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STRATFORD VOLUME 4 • ISSUE 23
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JUNE 27, 2025
Jennifer Anderson
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“We deserve better”: Residents call for community led solution to Stratford’s homelessness crisis
JULIA PAUL
Times Correspondent
Justine Styles told Stratford city council on June 23 that she came to Stratford for a reprieve – a reprieve from abuse and hopelessness. “Little did I know I would be battling homelessness for a year and a half,” Styles said. “There is a massive homelessness issue in this city. If you haven't been here long enough, there's no support. If you haven't been abused, there's no support. If you're a man, there's no support.” Styles was one of the many advocates at city hall that night to tell their story. Along with her peers, she told her story of bouncing around southwestern Ontario with her four children, struggling to find housing or shelter and contending with the bureaucratic hurdles that kept piling up. Like many of the delegates, she wanted more from the City of Stratford to tackle the very real and pressing threats many residents face. Monday night was not the first time local residents advocated for a meaningful response to homelessness in city hall this year. On June 10, advocates spoke at a social services subcommittee meeting and made similar requests. Led by 22-year-old activist Tanner Bergsma, they petitioned committee members to listen to what they had to say. CONTINUED TO PAGE 2
(CONNOR LUCZKA PHOTO) On June 23, Denise McCarroll contended with Maureen Kramer and Heather Sylvester on the courts of the Stratford Tennis Club — and the weather. That day a heat wave blanketed much of southwestern Ontario.
GTR committee supports building community hub outside of old shops
CONNOR LUCZKA
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
John Kastner, the former general manager of the Stratford Perth Museum, called the decision the ad hoc Grand Trunk renewal (GTR) committee made at its June 16 meeting an important one for the Festival City. “I’m a student of history, a student of Stratford’s history,” Kastner said. “I think this is a historic day, in lots of ways.” Kastner made that comment ahead of the GTR committee recommending that the proposed new community hub, long thought to be built within the old shops “superstructure,” be built outside the structure. The committee had a lengthy discussion on the various op-
tions ahead of making that decision, largely informed by the fiscal reality of the project. At the May 20 meeting, Joe Svec and Rock Wang, consultants working with the city, presented two “bookends” for a community hub which costed between $43 million and $126 million, with the cheaper option to locate the community hub outside of the superstructure. When it came to whether or not to include the community hub within the superstructure, most committee members were in agreement that it was more appropriate to build it outside. The bulk of their debate was on what then to do with the superstructure. Svec presented an option to demolish a portion of the building to build housing and/or parking, and to create an
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