Six questions with Tina Fraser, mayoral candidate
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.
Like many locally, Tina Fraser was born in Kingston General Hospital (KGH), however, she was raised in both Verona and Sydenham, as well as the Limestone City.
Currently working as a digital strategist/marketer for DoorDash, Fraser certainly saw the effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on the business and hospitality sectors, and is concerned with the job loss and “forced immunization” that ensued, the effects of which are still evident, she said. Fraser holds multiple diplomas from St. Lawrence College in the areas of business and social services.
Candidly, Fraser shared that she grew up in violence, alcoholism, abuse, and abandonment, and she is now estranged from her blood family by choice – apart from her “beautiful son,” who was born in Indonesia, where Fraser taught English as a second language (ESL). She and her son have “travelled extensively” together, and Fraser points to her Girl Guides and Pathfinder leaders, as well as traumatic loss in high school, as having instilled empathy, compassion, and respect for nature and animals in her life, along with the ability to “be collaborative rather than competitive.”
While Fraser has never entered the political arena before, she feels her integrity and knowledge of human behaviour will be assets in this venture. “Economics is a social science, [it’s] very simple to understand,” she said. In the little spare time she has, Fraser enjoys dining at Dim Sum Kingston, juggling, doing “backflips into any body of water.”
“I am aggressively observant, and I call out BS,” she said, “and I look at the world through no-bias, logical eyes.”
How would you describe your personal political ideology and/or affiliation?
Politics/religion do not have any bearing in my life.
What made you want to run in this municipal election?
I have been bullied, oppressed, lied to, [and] taken advantage of for far too long in my own city. I am tired of watching it get bought out and gentrified by colonizers.
What are the three most common issues voters are bringing up to you as you campaign?
- Housing
- Property taxes
- Roads
What three issues are most pressing/important to address locally, in your opinion?
- Affordable housing
- Indigenous reconciliation
- Environmental protection
What is the most pressing issue that will require the intervention of other levels of government, and how do you plan to guide them towards addressing it?
People dying from fentanyl and living in tents/ditches. I am going to allocate funding from federal [and] provincial levels, I don’t need their permission to do so.
What sets you apart from other candidates?
I have a very intense view and understanding of the world and human needs (behaviour), I have had more experiences than most people, I am educated/resourceful, and I fight fair. I use facts, rationale, and receipts (not my feelings – father and mother beat those out of me).
The pandemic brought out greed, bullying, selfishness, [and] narcissism from everybody, and it feels like WWIII. I am going to hit the reset button and people are going to be respectful again, take accountability, and get therapy.
Slainte, Assalamualaikum, Gracias.
To find out more about Tina Fraser, mayoral candidate in the City of Kingston 2022 municipal election, visit her website at www.fraser4mayor.ca.