October 8, 2010

Dear Municipal Candidate,

Sustainable food production, and the preservation of farmland and our cultural heritage have become significant issues in communities across Ontario, as well as here in Brant County. The large scale purchase of prime farmland by developers and landbankers in Brant County has elicited strong responses from local residents as well as media, individuals and organizations outside the city. Brant County has also been approached by a gasification (incineration) company. In response residents have brought in speakers from other communities that successfully opposed incineration and stepped up their waste diversion efforts.

The following questionnaire is intended to gauge candidates’ positions on issues pertaining to the land use planning, agriculture and local food, the built heritage, waste diversion, campaign financing and the democratic process. Please take the time to complete the questionnaire. Your responses will be shared with the residents of Brant County to let them know where you stand on these important issues. The Yes/No answers will be shared in a newsletter to Brant County residents. Your written responses will be posted at http://sustainablebrant.blogspot.com/ and will not be edited in any way. If you do not complete and return the questionnaire, it will be noted that you have no comment on a particular issue.

Please return completed questionnaires by email to: sustainablebrant@gmail.com or by fax to 519-647-0307 (call first).

Please return questionnaires by: Friday, Oct. 15, 2010.

We appreciate your time and interest in these issues.

Sincerely,

Sharon Terry

Sustainable Brant

Brant County Election 2010 Survey Questions:

Please return by Friday, Oc. 15 to sustainablebrant@gmail.com or by fax to 519-647-0307 (call first). Please feel free to elaborate in 150-200 words, on what steps you would take to support your position.

Annexation:

1) On Nov. 9, the Ontario Municipal Board will rule on whether it can rule on requests by Brantford to annex land in the “greenbelt” (standstill/no build zone) that was created by provincial legislation in 1980. Brantford is interested in annexing land in the “greenbelt” at Hwy 403 and Garden Avenue. The original intent of this “greenbelt” or standstill/no build zone was to protect this land for "permanent agriculture and related rural uses".

As an elected official of our county would you protect this land for “permanent agriculture and related rural uses”?

Amalgamation:yes

2) As an elected official of our county, would you support amalgamation of Brant County with Brantford?

Waste and Waste Diversion:no

3) a) The “Green Hub” is being promoted by the Chamber of Commerce and some politicians, but no one is really clear about what it means.

As an elected official of our county, would you ensure more transparency and democratic imput on the Green Hub?

b) What initiatives would you support for the “Green Hub”?

______open communication with the public on all issues arising from any correspondence related to this subject. _also reject any development that would chnge the current bylaws regarding this land without proper hearings at open council meetings.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4) TThe present Brant County council voted to remove “waste to energy” and gasification proposals from the Official Plan, because of concerns from residents about toxic emissions, the destruction of valuable resources and costs to municipalities.

As an elected official of our county, would you work to ensure that our municipal waste is not gasified (incinerated) in Brant County or in any other community (e.g. Six Nations)? yes

5) SSome Brantford business are accepting and processing toxic waste from other communities (computer waste, used tires and radioactive waste).

As an elected official of our county, would you work to ensure that our county does not encourage or allow industries that would import toxic waste (e.g. tires, e-waste, radioactive waste, municipal garbage, sewage sludge) from other communities, to be processed or disposed of in Brant County? yes

6) Our landfill is quickly filling up. Markham won awards for diverting 73% of its municipal garbage from the landfill.

As an elected official of our county, would you work on efforts to match or beat Markham's 73% municipal waste diversion rate? Depending on where it was diverted to!

Agriculture and Local Food:

7) Pennsylvania and British Columbia use different methods to ensure that local farmers can compete with the developers to buy farmland (e.g. conservation easements, land trusts and purchase of development rights).

As an elected official of our county, would you support similar programs to help Brant County farmland to continue to be owned and farmed by farmers? There are many factors that would lead to a proper decision for individual land owners and in some instances there may be no other options for the farmer.

8) “Municipalities close to home (like Markham) and across North America cities are implementing local and sustainable food procurement policies to support farmers and the local economy.”

As an elected official of our county, would you support a local and sustainable food procurement policy? It would depend on the individual situation of the land in question and the situation of the farm in question!

9) a) Large amounts of land have been purchased in Brant County by developers and foreign investors. 

As an elected official of our county, are you concerned that this will give them undue influence in decision-making especially when it comes to development?

b) How would you work to ensure that this does not happen?

_____There are bylaws and Provincial and Federal laws in place that the developer must adhere to. If there was a potential breach of these laws or a loop hole that needs to be filled in I would definitely be in support of making new laws to fill the gap._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10) Prince Edward County banned the spread of its municipal biosolids (liquid sewage sludge and dewatered sewage sludge) on farmland.

As an elected official of our county, would you support a similar ban for Brant County?yes

11) There are 2700 signatures on a petition asking the Province to extend the provincial Greenbelt into Brant County to protect prime farmland, natural areas and the Paris-Galt moraine.  

As an elected official of our county, would you support extending the provincial Greenbelt into Brant County? yes

Heritage:

12) a) The Heritage Act and our Official Plan are very specific about the steps that should be taken to protect our architectural and natural heritage. 

Do you believe that this is important?   yes

b) As an elected official of our county, are you committed to keeping our old schools and halls publicly owned and operated? If they are found to be of no use to the county for any public use I believe they should not be held on to at the burden of the tax payer.

Campaign Donations:

13) a) Has your campaign office accepted any donations from the development interests which own or control land in Brant County? no

b) Cities such as Toronto have introduced a ban on donations from corporations and unions for election campaigns. As an elected official of our county, would you support this in Brant County?yes

Air and Water Quality:

14) Airport residents documented a pattern of toxic emissions from brick factories in other communities.

As an elected official of our county, will you ensure stringent county oversight to prevent not just monitor, toxic emissions into the air and water from the proposed brick factory near the airport? I would be more worried about the toxic properties from the airport and its aircraft!

Private-Public Partnerships (P3s)

15) The Council of Canadians takes a strong stance against P3s because of the debt that municipalities eventually get left with, and the quality of construction.

As an elected official of our county, would you work to ensure that the Council does not turn to P3s to provide sewer and water infrastructure for proposed development projects in the county (e.g. Cainsville, Brant East)?yes

Democratic Process:

16) a) As an elected official of our county, would you work to ensure that residents are consulted and kept informed about issues that council deals with? yes

b) Would you support delegations to council if an issue is not resolved? On a issue by issue bases.

c) Would you work to reduce the number of in camera meetings? no

Sustainable Transportation

17) The proposed highway (commonly known as Hwy 424) from Brantford to Cambridge would cut through prime farmland and the Galt-Paris moraine. The Smart Coalition has a legal challenge of the highway, arguing that a highway in this area is not included in the provincially binding Growth Plan.

As an elected official of our county, will you work to plan more sustainable ways of moving people and goods, rather than building a highway? It would be on a issue by issue bases.