Community safety and growth key for Ward 5 candidate Thandi

July 30, 2026 · 0 Comments

Harbinder (Binda) Thandi wants to be a part of a “united” Aurora Council.

Thandi, an engineer by training and an insurance agent in trade, is the fourth Aurora resident to register as a Council candidate for Ward 5.

A native of the United Kingdom who moved to York Region with his family at the age of 14, Thandi is a resident of Ward 4, but has chosen to run in Ward 5 as that is where he and his family spend a great deal of time, and also because he feels Ward 4 is served well by incumbent Michael Thompson, who is also seeking re-election this fall.

“[Ward 5 is] where myself and my family spend a lot of our time in Aurora,” he says. “Other than the local Metro grocery…we tend to go towards Ward 5 for all of our other activities. We have the whole stretch there of large stores – the Longo’s, the Canadian Tire, Goodlife gym, the Superstore – we tend to use a lot of the facilities in Ward 5. On top of that, my children go to camp there, I’ve been to physiotherapy in Ward 5, and then we use parks in Ward 5…. When I really sat back and thought about it, with the way I feel that we’re adequately represented here in Ward 4, I thought to myself, Aurora is still such a small town, and really, truly, the concerns of residents in Ward 5, Ward 1, Ward 2, Ward 6, they affect all the wards in Aurora, they affect Aurora as a whole, so… I think the issues are all relevant.

“[Candidates] are going to be looking at the same things that all residents want, which is basically community safety, we want to make sure that families can grow here, and we want to make sure that Aurora keeps its small-town appeal while we’re growing. We still want to welcome neighbours and make sure that there’s smart planning in place, growth through investments in roads, parks, traffic improvements, and community services.”

While his campaign is still in its early weeks, he says these are issues he’s hearing reflected as he knocks on doors and he looks forward to hearing more in the days leading up to the October 25 municipal election.

“I grew up in England in a small town called Wolverhampton…and we moved to Markham when I was 14-years-old with my family,” he says. “I’ve been an Aurora resident now for the last 11 years, so I’ve actually had the benefit of watching a small town across the pond grow and being able to watch York Region grow in front of my eyes. I have a lot of family and friends that have spread out throughout York Region, so I feel like I have a little bit of a unique opportunity to have viewed different areas of growth and seeing how they grow and different issues that are arising even from different places, which we can all take a little bit from in how we conduct ourselves where we live today.

“I want to know exactly what it is that they feel could be done better in the community, and I’m a very good listener. I’m very passionate when it comes to these, because my family lives here. I want to make sure that everyone’s concerns are heard. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that everyone’s concerns can be rectified the exact way that they want them to be. However, I will take in all the concerns, bring it into Council, and we’ll speak about it.

“I feel like Aurora is a small town where one ward affects another. I also want to make sure that we bring Council together. We don’t have to agree on everything. However, sitting down and respectfully speaking about concerns that are brought up, especially when it comes to our residents, I hope that we can work together…. I want to help unite the Council in Aurora so that we can work together collaboratively. Because, let’s face it, we’re civil servants. This isn’t a job. This is an honour to be able to serve the community.”

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter