(Beyond)Policy Discussions
My thoughts on policy and how to make our communities better
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Working Together to Fix South Oshawa’s Traffic Hurdles
They say hindsight is 20/20, and the current traffic bottleneck in South Oshawa should be seen as a valuable learning opportunity for how we manage city growth. With the upcoming construction on Park Road adding to the ongoing closures on Simcoe, Wilson, and Farewell, residents are understandably feeling the squeeze. It is completely clear why…
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Step 1 to Solving Open Drug Use: Bring Everyone to the Table
Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed something encouraging: more and more city and regional councillors are openly acknowledging that open drug use has become a serious issue in Oshawa. That matters, because before a community can solve a problem, it has to be willing to name it honestly. What concerns me, however, is that…
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Reducing Property Taxes: A Practical Plan to Bring in Greater Efficiencies
Taxes are shaping up to be one of the defining issues of this election. People are frustrated with rising property taxes, and I believe it’s time to start talking seriously about solutions. If we want to freeze property taxes, and eventually even reduce them, we need to understand that there are only two ways to…
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Beyond Policy: The Role of a Community Steward
I recently spoke with a friend who made an interesting point. He said that councillors should see themselves not just as elected representatives, but as stewards of their wards. At first glance, that might sound obvious. Isn’t that already their job? But the more I thought about it, the more I realized there is an…
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Hello Oshawa
Welcome, everyone. My name is Sid Goyal, and I created this blog as part of my website to have longer-form policy discussions with residents. As I continue knocking on doors and speaking with people across the community, certain themes are starting to emerge. Many of the challenges residents face are complex, and in most cases…