Mayor Ed Holder has just a few days left in office before a new city council and a new mayor, Josh Morgan, take over. With his desk packed and his city hall office already repainted for the next owner, Holder sat down for an exit interview with city hall reporter Megan Stacey.
London Mayor Ed Holder has just a few days left in office before a new city council and a new mayor, Josh Morgan, take over. With his desk packed and his city hall office already repainted for his successor, Holder sat down for an exit interview with city hall reporter Megan Stacey.
Q: You’ve been at the helm during a very strange time. People couldn’t even be in the same room for a bulk of your term. What has that been like?
A: No one anticipated COVID. How could you? This pandemic has had more impact on the citizens of London, and frankly the world, than any other single crisis likely in our lifetimes. . . What I’m most proud of is how council came together on this, how the community came together on this. That’s where you take those challenging moments, or times, and I think you see what Londoners are really made of.
Q: I think a lot of people felt you hit a different tone with your leadership when the pandemic hit, when things really got rough. Was there a marked change for you?
A: No, I don’t think so. People are who they are, you can’t change who you are based on circumstances. What you do, you fall back on your values and your experience. In my case I’ve had a number of opportunities to lead different organizations. You draw on those experiences and hope that the wisdom and counsel you provide. . . is solid.
Q: Do you feel you’re leaving London in a better place than when you first walked into this office?
A: I can’t say that. London is like any community that morphs and changes as circumstances require. I think Londoners have adapted, and so have I, in the sense that you have to deal with the times as they are, not as you always wanted them to be. We didn’t anticipate the pandemic. We didn’t expect the greatest personal crisis in our history, of losing the Afzaal family. With that tragedy came one of the greatest outpourings of love that I have seen from Londoners. . . we had 10,000 people marching from the site of this horrific tragedy to the mosque. It was so powerful and it made a statement about who we are as Londoners and how we genuinely care for one another. I don’t need you when things are going well, I need you when things are tough, and Londoners are like that. They stood up.
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Q: Reflect on some of the good. What are you taking away as your biggest accomplishment?
A: It isn’t one thing. When I ran, I ran on the promise to bring council together. . . and to help grow this city to where it really always should have been. Don’t forget, I’m just one piece, I’m just one voice out of 15. . . what I’m particularly proud of is council members on all the major issues were united. When you think of what we did with the climate emergency action plan, the decision to create a pillar (around) a safe London for women and girls . . . we were united. . . During this period as well, we had the Black Lives Matter movement, which was so significant. We had the Woodman explosion, the Teeple Terrace construction calamity that cost two lives. London has been through a lot. Council came together on issues that matter, Londoners came together on issues that matter with great empathy, compassion and a willingness to move forward. . . Look where we are now: fastest growing economy in the province, fastest growing east of Vancouver, incredible economic growth, new businesses coming to London, current businesses adding to their staff.
Q: You had a lot of goals, whether it’s electrification of buses, (creating) 3,000 new affordable housing units. Have you made progress on the biggest issues?
A: Progress is the right word. . . on the substantive issues in London, we came together. It started with rapid transit, which was the first issue, and I made a commitment we would come together within 60 days with a plan . . . we agreed, in the majority or unanimously, to 10 projects. . . we talked at length about the electrification of the fleet. You’ll see in 2023 the first electrification efforts, with the goal of fully electrifying the fleet. . . London was building somewhere in the average of 125 to 150 affordable units a year. I said not good enough, because the need is great. Our goal and our plan must be to have 3,000 affordable housing units. . . it’s going to take more creativity to get to where we need to go, (but) we will get to 3,000 units. . . You don’t do this as a singular voice, you can’t. You do it with the direction of council.
Q: I hear you’re not just leaving this office but maybe leaving our city. What’s next?
A: Tracking. I’ve been in politics for the best part of 15 years. The unsung hero in all this is my wife. When I was first elected to federal politics, I grew up not knowing my grandbabies particularly (well), because they were born when I was elected, within a year of each other. I hardly knew them. So family pays a big price for people who make a commitment to politics. . . this is not a 40-hour-a-week commitment, this is a ‘do what it takes.’ Now it’s time to give something back to my family.