A current city councillor has officially launched his campaign to become Windsor’s next mayor. Fred Francis kicked off his campaign Wednesday night, surrounded by family, friends, and supporters after serving as the councillor of Ward 1 for the last three terms. Francis, who was first elected in 2014, is one of 11 candidates running for mayor in the October municipal election. During his kickoff, Francis stated that affordability is top of mind as the cost of living continues to skyrocket and noted that he’s hearing from residents that they want a change at City Hall. Francis says affordable housing is a key priority for him. “The focus needs to be where people can afford to live, where they can afford to work, where they can afford to raise their families. And what we’re hearing, even with homelessness, addiction, and all that, is there needs to be more affordable housing. People need to get off the streets and into homes they can afford. And then everything else comes from that with respect to wraparound services, addiction programs, and the help they need.” He says he’s been very vocal about being against Strong Mayor Powers, and says if elected mayor, he would not use them. “A lot has changed because of strong mayor powers. I can tell you as a councillor, the entire dynamic with administration has changed. Council has been more sidelined now than they ever have been. I want to empower councillors. I think people elect their councillors because they want their councillors to go work for them in the 10 different wards. I want to empower the councillors. I don’t want to shut them out.” Francis is also taking aim at incumbent mayor Drew Dilkens. Dilkens announced Wednesday he wants the province to take over the E.C. Row Expressway, saying it could save the city millions of dollars in road costs. Francis supports seeking provincial funding but says Windsor shouldn’t give up control of the expressway. He also questioned why Dilkens hasn’t secured an agreement during his 12 years in office. “I think Windsorites are smart enough to understand action. And if you’ve had 12 years to do something, why haven’t you gotten it done? Why does it take 16? And quite frankly, I don’t think he’ll be able to follow through based on him saying he’s the only one that could get it done. This is someone who’s already admitted to wanting to leave the mayor’s office two years ago after applying for another job, and he would have left two years ago, halfway through this current term.” Francis is the younger brother of former mayor Eddie Francis, who served as mayor from 2003 to 2014. When asked about him being compared to his brother during the election, Francis says he’d rather people compare who he was when he was first elected compared to now. “There’s certain things that I agreed with with Mayor Francis at the time, and there’s certain things that I would have disagreed with, just like there’s certain things I agreed with with Mayor Dilkens and certain things I disagree with him strongly. Example, strong mayor powers and other things. I would ask someone to compare me to me. And the person I am now is completely different than the councillor I was in 2014. After that 12 years, you grow, you learn.” Francis says he will release his full platform after Labour Day. The other candidates are Benjamin Danyluk, Aaron Day, Dylon Graves, Tara Grayer, Nick Kolasky, Tristan Ty Morencie, Kat Pasquach, Patrick Sutherland, and Louis Vaupotic. The municipal election is set to take place Oct. 26.
