Milton

Sameera Ali

Ward 4 City Councillor
Visit Sameera's website
  • Elected as Councillor in 2018
  • Has over 15 years experience in managing multilingual public relations and marketing campaigns from clients all over the world
  • Serves as Halton Regional Councillor, Conservation Halton Board Director, Conservation Halton Audit Commitee Vice President, Halton Housing Corporation Board Vice President, Halton Waste Management Board, Milton Community Fund Board Director, Federation of Canadian Municipalities Committee member, Milton Community Resource Centre Board Director, Halton Women’s Center Board Director, CFUW Milton Executive Board Member
  • Previously served as the Milton Library Board Director and Milton Legion Executive Board Director and PR Officer

Sameera Ali’s Priority Issues

Making Milton more affordable for families:

Ensure responsible spending, protect essential services, and mkae smart decisions that don’t pass unnecessary costs onto residents

Smart growth:

Growth needs to be planned properly; push for infrastructure, services, and development that keeps pace with the community

A town that works:

Practical improvements that make life easier and more reliable.

Putting Miltonians first:

Listening first, working collaboratively, and focusing on solutions

Safe, strong communities:

Prioritize community safety, support local services, and work with partners

Source: sameeraali.ca

Sameera’s Answers: Muslims & Islamophobia

How will you strengthen relationships and trust between police services and Muslim communities?

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As a Muslim and Halton Police Board member, I believe trust starts with listening, transparency and consistent engagement. I want to build on Halton Police’s existing community outreach by strengthening partnerships with mosques, supporting youth engagement and addressing Islamophobia, so every resident feels safe, heard and treated fairly.

How will you work with mosques, Islamic schools, and Muslim organizations to improve community safety and emergency preparedness?

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As a Muslim and Halton Police Board member, I would work with mosques, Islamic schools and Muslim organizations to strengthen partnerships with Halton Police and emergency services. This includes safety workshops, emergency preparedness training, hate-crime reporting awareness and regular communication, ensuring our institutions feel supported

What steps will you take to address Islamophobia and anti-Muslim discrimination?

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As a Muslim and community leader, I take Islamophobia seriously. I would work with Halton Police, community organizations and local institutions to improve reporting and responses to hate incidents, promote education and awareness, and ensure residents feel safe, heard and treated fairly, regardless of their faith or background.

How will you ensure Muslim residents and community organizations have a meaningful voice in municipal decision-making?

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As Mayor, I would create more opportunities for Muslim residents and organizations to be heard through regular consultations, community roundtables and inclusive public engagement. I want residents to help shape decisions that affect them, with clear follow-up from the Town so their concerns lead to meaningful action.

How will you support Muslim organizations that provide community services, settlement support, youth programming, food assistance, and other essential services?

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I would work to ensure Muslim organizations have fair access to grants, community spaces and partnership opportunities. By connecting them with existing funding programs and supporting collaboration with local service providers, we can strengthen their work in settlement, youth programming, food assistance and other essential services for Miltonian.

How can the city provide a more nuanced approach to zoning for religious institutions (such as mosques) given their practices, cultures and needs differ?

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As a Councillor, I’ve already advocated for ensuring future subdivisions include designated places of worship through thoughtful zoning. As Mayor, I would build on this work by engaging faith communities early to understand their needs, including space, parking, accessibility and gathering requirements, so our planning policies support all faiths

What do you think is the greatest problem the ward is facing, and how do you plan to address it?

How will you ensure that anti-racism and EDI policies explicitly recognize and address anti-Palestinian racism where it occurs?

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I believe anti-racism policies must address discrimination in all its forms, including anti-Palestinian racism. As Mayor, I would support listening to affected communities, working with local organizations and ensuring the Town’s EDI policies and staff training promote fair treatment, dignity and inclusion for everyone, regardless of their backgrou

How will you ensure that your city’s commitments to freedom of expression, anti-racism, religious freedom, and equal treatment are applied consistently across all communities, including when issues are politically contentious?

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As Mayor, I would apply the same principles of fairness, freedom of expression, religious freedom and anti-racism to every community, even when issues are politically sensitive. That means listening to different perspectives, consulting those affected and making decisions based on human rights, evidence and the Town’s responsibilities not political

Are there any other priorities or topic you would like to add?