After a combative Committee meeting, Ward 5 Councillor Eve Adams still moves fast, thinks fast and anticipates questions, angles and interview directions, so this writer was glad he topped up his caffeine beforehand. Words by Mike Douglas
After winning a national contest to be one of the 42 Pages in the House of Commons, Eve Adams caught the political bug on Parliament Hill.
“They were debating constitutional amendments at two am and it was wild!” she smiles, remembering. “What a great learning experience. You could have these long conversations with Jean Chretien and Kim Campbell and many other fascinating people. It’s been interesting to follow some of them since then.”
While still in Ottawa she was elected to the student government at Ottawa University which earned her free residency and helped with expenses as she studied Psy- chology and Political Science. When her father became ill, she moved closer to home to be near him as she completed her degree at the University of Western Ontario. Post graduation she was hired by the Province to work for the Ministry of Transportation, then the Ministry of Citizenship and the Ministry of Energy, Science and Technology.
In 2003, while working as the 29 year old Executive Director of an accounting association, she turned her Mississauga community activism into a new career, by winning election to City Council against a very controversial incumbent and 18 other candidates.
She has increased her margins of success in the two elections since, while remaining the youngest member of Council.
“I wanted to help my neighbours, I felt that more parks could be built; there was this wonderful opportunity to do more for Ward 5 – and we have.”
Adams loves her work. The demands change every day. Small wonder- she represents the largest Ward in area, industry and population. Ward 5 stretches east from Mavis Road to highway 427 and north from Eglinton to the Brampton border. These boundaries frame over 90,000 inhabitants and 13,000 businesses including one very large airport.
The business needs vary of course and Adams notes, “You get to sink your teeth into it and advocate for local priorities. Right now we are looking at building a fire station near the airport. A large part of our airport’s success is derived from the local freight haulers and logistics companies.”
The Pearson International Airport corporate centre is the second largest employer in Ontario, hosting impressive international businesses like Pepsi, HP, Subaru, Mercedes, and FedEx providing a range of well-paid, career employment with benefits, contributing to a prosperous quality of life for many of her residents.
The Hershey Center is another iconic business in Ward 5 and should the 2015 Pan Am Games stadium deal with Hamilton fall apart then there could be a 6000 seat soccer stadium coming to adjoin the arenas. Finally Mississauga would have a place to hold outdoor sports events in Mississauga, if…
“We’re not here to poach (the stadium) and we have to make a business case for high school and regional tournaments. Now our students have to go to Centennial Park in Etobicoke to play in finals.”
Ward 5 has two m ajor residential areas which are loosely, Malton and Britannia. Malton, the closest community to the airport, has traditionally reflected the different immigration waves in Canada’s last sixty years, while Britannia is a cosmopolitan mix of new urban neighbourhoods with the youngest average age in Mississauga.
What should people know about Ward 5?
“We have very hard working residents and they love our city.”
Looking ahead the strategic plan priority in Ward 5 is Transit. Here the bus routes are well used and profitable. There will be four new stations with public art along the Eglinton Bus Rapid Transit line. These are large hubs with plenty of parking. Road widening is another assist in the battle against gridlock and as each road is widened, a bicycle lane is included. A fitness and sports buff, Adams enjoys biking and has been running in the Terry Fox Marathon for 16 years.
“It’s a balancing act.” She says about transit and you can’t help but wonder at the extent to which that’s true of her life.
She proudly rhymes off seven parks that have been modernized and upgraded, inspired by the children she routinely consults on how to make their parks unique.
Environmental innovation for business health and prosperity is being formalized in Ward 5 with the advent of the Eco-Business Zone in the airport area. A joint committee of big businesses are in the planning and early stages of turning waste into revenue and “repurposing” into the new mantra, supporting doing good for neighbouring residents while greening their bottom lines.
This young mother has to get home to husband and son, host a dinner party and, only a guess, is possibly wishing for less stress in 2011. As one of the remaining five of the original ‘gang of seven’ Councillors at odds with the Mayor, there have been some disappointments in the early days of her third term and she might be hoping for peace. She certainly didn’t want to talk about fractious Council disagreements or more hard feelings.
“I have to work very hard every day to make a difference for the people in my ward. And as Chair of Peel’s Management Committee, I’ll be looking to set some priorities in the management of Peel’s billion dollar budget. We’re responsible for public health, police funding, ambulance service, daycare, social housing, seniors’ facilities, roads…”
Then she departs with 2000 pages worth of reports under her arm. Adams has her work cut out, and that’s how she likes it.
Next in this series, Ward 11 Councillor George Carlson.