Commentaire 29 – commentaires et rétroaction

Brenda Louis

I am writing to address the proposed changes for the riding of Kitchener-Conestoga.

I have lived in the Forest Heights and Forest Hill areas of Kitchener for my entire life (53 years). I grew up in Forest Hill, attending Forest Hill public school, Queesmount for grade 7 & 8 then on to Forest Heights Collegiate for high school.

When my husband and I purchased our first house and second house, they were both in Forest Heights. We have raised our two children in this community.

Forest Hill and Forest Heights are essentially the same neighbourhood. They share schools, a library, pool, community centre, churches and more.

For pre-school, our children attended the Forest Heights community centre. I recall connecting with people I had attend high school with as they had also remained in this community. Organizing play dates, helping each other out with babysitting or just popping by for a coffee was easy because whether you lived in Forest Hill or Forest Heights it was within walking distance.

Growing up my kids took swimming lessons at Forest Heights pool and played T-ball with the Forest Hill T-Ball association. They made friends at a young age that they would connect with later on when the elementary schools throughout these two neighbourhoods funnelled into Westheights Secondary School and Forest Heights Collegiate.

There are many things that connect these neighbourhoods - transit, hospitals, newspapers, schools, shopping plazas, the community centre, library and pool. But it's really the intangible feeling of community that connects these two areas; that makes them special and makes them indistinguishable.

As you consider the counter proposals, I'm sure you have heard from many about notion of splitting Hespeler in two. Please keep in mind how beloved the town of Hespeler is to the people that live there. Anyone who grew up in the Waterloo Region recalls the anger and frustration that occurred with the amalgamation of Hespeler, Galt and Preston that took place nearly 50 years ago. It is still a point of contention and to this day people living in Cambridge say they are from Galt, Preston or Hespeler.

With some small shifts in the region it would be simple and kind to keep the town of Hespeler intact.

I would like to suggest that the Forest Hill area of Kitchener be added to the riding of Kitchener-Conestoga and that Hespeler remain together and not be divided.

Additionally, I would suggest keeping the Rosenberg area in Kitchener-Conestoga. Rosenberg and Williamsburg are connected neighbourhoods (in a similar way to Forest Hill & Forest Heights). They share a community centre, schools, transit routes, shopping plazas, news media churches and more.

In closing, I appreciate the work you are doing and respect that you are considering feedback from people living in these neighbourhoods. It would be impossible for your team to understand the distinctions of these communities and the implications of the proposed changes without insights from the people who live here in these connected communities that are so dear to them.

Warm regards,

Brenda Louis