Mississauga Ward 3

Biography: Chris Fonseca has been the councillor for Ward 3 since 2010. She says she previously ran her own business in the health and wellness sector and worked with non-profit organizations. As councillor, Fonseca moved to waive development charges for a nursery school looking to more than double its preschool spaces; brought a successful motion to sign Mississauga onto an international fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty; raised concerns about children riding e-scooters; and spoke in support of “reassociating” Duke of York Boulevard, which saw the city formally disassociate the street’s name from former U.K. prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor instead of renaming the street.

Platform: This candidate does not have a platform available online at the time of publication.

Biography: Arshad Hashmi says he is the founder and CEO of Meca Tech Engineering, an engineering consulting firm. He says he previously taught information technology (IT) at a training institute in Lahore, Pakistan.

Platform: Hashmi lists his policy priorities as infrastructure, “smart growth,” affordable housing, fiscal responsibility and lower taxes, and better roads.

Biography: Mendi Kabashi says on LinkedIn that she is a property manager at Wilson Blanchard Management, a subsidiary of American property management company Associa. She also says she was president of a condo board for four years. She says she has a military training background and also worked as a legal advisor to the Albanian Ministry of Defence from 2012 to 2014, when it was decommissioning Communist-era stockpiles of ammunition.

Platform: Kabashi told Modern Mississauga that her priorities are improving public safety through better collaboration between police, schools, and businesses, and “balancing prevention with effective enforcement.” She wants to focus on fiscal efficiency, provide residents with clear timelines for construction projects, and create better parks and public spaces. Investing in infrastructure is the most important budget item for Mississauga, Kabashi says.

Biography: Kim Pines is the president of a translation business. She was also the treasurer and member of the board of directors of the Canadian Language Industry Association. Pines is also a director of the Rockwood Residents’ Association, and a member of the Applewood Hills & Heights Residents’ Association. The Rockwood Residents’ Association is opposed to a potential cluster of high-rise developments on Ponytail Drive and Rathburn Road East; and takes the position that Mississauga is paying too much for Peel Region’s services, putting pressure on property taxpayers. Pines’ website references the Bloor Street redesign as a “turning point for many residents,” likely referring to the fact that about 3,500 residents signed a petition against reducing traffic lanes to add bike lanes to Bloor Street. She says she’s appeared at Mississauga City Council and the Region of Peel to talk about “unchecked development,” traffic congestion, rising taxes, and other issues.

Platform: Pines says she will consult residents before making decisions, calling the Bloor Street redesign “the most documented consultation failure in Ward 3’s recent history”. She wants to balance new development with infrastructure readiness and quality of life for existing residents, push for an auditor general to review city spending, and advocate for more police presence in “hotspots” for crime.

Biography: Little information is available online about Stjepan Vukovic. On his website, he describes himself as a “local business owner.”

Platform: Vukovic lists his priorities for councillor as freezing property taxes, advocating for a more balanced split of the Peel Police budget between Mississauga and Brampton, and improving street safety and infrastructure.