After running for deputy mayor in 2018 but losing to James Leduc, Iftikhar Ahmad hopes to bring a different perspective to BWG council this fall as he prepares to run for the Ward 4 councillor seat.
With Bradford being a diverse town, Ahmad thinks council should be a reflection of the people it serves in order to understand various perspectives and needs in the community.
“It’s a nice and caring community where everyone knows each other,” he said. “But (council) is not representing the whole community because over the last 10 years so many people have come to Bradford, and it’s become so diverse.
“Council shouldn’t just represent a few communities; it should represent all. Many of the councillors have been on council for years and they don’t know the different cultural issues in the community. We need new blood in council to understand the developing changes. Council shouldn’t focus on just a few communities; it should focus on all because we’re all taxpayers.”
Having lived in the community for 10 years and being a business owner, Ahmad wants to be an advocate for Bradford and help resolve some of its ongoing issues.
“There are many community issues which are still unresolved as per growing community needs and voices of residents are not listened to at a proper forum,” he said. “There is a need to fill the gap between community and council to resolve these issues. That’s the main reason I’m running for council. I ran for the deputy mayor role in the 2018 election and got very good support from the community and understood community issues deeply and now I'm in a better position to solve them.”
Ahmad thinks he’s well suited to represent Ward 4 on council and be their voice given his experience as a community leader.
“A leader from youth, I have shown this ability from time to time to motivate others to get things done,” he said. “That trend began in my school years, then continued into adulthood with my work in the United Nations Development Program. In Bradford, I have demonstrated my leadership skills at the town’s Muslim Community Centre. As one of its founders, I have played a key role as vice president in growing membership from 30 to 600 over the last seven years.”
If elected, Ahmad wants to improve conditions for local businesses, create more local jobs; make taxpayer dollars expenditure more efficient with a thorough cost-effectiveness audit for all municipal services; and prioritize the completion of streets and infrastructure before awarding occupancy certificates for newly built homes.
“The most important thing is using the town's budget to reduce taxes and spend on community needs,” he said. “That’s my main goal, as well as more business growth to create jobs in the community. That way so many people won’t need to go to Toronto every morning, you can see them on the 400 every day. We need those job opportunities here. I’m also planning to have a university branch for students here so that our students don’t have to go as far. I’d also like more cultural programs for all communities to strengthen their bindings.”
In his first 100 days on council, Ahmad would identify opportunities for expansion of inbound/outbound traffic access through Newmarket to ease Bradford West Gwillimbury’s gridlock; find and implement a solution to the ongoing GO Train parking issues; address ongoing garbage collection and snow removal issues, and identify inefficiencies in street maintenance procedures/hierarchy to improve process and results.
Election day is Oct.24
