Bil was born and raised in Kitchener. He is a lifelong resident of Ward 7 where he currently lives, along with his wife Laura and his two children. Bil holds a degree from Carleton University and worked as a financial advisor with Investors Group where he specialized in retirement planning before turning his attention full-time to serving the citizens of Kitchener on City Council. Bil was first elected to council in 2010.
In addition to his official duties as a councillor, Bil remains active in our community, supporting initiatives like Movember, organizing events for the Food Bank and actively supporting and promoting Kitchener’s music and film industries. He also works with the Leejay Levene Art Calendar project – an organization dedicated to remembering the life and legacy of Leejay Levene by raising funds in his name for local non-profits.
Teaser
You can hear the full episode Thursday night at 7pm
To frame the conversation below are some topic areas.The first half of the show is standardized (more or less) with each guest talking through these themes.
- The first part begins with you, as we introduce you as the guest. Who are you? What is your day job (if not a full time politician)? How do you engage the community? Why did you run for council? What drives you?
- Who are your people? What does your ward look like (urban, suburban, rural)? Who are your constituents – what do they do for a living, what are the issues you see in your inbox or talking to people week in and out.
- Describe your municipality as a whole. Paint a picture for someone who has not been to your town or community before or has only seen it as a sign on the side of a road. What is working, and what is not, what are you building towards? .
- What is your region, what is in common/different between your community and your neighbourhood?
- Waterloo region seems to be unique as the Cities are a part of the regional council unlike in Essex County (Windsor) or Middlesex (London)
- As an outsider Waterloo (with the universities) seems to get all the attention?
- Finally, how does your community and constituents fit into SW Ontario as a whole?
The second half of the show is a bit more political/policy related. We may not get to all of these topics and this might not be the order we discuss them in.
- COVID Impacts on Kitchener?
- What would be a story people would be talking about talking about if COVID didn’t happen?
- Over the next year, what really needs to be accomplished to build back from COVID-19.
- Housing Affordability – How is it impacting Kitchener? Is Kitchener being a suburb of Toronto a good thing?
- Where do you see Kitchener to be in 10 years? What are the Challenges/Opportunities to achieve that outcome?
- Magic policy wand – change one thing, what do you change and why?
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