Durham is a bellwether region. If Ontario is a puzzle, Durham is the edge pieces. It borders Toronto, touches farmland, holds heavy industry, and houses tens of thousands of commuters. It has urban pain points and rural blind spots. And in politics, it is often treated like a corridor, not a community.

We are here to change that. And you, as Chair, are going to lead the charge not by noise, but by design.

Durham’s Actual Issues and the Role of a Centrist Response

1. Health System Failures in North Durham

Wait times in Lakeridge Health have become normalized. Rural patients in Uxbridge, Scugog, and Brock are underserved and often drive over 45 minutes for care.

Your move: Convene a Health Access Roundtable this summer. Include paramedics, family doctors, nurse practitioners, and patients. Start building our party’s call for regionally allocated walk-in clinics and integrated telehealth staffing, especially for the north.

2. Unsynchronized Transit Across the Region

The GO system is designed for Toronto-bound travel. DRT is fragmented. East-west routes between towns like Clarington to Ajax or Whitby to Pickering are painful.

Your move: Collect a small sample of commuter journey diaries from residents across each zone. Use that to frame a policy brief on intra-Durham transit funding so that young workers, parents, and seniors can move within the region, not just out of it.

3. Incoherent Housing Growth in Clarington, Pickering, and Courtice

Developments are being approved faster than schools and clinics can open. Municipalities are often cornered between provincial mandates and local resistance.

Your move: Publish a Durham Growth Tracker online. Show residents visually where housing is growing faster than infrastructure. Use it to justify CPO’s call for infrastructure-tied approvals. No new major projects without matched school and healthcare investment.

4. Youth Drift: Mental Health, Purpose, and Belonging

Durham’s youth, especially in Oshawa and North Durham, are falling through the cracks. Services are disconnected. Volunteerism is down. Drug use and anxiety are up.

Your move: Propose a pilot Durham Youth Civic Corps, a summer or weekend model that combines recreation, mentorship, and community service. Partner with libraries, mosques, churches, and school boards. We need to prove we can build belonging, not just talk about it.

5. Rural Durham Feels Forgotten

Brock Township, Scugog, and even parts of Uxbridge feel like policy afterthoughts. Internet access, business investment, and mental health support are weak.

Your move: Drive out there. Sit with farmers, firefighters, and co-op boards. Build our case for rural microgrants that support small repairs, mental health check-ins, and tech upgrades. We don’t need to promise millions. We need to show up.

How You Organize: Precision Over Visibility

You do not need everyone to know who you are right away. You need ten well-placed people in ten communities to know exactly what you are doing.

1. Divide the Region

Treat Durham as five regions:

• North: Uxbridge, Scugog, Brock
• East: Clarington, Courtice
• Core: Oshawa, Whitby
• West: Ajax, Pickering
• Anchor Hubs: Major transit and health nodes

Assign a local contact or liaison per zone by September. No titles, just real relationships.

2. Monthly Intelligence Loop

Set a rhythm: one listening event, one community visit, and one written dispatch per month. Post it on our blog. Keep it short, real, and helpful.

3. Own One File

Choose one file that Durham residents feel every week. Health, transit, housing, schools — pick one. And become the adult in the room on it. Show up with plans, not punchlines.

Closing Thought

Your credibility will come from rhythm, not reaction.

Start slow, but do not stop. Make our party known not by what we say, but by how we behave.

We do not have legacy baggage. That means we do not have excuses either.

Lead with sincerity. Build in the open. Listen like your life depends on it.

You have my full backing, Asif. Let’s build Durham right.

Mansoor Qureshi
Leader, Ontario Centrist Party
https://ontariocentristparty.ca/