Bracebridge — District Councillor
1. What actions have you personally taken to support a greener, more sustainable climate?
First of all, let me say, I have lived in Bracebridge all my life and therefore have a vested interest in my community. I am very conscious of climate actions and reactions that affect our lives on a day to day basis. As I am fortunate enough to live on the outskirts of town, this allows us to work with nature, preserve the natural state of our surroundings in an appropriate manner, and contribute to the climate health of the area. We compost responsibly, contribute our ash to the ash drive, raise honey bees, recycle to the maximum, and attempt to promote awareness, of the same, to all we know. I realize this is more environmental but in the long run they work together.
We have decreased our transportation needs by organizing our trips to town and having more activities on our property. My vehicle is 3 years old and has 12,000 km.
We have a limestone driveway, instead of paved, to eliminate extra heat and let the water take its natural course.
We continue to manage our small forest in accordance with what we believe to be a responsible manner after researching best methods.
We believe our carbon footprint is very minable.
2. What opportunities for climate leadership at the municipal level (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs)) would you champion in one or more of these areas: Buildings | Housing | Land use (sprawl) | Transportation | Other
From a municipal point of view, I believe council takes the climate issue very seriously, as should everyone. At both levels of local government I / we consider the results of any action item as to how it will affect the environment and eventually the climate we live in.
Municipal buildings are being fitted with solar power, new technologies are being investigated to mitigate issues that affect our climate, and best methods are being initiated resulting in less pressures on our fragile system.
District housing and building codes / policies are being updated to deal with issues that contribute to climate action in every way possible.
Controlled land use is very important. We need to balance our needs, environment, development, and the placement of infrastructure to assure we are dealing with existing problems and issues that will arise in the future.
Transportation is a necessity to all, especially in our area as we are not densely populated and everything is so spread out between communities. Having said that, we need to limit the need to use vehicles by expanding our transit system, encouraging convenient amenities, and making our community more active transportation friendly.
3. A long-term problem requires a long-term solution. What is your 100-year plan? If elected, what would be your first action?
Having a long term plan is a step in the right direction but we need to address issues “now” that will contribute to our future plans. Listening to professionals, people who care and are motivated, should be part of any plan. We need to work together, not only to build a plan, but see it through, and continue the course so we don’t fall back and let our inactions destroy our future.
We need to be very aware of our surroundings, advocate for more immediate action, and do what we can locally as every bit counts.
I believe our active transportation programs, new development protocols, and coordinating stakeholder action groups will be beneficial to move our action plans forward.
We can not sit back and hope the issues will solve themselves or others will do the work for us. We all need to be involved and do our part.
I support all the initiatives and statements mentioned above. As a resident of Bracebridge and a Bracebridge District Councillor I will attempt to do my best to steer people in the right direction to make our community safe and livable.
Our future, and the future of the days ahead are controlled by our actions today.