Six questions with Lisa Osanic, candidate for Collins-Bayridge District
Editorial note:
Across the province, Ontarians are getting ready to cast their ballots in every city, town, and county as the 2022 Municipal Election is fast approaching. With election day on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022, Kingstonist has reached out to all candidates within the City of Kingston to create profiles allowing voters to find a brief overview of each candidate in one place. As response comes in, more and more candidate profiles will be added here, which you can access through our Municipal Election 2022 section (with the tab on the Kingstonist.com homepage), or through our ‘Candidate overview landing page.’
With 45 candidates in total for Kingston City Council alone – and with only one district acclaimed (Countryside District will once again be represented by Gary Oosterhof) and six districts without an incumbent – our goal is to provide as much information as possible leading up to the elections. Thus, we will endeavour to collect response from as many Kingston candidates as possible, with the hope of providing similar coverage for Loyalist Township, Frontenac County, and the Town of Greater Napanee moving forward. All relevant links will be available under the Municipal Election 2022 tab.
For more general information on election process in Kingston, including details on electing Board of Education Trustees, ensuring you are registered to vote, etc., visit the City of Kingston Municipal Elections webpage.
Candidate profiles are being published on our website in no particular order.
Lisa Osanic is the incumbent candidate for the Collins-Bayridge District, and has served on Kingston City Council since 2006. Originally from Brampton, Ontario, Osanic has lived in Kingston since 1994, and she hopes to continue to represent this district in the 2022 Municipal Election.
When she is not helping out with feral cat rescues, Osanic enjoys gardening, horseback riding and paddleboarding. She has two children, both of whom are currently in university, and her husband is also in a university, just in a different capacity — he is a professor at Queen’s University, which is also where the couple’s daughter is currently studying. Outside of her work on Council and City of Kingston Committees, Osanic works as an Executive Assistant at the Ministry of Health.
Osanic has long been a strong proponent of environmental conservation and awareness, and her interests are reflected in the way she describes some of her favourite things: “I love turquoise-coloured water and warm soft sand.”
How would you describe your personal political ideology and/or affiliation?
I am neutral. However, I believe in protecting the environment and helping people.
What made you want to run in this municipal election?
There is a very large significant woodland at the bottom of our street that needs protection from development.
What are the three most common issues voters are bringing up to you as you campaign?
- Vehicles are speeding. I’ve never had so many people asking for traffic calming measures on their street. Residents are also asking for police presence in our local neighbourhoods with their radar devices and to watch stop signs.
- Specific roads have too many potholes and need to be resurfaced. The City tries to work in partnership with Utilities Kingston to first reline the watermains under old roads and then resurface the roads. That way, a road is not being dug up twice in a short time span. The problem is that some of our roads are falling apart before their time and are too “young” for watermain work. The option then becomes pothole filling and road cuts until the watermain work comes up in the queue.
- Protection of greenspace, parks, and trees. There are some new developments that have recently taken down a huge number of trees and two other developments already at the planning department that will take down even more trees. It has upset many constituents.
What three issues are most pressing/important to address locally in your opinion?
- Affordable rental units. We need apartments that our young people can move into, paying reasonable rent to still give them the ability to save money for a down payment on a house one day.
- Directing development into appropriate areas through new policy and tools. There is still lots of underutilized land that can be developed that does not involve wetlands and forest. Keep development out of significant woodlands.
- Maintaining our roads: our major roads such as King Street, Brock Street, Johnson Street, Princess Street, and Queen Street in the downtown, and our older residential streets in neighbourhoods.
What is the most pressing issue in your district?
The need for road repairs and addressing speeding traffic are equally weighted.
What do you feel sets you apart from other candidates?
I am responsive, hard-working, dedicated, and caring.
For more information on Lisa Osanic, incumbent for Collins-Bayridge District in the 2022 municipal election, visit her website.