Ben’s Campaign Platform
Ben Durham’s Platform
for Ward 3
Fighting for a city that works for you.
Ben’s Platform is an iterative, ongoing process that will be shaped and reshaped throughout London’s 2026 election period (May to October).
Your suggestions and feedback will be of paramount importance for the evolution of this campaign, so go ahead and submit your feedback to ben@bendurham.ca! You’ll hear back from me.
Smarter Traffic, Safer Streets
Traffic is getting worse. Solutions exist, so let’s implement them ASAP!
Better City Communications
Better comms from both the City of London and Council. Before surprising votes happen.
Fiscal Responsibility
Your taxes should work for you, not against you. Let’s plug the leaks.
Homes for Everyone
Our neighbours are falling through the cracks of the system… But there are solutions.
Support This Platform
Help us turn these ideas into action with your contribution.
Smarter Traffic, Safer Streets
Nobody likes traffic. It’s frustrating, dangerous, and costs everyone time and money. So, how can we legitimately “solve traffic” and make our streets safer for Londoners?
Smartly. Let me explain.
(*note: I will be adding quite a few more sub-items and explanations to each in the following weeks.)
1.1 – Increase average traffic speed (*using street re-designs)
1.2 – Bring intersection design into the future
1.3 – Improve bus service
1.4 – Fully connect the Active Transportation Network
1.5 – Use the Mobility Master Plan as a blueprint for decision making
1.6 – Bring your destinations closer to home
No free downtown parking passes for City Councillors. If everyone else pays, so should they.
If other candidates and city councillors are serious, too, then they need to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
So, I’m committing to writing and introducing a motion that would require every city councillor (including me, if elected) to commute to City Hall using something other than a personal motor vehicle for at least 20 days per year (4 working weeks).
Other options could include walking, biking, taking transit, e-scootering, or anything else they might like to do, as long as it isn’t a personal motor vehicle (ie. car, truck) or a taxi/Uber.
If we’re serious about reducing traffic and supporting other transportation options, the people making the decisions should lead by example.
Better City Communications
An interesting fact that seems to get brushed aside far too often is that the City of London and its employees are essentially (read: employed) hired by Londoners to keep the city functioning (and thriving, ideally).
But what I’ve heard over the last few years is an increasing disconnect between residents and their city.
Let’s fix that.
(*note: I will be adding quite a few more sub-items and explanations to each in the following weeks.)
2.1 – Enhance communications between the city and its residents
2.2 – Revamp the City of London website and service portal
2.3 – Create a centralized accountability dashboard for Londoners’ concerns
2.4 – Release a “Ben Durham Report Card” every 6 months (*at minimum)
Fiscal Responsibility
I’ll be honest: this one’s going to be difficult… and anyone who says otherwise is blatantly wrong. But over the course of a 4-year term, it’s possible to point us in the right direction.
The City of London needs to embrace the land that we already have and follow through with the intensification targets set out by The London Plan.
(*note: I will be adding quite a few more sub-items and explanations to each in the following weeks.)
3.1 – Stop spreading London’s money too thinly
3.2 – Embrace environmental standards that save money
3.3 – Bring back funding for community services
3.4 – Demystify city finances
3.5 – Help Emergency Workers get back to their real jobs
3.6 – Look over police budget early (before it’s too late to change)
Homes for Everyone
Not all houses are homes and not all homes are houses. More options for more people stops our neighbours from falling through the cracks of the system.
(*note: I will be adding quite a few more sub-items and explanations to each in the following weeks.)
4.1 – Find (& implement) solutions to homelessness by talking with experts
4.2 – Proactively prepare homeless winter shelters
4.3 – Revive our neighbourhoods (making homes… homes)
4.4 – Say no to Tall Sprawl in Ward 3
4.5 – Say no to Urban Sprawl in Ward 3
Empty buildings can’t continue to be allowed to sit and rot for decades through Land Banking while our communities remain underserved. Ontario’s laws limit the ways we (the City of London) can tax Vacant Commercial Properties directly, but the same laws also give us the power to manage how those spaces are licensed and used.
So, if elected, I’d use that power to move things forward by committing to introducing a motion for a Mandatory Public Vacant Commercial Property Registry featuring mandatory routine audits.
This will identify:
- which buildings are sitting empty
- their current status
- any structural issues
- emergency entrances and exits
- any hazardous materials present
This is a critical safety tool for our first responders which can only exist by maintaining an accurate record of what (and who) is inside these properties. This would be a vital risk-assessment tool that would equip all our Emergency Service teams with the vital information they need to keep themselves safe while saving Londoners’ lives.
The entire cost of this program (including all legal, administrative, and staffing costs) will be funded by the owners of those Vacant Commercial Properties, not by your property taxes.
I support a temporary moratorium on new AI datacentre approvals until a robust, localized regulatory framework is established.
We need to prioritize and protect everyday Londoners from the rapid expansion of mega-corporations (whose internal mottos are often “move fast and break things”) and their projects that offer very few municipal benefits while, at the same time, strain our resources, infrastructure, budgets, public health, and environment.
AI-specific datacentres use 10 times more resources than “standard datacentres,” so this is an important issue that the next council term may need to make decisions on, on behalf of Londoners.
I have much more to say about this topic, and you can read more about that by clicking here.