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PHOENIX RISES PAGE
STRATFORD VOLUME 5 • ISSUE 16
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NOVEMBER 28, 2025
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Recycling bins too big? There are options – for a cost CONNOR LUCZKA Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
In a letter to the editor published in the Times on Nov. 21, Ken Dodd called the recently distributed 360 litre recycling carts “ginormous” and “wrong on many levels.” He wasn’t alone. Across social media, Stratford residents have expressed concerns over the size – particularly for seniors or those with mobility issues or are otherwise unable to properly move them or lack the space to properly store them. The recycling carts are part of an ongoing overhaul to local recycling systems. Per provincial legislation, and starting on Jan. 1, 2026, the companies that make or import products will take full responsibility for collecting, managing and recycling their materials, rather than the municipality, through the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) recycling system. Circular Materials is the administrator for the EPR and Emterra is the local contractor collecting recycling from the curb – and who provided the new recycling carts. On Nov. 24, Coun. Jo-Dee Burbach said that she likewise received numerous comments about the onesize-fits-all bins and has been in discussion with both Circular Materials and Emterra about the concerns. She confirmed that the program will be accepting two smaller sizes: a 65 gallon, medium-sized option, and a 35 gallon, small-sized option. CONTINUED TO PAGE 5
(CONNOR LUCZKA PHOTO)
Matthew Chambers and Connor Shantz of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) hold signs up protesting what they called the privatization of Ontario's health-care system. While the provincial NDP did not organize the protest that occurred on Nov. 21, it did support the Oxford County-chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition, which staged the protest on Stratford's Ontario Street that day.
Ritz presents vision of GT superstructure as council questions efficacy of its work so far
CONNOR LUCZKA
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Local architect Robert Ritz wants the public to start thinking of the Grand Trunk building as the solution, not the problem. That was his thesis on Nov. 25, when he presented his vision for the Grand Trunk site in a packed hall of the Army Navy and Air Force Veterans building. Wall to wall were blueprints his firm R. Ritz Architect has been working on and, after his presentation wrapped, renderings of what his
vision may look like, which includes a full revitalization of the building with space for a new library, the YMCA, luxury apartments, a pool and room to grow. Central to his work was preserving the site’s heritage. The Grand Trunk building was opened in 1871 as a locomotive repair facility, eventually growing to employ 40 per cent of Stratford’s workforce, before being shut down in the 1960s and abandoned in the mid-1980s. Once the lifeblood of Stratford, it has been dormant since then, with redevelopment ideas rising and falling for the last 40 years. CONTINUED TO PAGE 2