Andrew "Drew" Dilkens is a Canadian politician, who is the 34th and current mayor of Windsor, Ontario. He was elected mayor in the city's 2014 municipal election. Dilkens is married to Jane Deneau, and has two children.
Biography
Dilkens studied at the University of Windsor, earning a Bachelor of Commerce degree and a law degree. He was called to the bar in 2012. He then studied at Wayne State University where he obtained a Master of Business Administration, and at the International School of Management in Paris, where he obtained a Doctorate of Business Administration. In 2021, he earned the Chartered Director (C.Dir.) designation. Dilkens holds the designation of Certified Human Resources Leader, and has training certificates from the Canadian Foreign Service Institute and the Canadian Securities Institute and Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States.
Before being elected mayor, Dilkens was elected in 2006 to serve as a city councillor for Ward 1 from 2006 to 2014. He ran largely on a campaign of continuing the policy agenda of outgoing mayor Eddie Francis. During his time on City Council, Dilkens chaired the International Relations Committee and the Essex Windsor Solid Waste Authority.
Mayor of Windsor
Road infrastructure and flood prevention
In August 2017, the City of Windsor received a record-breaking rainstorm, flooding 6000 basements. Dilkens was criticized for promoting a $3 million dollar project to create a Christmas lights display amidst the mass flooding. Critics claimed that the city was responsible for the flooding by not properly investing in infrastructure, pressuring the city to re-invest the lights display fund. Mayor Dilkens dismissed the critics, stating: "There will be folks who will criticize lots of different decisions". Mayor Dilkens also noted that the City of Windsor has invested $12-million to the flooding prevention program. However, council eventually voted to roll back the budget of the Christmas display to $1.5 million. Between 2021 and 2022 over 100,000 people attended the event. In 2022, Canadian Special Events magazine released its list of the 2022 Canadian Event Awards Finalists with Bright Lights Windsor being nominated for both Best Outdoor Event, and Most Outstanding Event.
In response to the storm, Dilkens presented an eight-point plan to address flooding in the City of Windsor. This plan set in motion the city's Master Sewer Plan, which enables the city to identify issues, find solutions, and execute major sewer projects. The total cost of the sewer master plan is $5-billion.
COVID-19 pandemic
The City of Windsor's response to the pandemic included:
Declaration of a state of emergency
Ordering the temporary closure of malls and shopping centers
Launching a Small Business Action Plan, waiving some permit fees
Advocating for the elimination of time-of-use electricity rates
Temporarily closing all community centres and libraries
Supporting the June 27th Miracle food drive
Launching #TakeoutTuesday to support small businesses and restaurants.
Economy
When running for re-election in 2018, Dilkens promised to "hold the line" on taxes, meaning to keep the municipal tax rate below the rate of inflation. From 2014 to 2018, the city budget increased 2.4 per cent under Dilkens' watch. Dilkens claimed that the city's tax policy has helped save taxpayers $659-million since 2008. In subsequent years, tax increases were below 2 per cent, the target inflation rate, with the exception of 2020 which saw an increase of 2.1 per cent. These tax increases are notably lower than those that surrounding municipalities implemented.
In March 2022, Dilkens helped in securing a $5-billion investment for Canada's first domestic EV battery manufacturing facility. Once created, the plant will employ 2,500 people. In addition, it is expected that spinoff jobs created in the supply chain will be between 10,000 and 17,500.
In May 2022, Dilkens joined Premier Ford, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, cabinet ministers, and Stellantis executives to announce Stellantis' $3.6-billion investment towards modernizing their assembly plant to accommodate for the production of electric vehicles, while also building two new research and development centres. Through the new centres, 650 jobs will be created and third-shift operations will return once retooling is complete.