{"id":122921,"date":"2022-10-07T08:29:30","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T12:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/rwddev\/?p=122921"},"modified":"2022-10-07T08:29:32","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T12:29:32","slug":"assessing-election-candidates-with-the-environment-in-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/assessing-election-candidates-with-the-environment-in-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"Assessing election candidates with the environment in mind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>By Emily Brown, Muskoka Conservancy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those concerned about the environment, we often look for ways we can affect change with our own actions. We think of using less plastic, turning off lights, and buying things second-hand. With a municipal election this month, it\u2019s a good time to focus on how we can assess our local candidates\u2019 commitment to Muskoka\u2019s environment.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"float: left; margin-right: 14px;\"><strong><broadstreet-zone zone-id=\"45658\" keywords=\"\" soft-keywords=\"true\" zone-alias=\"\"><\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Municipalities provide the services that are closest to home. These include local land use planning, water and sewer, solid waste disposal, roads, bridges and more.&nbsp; Decisions made at the local level can have major impacts on climate change and the natural environment. For example, The District Municipality of Muskoka planned over $21 million in capital spending on roads in 2022. In fact, roads have been one of the largest municipal expenditures for decades. When transportation alone accounts for 24% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2020), we\u2019ve eventually got to wonder if there\u2019s a different way of doing things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I asked Scott Young, former four-term District Councillor, and current Executive Director of Muskoka Conservancy, for his insight on the changes local government can make and the most effective questions to ask of the candidates:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTo a person, every municipal councillor or candidate will tell you the environment is a top priority. But once elected, their voting record will likely tell a different story,\u201d said Young.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe good ones will back municipal planners when the rules meant to protect the environment are challenged by developers,\u201c he continued. \u201cI would ask each candidate whether they would properly resource their planning department to ensure good and timely land use planning. Will they fight for stricter rules and enforcement designed to protect natural shorelines, wetlands, and forests?\u201d\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And about those roads that will cost local taxpayers hundreds of millions in a single term of council?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would favour candidates who will allocate meaningful budget toward other transportation choices, like active transportation initiatives that make our communities more walkable, adding proper bicycle lanes, and public transit to reduce dependence on cars,\u201d Young said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Measures like bike lanes help to reduce our reliance on cars and reduce our overall carbon footprint. A closely related topic is sprawl. \u201cSuburban sprawl and exurban development increase dependence on motorized transportation, generate larger carbon footprints, put more pressure on dwindling natural areas, and often displace limited local food production lands,\u201d warned Young. \u201cA good question to ask candidates is whether they support measures to limit intense development to within Muskoka\u2019s existing urban boundaries?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An additional benefit to a local election is, it\u2019s local! Your candidates are here in the community to ask these questions and share your stories with. Finding common ground often is expressed metaphorically, but in this case, you\u2019re already standing on it!<\/p>\n\n\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\">Don\u2019t miss out on Doppler!<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/dont-miss-out-on-doppler\/\"><u>here<\/u><\/a> to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.<br \/>\nLocal news in your inbox so you don&#8217;t miss anything!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a style=\"background: #5cb85c url('https:\/\/d1iczxrky3cnb2.cloudfront.net\/red_logo.png') no-repeat 37px; color: #fff; text-decoration: none; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; display: inline-block; font-size: 16px; padding: 15px 38px; padding-left: 75px; -webkit-border-radius: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 2px; border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0 1px 0 0 #1f5a89; text-shadow: 0 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);\" href=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/support-huntsville-doppler\">Click here to support local news<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><broadstreet-zone zone-id=\"45657\" keywords=\"\" soft-keywords=\"true\" zone-alias=\"\"><\/broadstreet-zone>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Emily Brown, Muskoka Conservancy For those concerned about the environment, we often look for ways we can affect change with our own actions. We think of using less plastic, [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1904,"featured_media":122931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3011,3012],"class_list":["post-122921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-evironment","tag-muskoa-convervancy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Assessing election candidates with the environment in mind - Huntsville Doppler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/assessing-election-candidates-with-the-environment-in-mind\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Assessing election candidates with the environment in mind - Huntsville Doppler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Emily Brown, Muskoka Conservancy For those concerned about the environment, we often look for ways we can affect change with our own actions. 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