Community man enters growing Ward 5 race

By Matthew Strader, Enterprise Staff



Caledon, ON - Born in Birmingham, England, raised in Jamaica and in love with Canada and the community of Caledon, Kevin Junor is putting his name in for Ward 5 Area Councillor. Junor has lived his entire adult life in Canada after joining the Canadian military at the age of 17. His education includes a theology degree, and a civil engineering diploma, and his list of military awards is nine deep, including the Order of Military Merit and a Chief of Defence Staff Commendation. But meet the humble family man, and the largest smile appears when he talks about his two kids and wife of 25 years. His biggest supporters, he says.

The Enterprise met with Junor last Saturday to find out what he wants out of his latest adventure.

CE: Why run for Ward 5 Area Councillor?

KJ: “The best way to put it is I’ve lived my entire life in service to the community. Church, and after school I started working with the government, and I joined the military at 17. So, my entire adult life has been in service. I would say the government of Canada, Ontario, and now the Town of Caledon, they’ve helped to develop me into the person I am now, and this is my way of giving back. Right now is the time I feel I can best be of service to the entire community. And the way to do that is to step in and be a part of the team that’s actually making the decisions, and be a part of the decision making process to make Caledon and Bolton the place I know it can be.”

CE: Bolton faces unique growth challenges, how are you going to face those?

KJ: “We will always have that challenge in Caledon. Bolton, in particular, will have a challenge that is unique to Caledon. If you look at the economic footprint across Caledon, that footprint is very different in Bolton than in the rest of Caledon. I think what we have to do is look and see how we can have what I’d call moderate, sustainable growth. I’m not talking about opening the floodgates, or zero growth. But there should be some sort of growth to sustain the economy that’s in Bolton right now.” “I have two children. My first child is my daughter. After she was born I learned a lot from being around her. She started to grow, and then I had a son. I couldn’t stop focusing on her because now I have the growth of my second child. But I’ve got to manage the growth of each. The needs are very different. Look at the growth issue in Caledon. We have to manage it in such a way that the growth we have already experienced in Bolton is sustained. One of the reasons I moved to Bolton is to have that small town feel, but at the same time I want the amenities that are available in downtown Toronto.

CE: With development comes petty crime and inactive populations, how can the community maintain its safety as Caledon grows?

KJ: “Crime is always going to be an issue, and I agree 100 per cent that with growth comes issues. We speak of growth and really don’t understand what growth means. When I was driving here, I saw a certain piece of equipment in the road and one thing that came to mind was vandalism. There is a national company that’s changed the way that they’re doing business. They’ve changed their apparatus to have their own version of graffiti on them, to prevent people from coming and tagging it. They’ve actually conformed to a standard that’s been set by individuals, that we really don’t accept in the community. They’ve lowered their standards. I don’t agree with that. We have a number of partnerships in Caledon; we’ve got the Police Advisory Council, which I am currently chair, the Crime Prevention Subcommittee, and in that, the committees are always looking at what we can do to prevent crime. There’s a phrase that my grandmother used to tell me, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. So let’s spend the time up front to identify potential challenges and develop strategies so that we can overcome them. We’ve got great partnerships with the OPP and Caledon Citizens On Patrol (CCOP) to ensure that all of these groups and others that are interested in Caledon’s crime rate, to make sure we have adequate resources in place to allow these groups to share information. Caledon has been the safest community in Canada for two years now, not because we’re not having crime, but because we have things in place that when something does happen, we can react.”

CE: What on council needs change?

KJ: “I think the people of Caledon spoke loud and clear during the last election. They said I want these individuals to sit on Council and represent me, and I would never question the judgment of the people of Caledon. But once you sit in the chair, there is a certain responsibility to bring strong and effective representation. I think on council right now, we have a number of individuals who are bringing representation, but I question whether it is strong and effective. I’ve been able to represent Ontario and Canada on national and international committees. Canada is one of the best places to live, and Ontario is one of the strongest provinces. However, when we go to the table we can’t forget who we are, what we represent and the impact of what we say. When we speak for, in my case be it for Bolton, I have to be aware that even though I’m looking specifically at Bolton, I have to look with a Caledon perspective because whatever Bolton is doing will impact on all of Caledon. So it’s not just to keep my head in the sand and say if it’s not Bolton, then forget the rest of Caledon because it will impact on all of us. I think that’s one thing we see at council right now. Individuals have staked out their turf, and they will speak for their turf. There’s an us and them right now. Look at the way votes are tallied right now, and you can clearly see how Bolton is going to vote versus the rest of Council. If we are playing in the sandbox, to use the analogy, we all have to play in the same sandbox, together. It’s not saying, this is my basketball, and if you’re not going to play the way I want to, I’m not playing with you. It’s not just thinking about our wards, but all of Caledon. Look at most decisions that are made on any level – international, federal, provincial – it’s about trades. It’s about coming to the table with your priorities, and when you’ve got your priorities you can say, well this is fifth on my list, so I can trade this one off to have you support me on this. That’s what politics is all about, and I’m not sure that’s going on at Council.

CE: What in Bolton needs change?

KJ: “I think in Bolton we need to sit down as individuals and say here are the priorities for Bolton. The residents for Bolton can come to me and say, here are the priority items for Bolton, here are the things that should be addressed over the next four years. We’re very reactive. You’ll hear a thousand people say a thousand different things. So I will sit down with the people of Bolton and say you’ve elected me, and I pray to God that I am the one who is elected, because we have some qualified individuals who have come forward, and I will approach them with the utmost respect. But if called upon, I will sit down with the people of Bolton and say, here’s what I think the priorities are, correct me if I’m wrong, and let’s identify the top five priorities and then let’s make a list that goes down to, say, 10. That allows me to go to other councillors and negotiate. And we can sit down as a team, and when the mayor speaks, the mayor should speak for all councillors. We don’t have to agree, but when we come to a conclusion, I’ll say, well, Council has decided on this, but when I go back to my list for Bolton, that is not on our priority or not where we stand. But when I leave Council I speak with one voice for Council, but reflecting that Bolton is either pro or con for that. So that’s probably the biggest thing we need changed in Bolton.

There’s an infrastructure issue, and one of the things about growth is to be able to use existing infrastructure to support growth. What we need to do is also to get (the) individuals we have to look at how it is going to be maintained, and what it’s going to cost us. With growth comes a price. We’ve got to look at the price tag there. A lot of people would love to live in Caledon, but they can’t afford it. If I were to want to move into Caledon today, I’m not sure I could. So we have to make Caledon that place where people want to live, can afford to live, without compromising their standards. We have a great community. I wouldn’t want to see anything erode the quality of life I share with my family, and with the businesses in Bolton.”