Hello Caledon, it’s Voting Time!
By Betty de Groot, member: ecoCaledon
In Caledon, we want everyone to know that their vote matters to the environment and to the climate. What are the intersections between our votes and our climate? How can a mere councillor or mayor help to mitigate climate change? How can you know if the person you want to vote for actually cares about this, and acknowledges their capacity to sway the outcome? The voting question is: what is each candidate willing to do to help build infrastructure that actually HELPS the climate, the environment, and our community?
Caledon is vulnerable right now as we have a mandate to build, build, build! If building is what we must do, we can be mindful about it. The council we choose will either nod blindly to every developer’s outdated blueprints, or will push for infrastructure that we truly want and need.
The Town of Caledon has declared a Climate Emergency and has a climate plan to reduce emissions by 36% below 2016 levels, by 2030; and reach Net Zero by 2050. We can help it get there by choosing a Council that is most likely to demand best practices in all infrastructure choices.
It is not the job of everyday citizens to know exactly how these measures can be achieved but it is our job to see that the Town demonstrates accountability to us and to its future citizens, that it is ON TRACK to achieve its own stated goals. Many activities may be opaque to us, such as what our current building stock’s embodied carbon level is, but we need to keep asking questions so that the Town’s staff, especially the Planning department, through the Council, can know and tell us if it is within or outside of our carbon budget, and to take steps to push developers to tamp down this number.
Education of citizens is as important as the education of our developers. Demonstrating a concern for meeting the needs of citizens of this Town comes down to respect. With our twice annual Caledon property tax bill, we often receive the mayor’s take on the state of affairs of the Town. Let these statements include our progress on our Climate Goals, in a form that is both useful and understandable.
We must listen carefully to the candidates comments about our environment and our climate, and their understanding of what they can do to help. Infrastructure has an environmental footprint. Are candidates prepared to acknowledge it, mitigate harms, protect the environment, and find ways to contribute to the retrofitting of our current buildings? Do they have the will power to invest in the near term, to give us all more affordable homes in the long term? The Town, via its Council, and the Province (when pushed by municipalities), can incentivize builders to create homes:
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that don’t rely on being heated by fossil gas, a commodity whose price wildly fluctuates due to world politics
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that provide both heating and cooling because heat pumps are chosen over gas furnaces,
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that avert asthma and other negative health outcomes, because instead of gas cooktops, homes are prefitted with induction stoves,
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that generate lower electricity bills because solar panels and back up batteries get installed,
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that are more comfortable because Passive Housing technologies and materials are included in the blueprints,
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that include rain gardens in areas where water may dangerously collect,
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that are landscaped with native species trees, shrubs and flowers,
- that exist in communities which avert emissions because clear, safe walking and bike paths are installed, and reliable and local transit is established as of right, and
- that offer community garden space, to ensure local food remains an option and access to nature is protected.
Finally, what we need is a Town wide neighbouring system, so that we are better connected with our neighbours, when climate emergencies, or any emergencies come our way. Thanks to the Climate Proofing our Community workshop given by ecoCaledon on October 7th, we’re beginning to see our way forward. We need a Council that will promote such events and organization! These things are what we want from our next set of Council members: be willing to fight for us and for the generations going forward.
