By Kezia Royer-Burkett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
For Cheryl Hurst, running for Burlington City Council in Ward 1 is a natural extension of a lifelong connection to the community she calls home. Born and raised in Burlington, Hurst briefly left the city for post-secondary education before returning to the community where she would go on to raise her three children and become deeply involved in local life. Now, as she seeks a seat at City Hall, Hurst says she is ready to take the next step in her community service, bringing her municipal experience, commitment to accessibility, and belief in the importance of listening to residents into the campaign. She shared her story, values, and vision for Burlington during an episode of Pages of Me: Election Edition.
“My name’s Cheryl Hurst. I was born and raised in Burlington,” Hurst said during the interview. “All of my career choices and pathways along the way have sort of led me to just really wanting to be part of this community and making sure that it’s just doing the best things that it can for everybody that lives here.”
Having spent most of her life in Burlington, Hurst has witnessed significant changes in the city, including its growth and increasing diversity. She said one of the biggest changes she has seen is how much more open and connected the city has become.
“The size of the city has changed a lot, and the diversity that is in this city now is probably the biggest, best change that we could see,” Hurst said.
She remembers growing up in what residents once referred to as the “Burlington Bubble,” where life often centred around a small neighbourhood and a limited circle of connections. Raising her own children, however, gave Hurst a different perspective on the city and the opportunities available to families.
“My kids were all involved in a lot of different activities throughout the city…it’s just broader and bigger and more open for trying different things and new things,” she said. “In Burlington, I feel like we just have all of those opportunities. Like there’s just so much that everybody can be a part of.”
Hurst said the city has also made progress when it comes to inclusion and accessibility, pointing to Burlington’s public transit system as one example of how the community has changed since she was growing up. She recalled a time when the transit system was much more limited, with residents often taking a single bus route across the city. Today, she said, Burlington has more accessible transit options, including services for residents who may not be able to use conventional transit.
“I know they’re working really hard to create more opportunity,” Hurst said. “Our buses now are all 100% accessible, whereas back when I took them, you had to climb stairs to get onto those buses, so not everybody could use them.” She also pointed to Burlington’s Specialized Transit service, which many residents may know as Handi-Van, as an example of how transportation has become more accessible to residents who need additional support.
While Hurst believes Burlington has made progress, she also believes there is more work to do to ensure residents feel included and that their experiences are being heard. Hurst spent several years on the city’s accessibility committee, where she said she and other members attended community events and directly asked residents what they needed to make their lives easier.
“We would go to all of the different community events and set up tables and just ask people, ‘What do you need? What would make your life easier to get around in this community? How can we support that?’” she said.
The experience reinforced for Hurst the importance of creating connections between residents, community organizations, city staff, and council. “There’s lots of opportunity to get your voice heard,” she said. “But I know people sometimes just don’t feel heard, and that’s actually a big part of why I wanted to become part of city council.”
Her message to residents is straightforward: she wants them to reach out. “I’m here, so talk to me. Let me know what you need, and hopefully, I can share that to the right people, and we can help make some positive change,” Hurst said.
Although this is Hurst’s first campaign for elected office, she brings experience working within another municipality. That work has given her an understanding of how municipal organizations operate and how communication between residents, staff, and elected officials can work. “I’m coming in; this is my first time in the political realm. So I am just like your neighbour, but I come with experience working in municipalities,” she said.
Hurst also emphasized the importance of relationships with community groups and having open and respectful conversations with residents. “I want to be here to represent you,” she said. “I know not everybody has the time…to get to talk to who they need to, so email me, call me, come in, see me. If you see me out in public, talk to me. I’m just like you. I’m just a neighbour out in the community.”
For Hurst, some of the values she hopes to bring to public life are the same values she has tried to teach her children, particularly kindness and empathy. “One of the biggest things that we’ve really talked a lot about in my family is just kindness,” Hurst said. “Do what you can.”
She recalled a conversation with her youngest son when he was 16. While they were stopped at a traffic light, Hurst saw someone asking for change and gave the person a toonie she had in her car. Her son asked why she had done it. “I said, ‘Because I can; because I can, and it’s kindness,’” Hurst recalled.
For Hurst, the interaction was also an opportunity to teach her son not to judge someone else’s circumstances. “He needs it for whatever he needs it for. That’s not for me to judge or make those decisions,” she said. “It’s just being kind to people and understanding and having that empathy to everybody in our community, that everybody’s living a very different life and experience.”
That understanding of different life experiences was shaped in part by Hurst’s own experience working as a non-emergency paramedic when she was younger. She recalled responding to a call involving an older man who was living alone and appeared to have few family or community connections. The call was not an emergency, but the man needed help managing his medications and connecting with other supports.
Hurst and her colleague helped organize his medications and took time to talk with him about where he could turn for assistance with groceries and other needs. “It was that moment where, be in that moment, be that person, be that, just be that genuine person,” Hurst said. “Again, it’s back to that kindness, giving that time.”
The experience became a turning point for Hurst, changing how she viewed the people she encountered throughout her work. “I’ve lived a very comfortable life…My mom was a major support for me and my sister, and I had a lot of opportunities, and I have a lot of family around, and not everybody has that,” she said.
Hurst said the encounter had a profound impact on how she approached her work afterward. “I was probably about 20 years old, and it really had a profound impact on how I saw every call and every interaction I had after that,” she said.
That lesson continues to influence the type of leader Hurst says she wants to be. She believes a councillor needs to understand that residents have different realities and bring those perspectives together.
“The biggest is looking at the broad scope of what everybody’s own reality is, and making sure I can take all of those voices and bring all of that together,” Hurst said.
She also described leadership as a collaborative process, saying people need to feel empowered to use their own skills and contribute to creating positive change.
“It’s a team. You can’t do anything on your own, and you need to work together to create those environments where everybody has the opportunity to take those chances,” she said.
As Hurst enters what she describes as a new chapter of her life, she says she is ready to take bigger chances and pursue some of the opportunities she previously put aside while raising her children.
“My kids are all kind of grown and independent, and this era is for me to really grab hold of the things that I’ve always wanted to do,” she said.
For years, Hurst said she was cautious about making significant career changes because she had three young children to care for. Now, with her children becoming more independent, she feels ready to step forward.
“I’m turning 50 this year, so I’m right in the, like, ‘Let’s just do this. Let’s make some great change,’” Hurst said. During the conversation, the idea of a “main character era” came up, a phrase Hurst said fits the moment she is currently experiencing.
After seeing an opportunity to learn how to sail, Hurst decided to try something she had never done before. “I’ve never in my life sailed, and I was like, ‘I can do that,’” she said. “So…I’m learning how to sail now.”
For Hurst, the next chapter is about taking chances, embracing new experiences and becoming more involved in the community she has called home for most of her life. “I’m ready…let’s do some things. Let’s change it up and see what we can do, and have fun while we do it,” she said. “I’m super excited for this next chapter.”
To watch the full episode of the Pages of Me podcast, click here to go to the Burlington Local-News.ca YouTube channel or watch below.
