About Wesley
A lifelong Guelph resident running to bring Ward 5 a common-sense voice with compassion.
Biography
Wesley Harris was born at Guelph General Hospital in 1980 and has called Guelph home his entire life. He grew up here, went to Waverley Drive Public School, attended high school at GCVI, and built his life in the same community he now wants to serve.
Since 2015, Wesley has worked as a Registered Veterinary Technician, a profession rooted in care, judgment, teamwork, and service. His professional path also led him into governance through the Ontario Association of Veterinary Technicians (OAVT), the regulator of veterinary technicians in Ontario. The OAVT maintains Ontario’s official RVT Registry and sets regulatory policies to promote, maintain, and regulate professional standards for veterinary technicians and technologists.
On the OAVT Board of Directors, Wesley has served as a director and as chair of the Discipline Committee. He has also served as chair of the Governance Committee, served on the College Accreditation Committee, and was Treasurer of the OAVT from March 2024 to March 2026.
That experience taught him that good leadership is not about slogans or reflexive ideology. It is about asking better questions, listening to the people affected by decisions, respecting what is already working, and having the courage to fix what is not.
Why I’m running
I have been interested in politics my whole life, but my work on the OAVT Board of Directors turned that interest into a deeper call to public service. It showed me that change is possible when people bring fresh thinking, discipline, and accountability to the table.
I am running because Guelph is an incredible city, but too many people are struggling to stay here. Crime, housing, and the affordability of daily life are no longer abstract policy issues. They are kitchen-table issues. They decide whether families can plan for the future, whether seniors feel secure, whether students can settle here, and whether working people can build a life in the city they love.
Like many people in my generation, I am a renter who has watched the dream of home ownership move further out of reach. My small family is like many families in Ward 5: working hard, doing our best, and feeling squeezed as costs rise faster than household income.
I want to bring that lived perspective to City Hall. To really understand affordability and housing, it helps to have felt the pressure directly. I am running to represent the average family in Guelph trying to stay above water, provide a comfortable life, and believe again that the future can be better.