On September 23, the St. Catharines Standard printed an article about it. Here is the link: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2769999, and I've again pasted the full text below:
Voting with green-coloured glasses
By MATTHEW VAN DONGEN , STANDARD STAFF
Eco-conscious city residents now have a chance to green their vote.
A new election survey of candidates in municipalities across Ontario, including several in Niagara, is meant to give voters a comparison of would-be councillor views on a host of environmental issues.
The VoteSmart survey is posted online at http://environmentaldefence.ca/votesmart/andincludes questions on expanding the Greenbelt, new highways, local food, the green economy and recycling.
Environmental Defence teamed up with the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance to e-mail or phone candidates in 53 different municipalities for the survey.
The massive effort was worthwhile, said program manager Heather Harding.
"Our city and town councillors are the people making the decisions ... on how our towns are planned, on what happens to our farmland, on access to local food and how our transit works," she said.
"We think it's important for voters to know what their candidates are thinking about these issues."
The two eco-advocacy organizations aren't endorsing candidates, she emphasized: "We just want to make it easy for (voters) to see where their candidates stand."
About one-third of all candidates have posted a response, she said. So far, that number also holds true for Garden City ward candidates, with 11 of 31 would-be councillors responding.
Not all candidate answers are created equal, however. Candidates can simply answer yes or no to a series of nine questions, or add unedited comments to each topic.
That's the only beef Grantham Ward candidate Jim Black had with the survey.
"I thought the questions were pretty reasonable," said Black, who submitted some of the most detailed answers among Garden City candidates. "But the comparison doesn't work well with 'yes or no' answers. I don't think there is a 'yes or no' answer to any of those questions."
He used the comment section to gives his thoughts on the environment, but also on related issues like over-governance and protection of heritage lands.
Merritton candidate Dave Haywood erred on the side of verbosity, too.
"I think this is a great opportunity for candidates to get their vision out there for voters," said Haywood, a 31-year-old first-time candidate.
Haywood, who isn't a fan of the long-planned mid-peninsula highway, emphasized his support for better public transit on the survey.
"I think a lot of these questions should be pretty important to people in this area," he said.
At least one councillor in each ward has responded so far -- although technical difficulties Wednesday kept readers from seeing all the answers until later in the day.
So far, it seems like a survey favoured by challengers, rather than incumbents.
Of local incumbents, only city councillor Bruce Williamson and regional representative Bruce Timms have survey responses posted online.
Candidates can add their responses at any time during the campaign, Harding said.
In the mayoral race, David D'Intino, Alexander Davidoff and John Beam have answered the call.
Ward participants include David Haywood and Sam Sacco in Merritton; Sean Polden in St. Andrew's; Laura Ip in St. George's; Robert George, Scott Duff and John Bacher in St. Patrick's; Sal Sorrento, Brian Dorsey and Jim Black in Grantham; Bruce Williamson in Port Dalhousie.
Six St. Catharines regional candidates have also weighed in, including David Graham, Bruce Timms, Jon Radick, Kelly Edgar, Mark Belchior and Pat Lindal.
No comments:
Post a Comment