life and a healthy lifestyle. The current generation of workers are not looking for what the older generation has deemed important – they want to locate and work in cities that have the above intangibles.

A large part of my platform is to develop small and medium sized business incubators and accelerators through a city Community Development Corporation. We need to attract companies that will benefit the community that are socially responsible. Big box stores are not what we want in Brampton because they pay low wages, offer part-time work and no benefits, and if there is any talk of unionization they get up and leave, that is not what we need or want.

Accountability, sense of direction and transparent management style

On my election platform that I released in April, I stated that within the first six months of my administration I would engage a coalition of experts that make corporations learn and more efficient.

I would also have the Mayors and the Councillors expenses posted on-line, cut budgets to $20,000. Have all other requests go through a Controller, and I would have to sign off. I would also tighten up the code of conduct by instituting a10 point code of conduct that would cover such items as bribery, gifts and lobbyists. I would also re-institute third part oversight that was eliminated by the current Mayor and councillors.

Program to support multi-culturalism

I believe that we need more interactions among all communities that live in Brampton. The current Carabram is outdated and too spread out to showcase the diverse and dynamic cultural diversity that we have in Brampton. I would like to concentrate that event in one location and have the city become more involved in promoting and financing this event. The other way that I would like to initiate is to have community volunteers groups that would consist of a racially diverse cross-section of the communities to become involved in how this city is shaped for the future.

Expected changes if elected Mayor of Brampton

I would like to change this city into one that is a leader in innovative ideas to combat homelessness, hunger and urban design. We need to remember that everyone is part of this city, the rich and the poor, the more people that we have working the better it is for the community and society at large.

where I would like to see Brampton in the next 4 years if elected as the Mayor of Brampton I would like to see Brampton moving forward as an innovative and dynamic city – it is not going to be an overnight process but I would like to see it as a city that will be a model for how to transform a city that has grown up with urban sprawl and has transformed itself.

I would change the culture at the top down and the bottom up. We must have a city that truly cares for all of its citizens. We need to engage and promote citizen involvement in the democratic process.

Program for the Youth

As earlier stated, I would like to institute community volunteer groups, I would like to have youth be involved in those groups as well, to have input on their concerns. This would accomplish two things, first it would involve the youth in understanding the problems and the concerns of planning and negotiating with developers, city and citizens, it will also groom them into socially active members of society and give them the tools to become future leaders.

Support multi-Culturalism in the city of Brampton

I believe that I need to show people that there is no reason to fear different cultures, it is better to embrace than shun. I would champion the fact that there is so much we can learn from different cultures. We must take the good with the bad, but we must strive to co-exist and live in this city as one. We all belong to one group and that is Humanity.

Final word/s

Thank you OASES NEWS for the opportunity given to me to opinion and plans for the city of Brampton. I believe that Brampton can become a great city, but it has to take dramatic and radical steps to change. We cannot continue down the same road of undefined urban planning. Brampton is growing at a rapid pace and we desperately need a different mindset and fresh, innovative ideas, not 10 years from now, but now.

Brampton is facing serious issues of clogged roads, inadequate transit, and lack of interactive public spaces and crumbling infrastructure. Political inaction, incompetence and lack of foresight have contributed to our declining quality of life. We have the opportunity in Brampton to reverse the current trend and make Brampton a City that we and generations to come will be proud to live, work and play in.

OASES NEWS: Thank you too.