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Hello Ward 13
Happy New Year!
I’m grateful to be writing another new year’s message to you.
This new year, to me, is about carrying forward the lessons learned from last year and years prior, setting down some of the weight we’ve been holding, and choosing to build something better with what remains in our hands.
This year gives us a chance to begin again, to find seemingly ordinary things and turn them into extraordinary opportunities, to look ahead with calm confidence, to plant seeds that can grow stronger, to take back what may have been lost and turn the tides.
For me, 2026 will build on the work I’ve already been doing to close the gaps that exist in trust between Londoners and City Hall, but with an even stronger focus.
I’ve worked hard to mend these gaps through my term, and there is still much more work ahead and many more milestones to achieve.
I’m going to deepen the work I’ve already started on rebuilding trust in our local institutions and in our shared way of life in 2026. That means speaking honestly about the issues in front of us and taking action that reflects that honesty. The same approach I’ve taken since day one, only with greater intensity and focus this year. I will be pushing my colleagues to do the same.
I’ve always believed this: trust grows through simple, steady actions repeated over time. It doesn’t grandstand. It doesn’t try to be two things at once. It doesn’t say one thing to one person and something else to another. It simply is there, and shows up. It doesn’t hide motives. It’s consistent and clear in its intentions and it is inclusive, open minded and balanced for everyone. No matter who you are or what you believe.
I want to see renewed trust across the board. I believe real trust in our elected leaders is needed if we are going to take the light from the new year, and make it rightfully ours. With that trust, I believe we can build real good for the people of this city first, and for our collective good for our future.
A strong community isn’t built overnight. It grows through honest conversations, through showing up, through progress that sometimes feels slow but still moves forward, and it is built on trust. That is the work I will have in my sights.
Over the last three years, I’ve met so many of you who remind me of this every day. You are part of the work ahead, not as bystanders, but as partners and as agents of change to building a better way of doing things.
My message to you, for this new year is that the future isn’t written yet. What we endured in recent years is not permanent. It can change and that change comes from all of us, shaping pieces of our world together. Some roles will be big. Some will be quiet. But all of them matter. The path forward is already forming, and each of us carries a piece of it. When it’s time, you’ll know what yours looks like, and I have faith it will come to you naturally. We just need to ensure our eyes and ears are wide open.
Hope grows when we choose it and work towards it. The good we carry inside becomes real when we share it. And despite things sometimes looking really messy, all of us have values that have clearly been unshakable, especially through the toughest of times. I have witnessed that firsthand. And it’s those values that will drive us to a better future. But that will only begin when we’re willing.
We are all part of the same future, we all share the same fate, and most importantly, we all share the same city and the same opportunities to make things better for us, the people of London.
Any hope for something better comes from willing that into being. And that will has the ability to bring a future that reflects the measure of good within ourselves. And all that good inside us is measured by the good we do for others.
So my request to you is simple: keep showing up. Keep talking to one another. Keep taking part in the life of this city. Keep asking questions, stay curious, and hold all of us — including me — accountable, because good things grow when we stay engaged with care, compassion, and trust grows from that process.
Our future will be the sum of our countless choices. So we should make a future that is built on kindness, trust, and mutual understanding.
Here’s to a year of steadier ground, quieter confidence, and renewed commitment to one another.
I wish you all a happy New Year!
Warm regards,
David Ferreira
Councillor Ward 13, London Ontario
519-661-2489 ext. 4013 | dferreira@london.ca
For more information on newsletters, ward meetings, current city initiatives, and other resources, please visit my website at www.davidferreira.ca.
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