INCUMBENT RUNNING

Ward 1

East London — Hamilton Road corridor · Old East Village · Argyle

Researched July 2, 2026 · updated July 3, 2026 · 3 candidates registered

Your ward at a glance

Ward 1 is a three-way race: first-term incumbent Hadleigh McAlister against former three-term councillor Roger Caranci and first-time candidate Janette Larocque, with nominations open until August 21, 2026. The contest centres on homelessness, addiction, and public safety in east London. And the big map change: Old East Village is now in Ward 1 — McAlister publicly objected to gaining it, and he's now asking to represent it.

What Ward 1 is wrestling with

Honestly told: the situation, the numbers, and what to ask the people who want your vote.

□ SHARED — CITY + FEDS

Homelessness and encampments in Old East Village

Old East Village's shelters and social agencies are now Ward 1's file. Business owners have raised concerns that the area is over-saturated with social agencies, council has repeatedly debated encampment policy, and a funding cliff arrives this spring as two federal programs end.

The honest numbers ▾

As of December 2025 reporting, the city expects roughly $2.3 million less for homelessness services starting in spring as two federal programs end, forcing a shift toward smaller, trauma-informed services. A May 2026 CBC reader survey found homelessness and visible drug use topping the issues likely to drive 2026 votes, with concern described as especially acute downtown and in Old East Village, now part of Ward 1. CBC News ↗

Ask your candidates

Name one specific change to homelessness services or their siting in Old East Village that you would vote for.

■ CITY DECIDES

Deadly crashes on Hamilton Road

People keep getting hurt on Hamilton Road: serious crashes, and pedestrian and cyclist deaths, in recent years. A redesign went to committee: three lanes with protected bike lanes and accessible sidewalks between Adelaide Street and Highbury Avenue. Since then a red-light camera went in at Hamilton and Highbury, and markings and lighting were upgraded. The full redesign is still a live file for the next council.

Ask your candidates

Do you support the three-lane redesign of Hamilton Road between Adelaide and Highbury, and by what date should it be built?

■ CITY DECIDES

2026 is a huge roadwork year

Expect torn-up roads: the city's 2026 Renew construction program covers major roadwork, intersections, and underground infrastructure citywide. Listed 2026 projects include the Highbury Avenue South rehabilitation, which touches Ward 1's northern and eastern edge now that the ward extends to Oxford Street west of Highbury.

The honest numbers ▾

Roughly $385 million citywide (including $285 million in new capital projects), covering 100+ lane-kilometres of roadwork, 20 intersections, and 30+ km of underground infrastructure. City of London ↗

Ask your candidates

Which Renew roadwork projects in Ward 1 would you fight to keep on schedule?

□ SHARED — CITY + PROVINCE

Housing that people can afford

Housing supply and affordability feature in all three Ward 1 candidates' platforms in some form. In August 2025 the province announced funding tied to London exceeding its housing-start targets.

The honest numbers ▾

London received close to $12 million from the province for surpassing its target for new home builds. CBC News ↗

Ask your candidates

Name one housing project or policy you'd vote for to get more homes built in Ward 1.

■ CITY DECIDES

New neighbourhood, same budget

Ward 1 is taking in all of Old East Village, historically a higher-need, lower-income neighbourhood. We couldn't find any extra ward-level budget or staffing attached to that — if it exists, the city hasn't said so.

Ask your candidates

What specifically will you do for Old East Village in your first year?

■ CITY DECIDES

Western 'Homecoming'/'FOCO' policing costs

Not unique to Ward 1 geographically, but raised specifically by candidate Janette Larocque as a target for budget reallocation: policing the unofficial fall gathering has cost the city roughly a quarter-million dollars in past years.

The honest numbers ▾

Independently reported policing costs: $256,098 in 2021 and roughly $265,000 in 2022. CTV News (2021 figure) ↗

Ask your candidates

Should the city try to recover FOCO policing costs, and if so, from whom?

Who’s running

Listed alphabetically. Identical treatment for every candidate — that’s the deal.

CARANCI LAROCQUE MCALISTER

Roger Caranci

Former three-term city councillor (2000–2010) returning after roughly 16 years away from council; entered the 2014 mayoral race but withdrew to endorse Paul Cheng (his name stayed on the ballot past the withdrawal deadline and he placed fourth), and is currently President of Residenza Affordable Housing.

SPECIFICITY0 concrete proposals · 3 aspirational themes

PLATFORM, RECORD & CONTACT▾

Platform — WHAT THEY SAY

"Build affordable homes that respect our neighbourhoods and fit our community." — theme, no mechanism given campaign site ↗
"Safe streets" — support police, enforce by-laws, "zero tolerance for tent cities and open drug-use." — theme, no mechanism given
"Back to basics" — pothole repair, snow plowing, park maintenance. — theme, no mechanism given

NOTES

The official candidate roster describes him as the "2014 mayoral runner-up," but contemporaneous coverage does not support that: he announced on October 14, 2014 that he was out of the mayoral race and threw his support behind Paul Cheng. CTV News ↗

The city's official 2014 results confirm his name remained on the ballot and he finished fourth in the mayoral race with 1,190 votes (1.08%); Paul Cheng, with 34.32%, was the actual runner-up. City of London official results (PDF) ↗

His campaign site's claims — 300+ affordable homes built through Residenza Affordable Housing, involvement in the HELP Clean Water Initiative, and Veterans Memorial Parkway development — are self-reported and were not independently corroborated in this research pass.

Which specific ward(s) he represented across his three terms (2000–2010) was not confirmed against archival council records.

Our questionnaire QUESTIONS GOING OUT

Identical questions go to every declared candidate. Answers are published verbatim; “no response” is reported plainly.

WEBSITE ↗PHONE

Janette Larocque

East London resident of 22+ years and small-business operator who states 15+ years of banking and high-risk lending experience; a first-time candidate with no prior officeholding found.

SPECIFICITY4 concrete proposals · 3 aspirational themes

PLATFORM, RECORD & CONTACT▾

Platform — WHAT THEY SAY

Create a resident survey platform for direct input on council agenda items and votes. Facebook introduction post ↗
Cut councillor pay from $94,222 to roughly $70,000–$75,000 — an estimated $315,000/year saved citywide. — figures self-reported; not checked against city budget documents
Demand a transparent accounting of how London's $44 million annual homelessness allocation is spent; pursue "genuinely affordable" housing. — allocation figure self-reported; not independently verified
Redirect an estimated $250,000–$300,000/year in FOCO/Western Homecoming police and emergency spending to other community priorities. — estimate roughly in line with independently reported past-year costs ($250K–$265K)
Seek provincial funding for expanded detox/withdrawal beds paired with transitional housing.
Grow food bank fundraising support (cites current usage at 5,700 families/month); partner with school boards on drug use, mental health, and cost-of-living education. — usage figure self-reported; not independently verified
A systematic, ward-by-ward road repair prioritization process. — process named, no detail on criteria or budget

NOTES

Her platform figures ($94,222 councillor salary, $44 million homelessness allocation, $315,000 projected savings, 5,700 families/month food bank usage, $250,000–$300,000 FOCO cost) come from her own Facebook post — verified by human review on July 4, 2026: the post is live and the platform summarized here matches its text. The figures themselves remain candidate-stated and were not checked against city budget documents (apart from the FOCO cost estimate).

No official campaign phone, email, or website was found; her Facebook profile is the only public campaign presence located, and the City of London candidate roster lists no contact information for her.

Our questionnaire QUESTIONS GOING OUT

Identical questions go to every declared candidate. Answers are published verbatim; “no response” is reported plainly.

FACEBOOK ↗

Hadleigh McAlister

First-term Ward 1 councillor, elected 2022; Chair of the Infrastructure and Corporate Services Committee, Chair of the Dearness Home Committee of Management, and a member of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee, the Hamilton Road BIA, and several other city bodies.

RECORD · 2022–2026 →

SPECIFICITY6 concrete proposals · 4 aspirational themes

PLATFORM, RECORD & CONTACT▾

Platform — WHAT THEY SAY

Explore a police satellite station east of Highbury Avenue to improve service response and expand foot patrol routes in Old East Village and along Hamilton Road. campaign platform page ↗
Continue the Hamilton Road safety redesign: three lanes with protected bike lanes and accessible sidewalks between Adelaide Street and Highbury Avenue. CTV News ↗
Accelerate the redevelopment of the Hamilton Road/Highbury Avenue intersection ahead of its currently scheduled 2029 start date.
Expand the OEV and Hamilton Road BIA incentive programs (currently façade and building-code improvements) to include mixed-use buildings, redeveloping retail and residential space together.
Explore an expansion of the micro-modular shelter model, and make capital investments in supportive housing — while pressing the province to fund the health-care operating costs of those projects.
Create a community grant stream for food security and add community gardens on city land, building on his four years on the Middlesex-London Food Policy Council.
Push for Ward 1 to receive its "fair share" of the city's capital budget for roads, sidewalks, and parks. — directional language without a specified target
Community safety measures: better street lighting on key corridors, faster bylaw response to chronic nuisance properties, and expanded outreach programs on root causes of crime. — direction stated; no budget or timeline attached
Housing: first-time home buyer support programs, using provincial and federal housing funds to bring down costs, and continued investment in LMCH community-housing redevelopment. — program types named but no amounts or targets given
Parks: replace aging playground equipment, bring back year-round park garbage cans, add public washrooms, and run public engagement on the former River Road golf course district park and on Lorne Ave park/Boyle Community Centre. — list of intentions without counts, costs, or dates

Record — WHAT THEY DID

How they voted — the landmark-vote scorecard →

NOTES

His platform page could not be fetched in the July 2 pass; on July 3 it loaded normally and the platform above reflects a full read of it. His homepage's record claims (saving Silverwoods and Glen Cairn pools, Hamilton Road demolitions, installed crosswalks and streetlights) are candidate-stated and were not individually verified against council records.

He publicly objected to the December 2024 ward boundary redraw — saying his ward "got shafted by the rest of London" — and left the committee meeting during debate; he now runs in, and if re-elected would represent, the enlarged ward that includes Old East Village, the neighbourhood he objected to gaining. CTV News ↗

Our questionnaire QUESTIONS GOING OUT

Identical questions go to every declared candidate. Answers are published verbatim; “no response” is reported plainly.

WEBSITE ↗EMAIL PHONE

Compare side-by-side ▾

	CARANCI	LAROCQUE	MCALISTER
SPECIFICITY	0 concrete · 3 aspirational	4 concrete · 3 aspirational (figures self-reported)	6 concrete · 4 aspirational
HELD OFFICE	City councillor, 2000–2010 (three terms)	None	Ward 1 councillor, 2022–2026
ON HOMELESSNESS & PUBLIC SAFETY	"Zero tolerance for tent cities and open drug-use"; support police and by-law enforcement	Demand transparent accounting of the $44M homelessness allocation; seek provincial funding for detox beds paired with transitional housing	Policing partnership including a possible satellite station east of Highbury; explore expanding the micro-modular shelter model; voted against shrinking the encampment buffer from 100m to 25m
QUESTIONNAIRE	Not yet sent	Not yet sent	Not yet sent

Same rows for every candidate. “No position published” is information too.

The race

This is a three-way contest: a first-term incumbent, a comeback bid, and a first-time candidate. McAlister enters as the sitting councillor with a defined committee record. He objected to the December 2024 boundary redraw that added Old East Village to Ward 1, saying his ward was being reshaped to benefit the rest of the city. He is now running in the enlarged ward that includes that neighbourhood.

Caranci's comeback rests on name recognition from his 2000–2010 council service and a visible 2014 mayoral run. He withdrew from that race in October 2014 to endorse Paul Cheng and, still appearing on the ballot, placed fourth with 1,190 votes (per the City’s official results). The ward he wants back has changed: its boundaries and social geography, particularly the newly added Old East Village, differ from the ward he represented sixteen years ago. His stated motivation, per prior reporting, is frustration with the state of downtown.

Larocque is the only first-time candidate and, on available evidence, the only one with no prior campaign or officeholding history. Her platform is the most numbers-forward of the three, though her figures are self-published and not yet independently verified.

All three campaigns lead with homelessness, addiction, and public safety. That matches the CBC's May 2026 reader survey, which identified those as the top issues driving 2026 votes, with particular intensity in the newly added Old East Village. The difference is in how. McAlister emphasizes policing partnership and a capital-budget "fair share". Caranci emphasizes enforcement ("zero tolerance") plus his housing-development background. Larocque emphasizes financial transparency, a council pay cut, and reallocating existing spending.

Before you go

The rest is showing up

You’ve read the ward. Ward races here can come down to a few hundred ballots, sometimes fewer. In a race that close, your vote is one of the ones that decides it. You don’t need to know everything. You just need to show up, informed.

How to vote in Ward 1

ADVANCE

Oct 1

ADVANCE

Oct 3

ADVANCE

Oct 5–10

ELECTION DAY

Oct 26 · 10 am – 8 pm

You’ll need ID with your name and address. Full voting guide — where, what to bring, who can vote →

WHAT WE COULDN’T CONFIRM YET ▾

The exact new Ward 1 boundary is not confirmed street-by-street; the full legal description sits in the Ward Boundary Review Final Report PDF and the city's interactive ward map, neither fully pulled in this research pass.
No Ward 1 population figure (current or post-redraw) was found; only citywide 2021 census figures were available.
Descriptions of the outgoing Ward 1 footprint vary across sources; verify against the city's official current ward map before relying on any 'what changed' framing.
RESOLVED against the City’s official 2014 results PDF: the roster’s “2014 mayoral runner-up” description of Caranci is not accurate — he withdrew in October 2014, endorsed Paul Cheng, and finished fourth with 1,190 votes; Cheng was the runner-up. The candidate card states the sourced version.
RESOLVED July 3: Hadleigh McAlister's platform page (hadleighmcalisterward1.com/platform) loaded normally on recheck; his platform entries now reflect a full read of the page rather than search-snippet reconstruction.
Roger Caranci's claimed 300+ affordable homes (Residenza Affordable Housing), HELP Clean Water Initiative, and Veterans Memorial Parkway involvement are self-reported and not independently corroborated.
Janette Larocque's platform-source Facebook post returns HTTP 400 to automated clients but was confirmed live and content-verified by human review on July 4, 2026.
Janette Larocque's platform-source Facebook post returns HTTP 400 to automated clients but was confirmed live and content-verified by human review on July 4, 2026.
Several CBC/CTV article bodies were only accessible via search-result snippets in the July 2 pass; on July 3 the cited CTV and CBC URLs on this page were re-verified as loading (HTTP 200), and the dead legacy CTV link for the Hamilton Road three-lane story was replaced with the migrated www.ctvnews.ca URL.
Janette Larocque's platform-source Facebook post returns HTTP 400 to automated clients but was confirmed live and content-verified by human review on July 4, 2026.
Which specific ward(s) Caranci represented across his three terms (2000–2010) was not confirmed against archival council records.
Some cautions and honest-numbers claims on this page are not yet tied to a linked primary source; they are pending primary-link verification before final publish.