A Letter to Durham: Community-Centered Leadership Begins Here

To: Asif Khan
From: Mansoor Qureshi, Leader of the Ontario Centrist Party
Re: Taking Root in Durham – What Local Leadership Requires NowAsif,Thank you for taking on the responsibility of leading our first Constituency Association in Durham. You have earned the trust to build something real, not just symbolic.

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/

A Letter to Milton: Local Leadership Starts With Listening

Strategic Advisory Note: Milton CA Leadership Priorities

To: Syed Mohsin Rizvi, Chair – Milton CA
From: Mansoor Qureshi, Leader – Ontario Centrist Party
Date: June 2025
Re: Milton Needs Leadership That Solves, Not Just Speaks

Mohsin,

Milton’s growth story is undeniable—but the provincial response has been slow, fragmented, and often dismissive of what residents are going through on the ground.

We don’t need to match other parties in messaging. We need to outperform them in problem-solving. Here’s where you start: these are Milton’s five most urgent issues—at the provincial level—and what you can do right now to start solving them.

1. School Overcrowding and Delayed Provincial Funding

The issue: Milton’s schools are among the most overcrowded in the province. Some have capacity over 120%, with kids spending years in portables.
Why it’s provincial: School board funding formulas are set by Queen’s Park, and capital approvals are slow, especially in high-growth towns like Milton.
What to do:

  • Request a meeting with Halton District School Board and identify top 3 pressure points.
  • Advocate publicly for automatic funding triggers tied to population thresholds—not political lobbying.
  • Start a local campaign: “No More Portables by 2027.”

2. Transit Neglect and East-West Disconnection

The issue: GO Transit focuses on getting people to Toronto—but local connectivity inside Halton is broken. Derry Road, Britannia, and Steeles corridors are congested, unsafe, and underserved.
Why it’s provincial: Metrolinx controls GO expansions and is prioritizing regional hubs over suburban mobility.
What to do:

  • Push for local bus pilot programs between Milton, Oakville, and Burlington through provincial transit grants.
  • Make the case for off-peak and weekend GO train expansion—especially for low-income and shift workers.
  • Collaborate with nearby CA teams to present a united Halton Transit Reform proposal to Queen’s Park.

3. Delayed Health Infrastructure

The issue: Milton’s hospital expansion is badly behind pace. Family doctors are scarce, and the town lacks mental health resources for youth and seniors.
Why it’s provincial: Hospital expansions, clinic licenses, and primary care access are under the Ministry of Health.
What to do:

  • Publish a Milton Care Gaps Report—get data on family doctor shortages, wait times, and service deserts.
  • Advocate for a Satellite Mental Health Hub with walk-in counselling for youth, integrated with local schools and rec centres.
  • Propose local medical student placement incentives in Milton through OMA and provincial channels.

4. Mismanaged Housing Intensification

The issue: Towers are going up, but parking, schools, traffic control, and services are falling behind. Residents feel development is imposed, not integrated.
Why it’s provincial: The Ontario government’s housing targets pressure municipalities, but with no enforcement of infrastructure balance.
What to do:

  • Call for a Growth Readiness Scorecard before provincial approvals: no build gets greenlit unless roads, schools, and clinics are accounted for.
  • Position CPO as the voice for “Yes to Growth, Only If it Works.”
  • Publicly challenge MPPs pushing one-size-fits-all targets without infrastructure accountability.

5. Lack of Provincial Investment in Newcomer Integration

The issue: Milton has one of the highest newcomer settlement rates in Ontario, but provincial services (employment, legal aid, community health) are still centralized in Mississauga or Toronto.
Why it’s provincial: Newcomer programs, ESL, and settlement funding flow through provincial ministries.
What to do:

  • Form a Milton Newcomer Working Group to collect lived experiences.
  • Advocate for decentralized provincial service access points in Milton: employment support, legal aid, and mental health.
  • Push for ESL classroom ratios and funding to reflect post-2020 population data, not outdated projections.

Next Steps for the CA

  • Build your leadership team around these five issue tracks: one volunteer per domain.
  • Begin regular contact with school trustees, regional councillors, and parent associations.
  • Host a Quarterly Milton CA Forum with guest experts—urban planners, educators, doctors—who can ground these problems in data, not just headlines.
  • Share one public dispatch per month: what you’re hearing, what you’re working on, and how residents can help shape policy.

Final Thought

Don’t waste time trying to look like a candidate. Build yourself as a connector—between the community and the provincial system. That’s where real influence begins.

Milton doesn’t just need a voice. It needs a bridge. And you, Mohsin, are in the best position to build it—with full support from the party.

Let me know when you’re ready to turn these tracks into team briefs or public campaigns. I’ll back your strategy fully.

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