The environment and
natural resources
I will continue to fight to save our remaining natural resources —- wetlands, waterways, shorelines, and wild spaces. The faster we grow, the faster we lose our natural environment. I will help protect it.
I will continue to advocate for the preservation of the Silver Creek Wetlands, the last remaining provincially significant wetlands on Georgian Bay. I believe this should be in public hands, to be protected for future generations.
I will fight to protect the trees in our parks, on our boulevards, even in our backyards from inappropriate cutting. Our urban forest is important to both our environment and our identity. We need a plan to replant when trees are removed or lost, and to encourage residential maintenance and planting in order to keep our urban forest alive and thriving.
I will continue to advocate more resources for alternate transportation like bicycle lanes and walking trails, and for expanding the no-idling bylaw. Even a small community like ours can help curb global warming by limiting its production of greenhouse gases.
Although I lost the fight to retain Cranberry Woods as community green space, and we will never be able to regain that land, I will continue to advocate for public property retained as green space in other areas.
I want a well-defined policy about when and how we accept cash-in-lieu of parks and trails from developers, and I want the full and explicit justification for taking cash over land to be entered into the development committee minutes for each development. I want this justification to be debated and decided by council for each development, not merely be shrugged off as a "standard response" to accept cash-in-lieu. Council should be the arbiter of this issue, not staff, and we need to take control of the policy while there's still a chance to redeem some public greenspace from these developments.
Recently the question of banning cosmetic pesticides has been raised at
all-candidate meetings. I have been in favour of such legislation for many years, but I believe it has to be
accompanied by an education campaign to achieve public cooperation.
Years ago,
as a Library board member, I fought for, and achieved, a ban on pesticide use on
the Library lawn. We do not use any pesticides or herbicides on our own
property, either.
I want to see all cosmetic pesticide use eliminated because I
am well aware of the dangers posed by these products. However, I caution that we
should work for community buy-in, not just restrictive legislation.
We want
people to feel proud of their support for alternate uses, we want a positive
response, one that doesn't just send residents scurrying to a hardware store to
buy the products to use on their own. We want willing public cooperation: that
will achieve much more than a simple ban.
And we really want the lawn
maintenance people on our side, working with safe and natural alternatives. Many
people cannot or do not wish to maintain their own lawns and gardens, so they
need these services. We don't want to simply put a few dozen people out of work
here: they are your friends, neighbours and relatives. They deserve the
opportunity to work with us to come up with something that keeps them employed
while keeping the rest of us safe.
I believe that we can achieve a pesticide ban
that is welcome and widely approved if we approach it from more than just a
legislative perspective, but rather a larger social issue we all need to tackle.
I have posted a more in-depth comment on banning pesticides on
my own blog. I encourage you to read it and comment yourself.
This November, make a statement about our community's future. Re-elect a councillor who will continue to be a positive influence at the table. I am committed to, and care deeply about, this community and its future. I have the experience and the knowledge to continue as an effective, dedicated and conscientious member of Collingwood Council.
Re-elect a councillor who faces the challenges of a rapidly changing world with confidence and understanding; a councillor who provides fair treatment to every resident and business. I will always keep the public both informed and a part of the process. I will continue to help Collingwood plan, grow and develop intelligently. I hope I can count on your support.
Contact us
Please feel free to contact me with any questions, issues or comments, to make a campaign contribution or to request a lawn sign. Call 444-2023 days (444-1492 evenings) or email me at ichadwick@sympatico.ca.