“I am young, a renter, and a woman,” says Ainsleah Hastings, who is running for Nelson city council. “Those three points really frame my whole platform.”
Rose knows that as a renter in the city it can be difficult to have security when it comes to the housing crisis, and says trying to build a sustainable life when housing is uncertain is very difficult.
“There are a lot of problems when it comes to renting,” says Hastings. “I don’t want to focus on all the issues because I want to focus on solutions to these problems.”
She says the economy is fluctuating, not just at home but around the world, and that dictates how affordability plays out.
“People all over the world are feeling the impacts of the same issues we are facing,” she adds “This is why I feel it is important to focus locally, and address our issues.”
Rose feels affordability is the root cause of a lot of the issues in Nelson, and they contribute to other concerns, including drug use, poverty as well as mental illness.
“I care about these issues,” she says. “Not because they have affected me at one time or another, but because they have affected my community.”
Hastings is 39 years old and originally from Nelson and studied at Concordia University. She is currently working as an office manager at Big Cranium on Baker Street.
She is running against Jesse Woodward, Keith Page, Rik Logtenberg, Brenton Raby, Leslie Payne, Jesse Pineiro, Glenn Sutherland, Kate Tait and Kyle WIlkinson.