Welcome to Clarkson
For my neighbourhood assignment, I interviewed three people: the first one is Clarkson's city councillor, Mississauga Ward 2 Councillor Pat Mullin, world-reknown Ophthalmologist and Surgeon Dr. Iqbal Ike K. Ahmed and finally, someone who has lived in the community for over 10 years, Kyle Johnson.
View Mississauga Ward 2 Map in a larger map
Mississauga Councillor Pat Mullin
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| Ward 2 Councillor Patricia Mullin Photo courtesy of mississauga.ca Ward 2 portal
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Patricia (Pat) Mullin has been Mississauga's Ward 2 Councillor for eight terms. Since moving to Mississauga in 1973 with her family, Councillor Mullin has been a passionate, tireless public servant. She served as the Secretary for Catholic Schools for the Peel Board of Education from 1977 until 1985. But the development of Lake Ontario and the waste management problems associated with its development prompted her to run for public office.
She is committed to maintaining the character, diversity and vitality of her community as it develops and expands. In the last few years Clarkson has undergone a face lift; the community pool and local libraries were redone and many new building projects have been started and completed under Councillor Mullin's benevolent supervision. To ensure that Ward 2 develops properly, Councillor Mullin has strongly supported measures such as the "infill housing" by-law. It reduces the height and revised the setbacks of new houses in established neighbourhoods. She also supports policies that require severed lots to conform in size with other properties in the area.
In the long-term Pat Mullin plans on using Clarkson Village as a template for future development of other areas. She also believes that "infill" development of older communities is an issue as well as compliance with a provincial mandate on development.
A strong passion for the environment has lead Councillor Mullin to believe that Mississauga should become more bike-oriented. She thinks that "people should get out of cars" and that the people of Mississauga are lucky to have a waterfront. She also believes that it should be preserved and made available to the public. In fact, Jack Darling Park (a waterfront park in Ward 2), is, in her opinion, the "most beautiful park in the region"
Following her train of thought that "people should get out of cars", she strongly advocates the development of public transit. She believes that a Light-Rail Transit lines should be constructed on Hurontario Street, Dundas Street and Lakeshore Boulevard, in the near future in order to service Mississauga's growing population.
Ophthalmic Surgeon Dr. Iqbal Ike K. Ahmed, MD, FRCSC
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| Dr. Ike K. Ahmed Photo courtesy of cvh.on.ca Media release
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He chose to specialize in Glaucoma because it is place "ripe for surgical innovation." In Dr. Ahmed's opinion, Glaucoma surgery is old in terms of design, approach and technique. One of the biggest challenges is addressing the course of treatment in order to best help patients.
After specializing in medical school for surgery Dr. Ahmed took Ophthalmology as an elective. According to him, the highly technical nature of the job as well as the precision and the magnitude of what was at stake, eyesight, led him to become an Ophthalmic Surgeon. Ophthalmology requires a mastery of advanced math and physics, both of which Dr. Ahmed, has a knack for.
Dr. Ahmed, is widely considered to be one of the "rising stars" of the Ophthalmology field and was honoured as one of Canada's Top 40 under 40. In order to assist him in his work, Dr. Ahmed has developed new tools to help him, such as diamond scalpels (Ahmed Diamond Knives) for glaucoma surgery. Because of his skill he is frequently referred complex international cases. He feels a "deep responsibility" for every case as well as an "obligation to do everything" he and his team can to help them. Many of these cases are from pioneers and well-known doctors in his field. Dr. Ahmed feels very honoured for every referral case he gets.
Being a father of 3 kids: Yusuf, Aadam and Issa, Dr. Ahmed, enjoys helping young patients with their medical problems. According to him, the biggest reward is seeing the results of his patients. His work is heavily team-based, compromising the skills from other physicians, nurses, technical staff and many others. He finds "so much joy in solving a problem with a team."
For Dr. Ahmed, balance between work and family is important. His wife, Ruby, is also a physician. And their three boys, are really interested in ophthalmology and their father's dedication and passion. Family time is precious to Dr. Ahmed.
Despite being a self-described workaholic, Dr. Ahmed, does have fun. He enjoys tinkering with computers, gadgets, applications and technology in general. As well as hanging out at home with a kids, playing sports and games with them. He also enjoys keeping fit and exercising and also eats properly and runs.
Finally, he has a soft spot for fast cars and has lots of fun in his BMW M6.
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| Photo courtesy of bwm.ca |
Kyle Johnson
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| Photo courtesy of mississauga.ca |
Kyle Johnson, 20, has lived in Clarkson for half his life and has seen it grow tremendously in that time. In 10 years there have been many townhouse, retail and condo developments. As well as newly constructed, modernized libraries and community centres.
According to him, this growth "while not too bad" has come at a cost to the community. "We lack bike lanes and our connectivity to transit is limited at times.
The trend towards new and higher income developments has been real encouraging for real estate values for the long-time resident. And he emphasizes the need for bike lanes as well as greater access to transit.
Access to public transit, is very important to Kyle. He is a Culture and Communications Information Technology student at the University of Toronto Mississauga campus and depends on public transit to get him to school. Because of this, he, as well as Councillor Mullin, believe that Mississauga Transit buses should come more frequently.
Related links:
Pat Mullin's biography
Credit Valley Hospital - Dr. Ike K. Ahmed
