Oshawa
Not all candidates responded to the survey. Those who did are listed, along with their responses below.
Survey Questions
- Do you support an enforced heat maximum by-law for all rental units within your municipality?
- Do you support a moratorium on municipal approvals for the construction of data centres until the full impacts have been assessed and understood?
- Do you support an expanded, accessible, reliable, and sustainable public transit system across the Durham Region?
- Do you support the installation of renewable energy generation (e.g., solar, wind, geothermal, etc.) and battery storage at all suitable municipal structures?
- If elected, what will you do to support programs and policies that address climate change in your municipality and at the Regional level in addition to the above?
Mayor
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Yes
- Its not about climate change to me, its about making the City more comfortable to live in. That means heat pumps, solar panels, and other things to make the city more liveable and affordable. If everyone in Canada died tomorrow, global warming would still continue on, so we need to focus on building up the city to be more liveable. So I plan to figure out how to solve the problem with or without council. Even if that means buying a bunch of white paint and getting on roofs to paint them myself. Or getting a couple building screws and getting building to install awnings. Literally there’s so much we can do to fight back against the effects, but nothing we can do to stop them from happening. And if there is something easy that can be done to improve the city i want you to let me know, because I love solving problems. So I’m serious, if you have a better plan than I do, shove it in my face and I’ll do it
- Yes
- FURTHER DUE DILIGENCE IS APPROPRIATE
- Yes
- Yes
- If elected Mayor, I will continue to support practical, measurable and fiscally responsible climate action at both the City of Oshawa and Durham Region.
- At the City level, I have supported investments in parks, trails, our waterfront, natural heritage and responsible growth. As Mayor, I will push for greater energy efficiency, stronger stormwater and flood protection, urban tree canopy preservation and infrastructure built to withstand more extreme weather.
- At Durham Region, through my work in Public Works and Durham Region Transit, I have supported major water and wastewater infrastructure, cleaner and more efficient transit, waste diversion and protection of our drinking water and Lake Ontario. I have also strongly supported GO East expansion to reduce congestion and give residents better transportation options.
- As a Director with the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority, I understand the importance of protecting watersheds, wetlands, floodplains and environmentally sensitive lands while planning responsibly for growth.
- Climate action must also create opportunity. Oshawa’s advanced manufacturing sector, Ontario Tech, Durham College and automotive strengths position us to attract investment and create good-paying jobs in clean technology, advanced transportation and energy innovation. My approach is clear: protect our environment, strengthen infrastructure, drive innovation and deliver results without making life less affordable for residents and families. We can build a cleaner, greener, more resilient and more prosperous Oshawa for future generations.
- Yes, but it’s my understanding that to be able to implement one, it will require the provincial government to declare S. 36.1 of the Residential Tenancies Act into force and we are still waiting on this. In the interim, advocacy to the province will be necessary, which I am willing to support.
- Yes, and as part of my commitment to this issue, we are operating a no-AI-use campaign.
- Yes, and unlike the majority of elected politicians in Durham Region, I use Durham Region Transit and can directly attest through my own experiences to DRT’s strengths, gaps, and opportunities. My leadership and decision-making in relation to city planning, budgeting, and transportation equity is also more directly informed than those who don’t use transit.
- Yes.
- I’ll start with what I have already done in my 8 years on Oshawa City Council:
- Over the course of 3 successive budgets, introduced amendments for fleet replacement to change internal combustion vehicle to electric vehicle purchases; by the 3rd budget this set new corporate pattern and standard practice is now to search for non-ICE options for budget inclusion; widespread shift in City fleet now visible.
- Brought motion (twice) to start including green bonds as part of investment portfolio mix; shot down by Council on both occasions, but paved way for inclusion and later added by staff into the 2025 Financial Strategy to investigate sustainable finance options.
- I was pivotal in a new negotiated multi-year service agreement for Friends of The Second Marsh to carry on and enhance their work, when proposal brought to Council to consider reducing their involvement.
- In 2023, amended 2024-2028 Corporate Energy Management Plan to substantially strengthen vision statement from “Energy management will be incorporated into all corporate asset management activities…” to “Energy management will be considered a priority in corporate asset management activities…”, setting new higher standard for expectations on future energy management practices. Document guides operational decisions, capital retrofit projects, and new City facilities.
- Appointed to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Standing Committee on Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development for one-year term, 2024-25, contributing to national conversations and advocacy aims for municipalities.
- I have been a member of the national and provincial Climate Caucus since 2019, participating in municipal knowledge-sharing, advocacy efforts, and network building to strengthen the municipal sector’s ability and capacity to take climate action.
- Voted against Oshawa Council’s endorsement of “Option 2a” for the Envision Durham Growth Management 2022 plan which was contrary to more climate-conscious professional recommendations (“Option 4”) that would have improved land uses and drastically reduced growth of suburban sprawl in Oshawa and Durham in decades ahead; developer interests pushed for Option 2a.
- Introduced proposal to create annual update of progress on active transportation master plan implementation, to create visibility and accountability on lack of progress and opportunities to catch up (voted down)
- Commitments for term ahead:
- review our progress to date on fleet decarbonization; identify areas of fleet replacement working well, direct staff to inventory vehicle types still stuck on ICE purchases, investigate and propose solutions. (Region and City)
- push for DRT reductions or freezes in fares. (Region)
- initiate review of land-use planning practices and transportation planning to shift to ambitious pursuit of inclusive, non-automobile reliant development practices with focus on walking, transit, cycling, etc. (City)
- reintroduce motion to set targets to include green bonds in investment portfolio. (City and Region)
- for active transportation network growth, set annual capital budget inclusion minimums and annual kilometer addition minimums. (City)
- work with Oshawa Power to increase decarbonization and renewable energy generation at City properties