- by  Danielle Valiquette, BGOS Green Party of Ontario 2022 Candidate

I am running in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound because… We need to reward people for doing the right things, the right way.

As a municipal councillor, I quickly discovered that cash-strapped municipalities, especially smaller urban and rural ones, get rewarded for making wrong decisions and get penalized for making right decisions. Ontario’s outdated tax model gives municipalities more tax money if they build too far out or too far up, leaving farmland and wetlands devastated in the wake. Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound (BGOS) deserves leadership that champions smart growth within existing urban boundaries through gentle density, that infills the “missing middle” and that gives people more housing choices through expanded zoning options.

I am running because…We must preserve our farmlands, wetlands and forests.

Ontario needs a provincial government that conserves and improves farmland instead of paving it over, and that helps farmers to farm it. We need leadership that understands that wetlands and forests fight climate change by absorbing carbon that would otherwise enter the atmosphere, acting like a blanket to trap dangerous heat. Other political parties refuse to stand up for these carbon-storing green places. The destructive result of unfettered urban sprawl is irreversible. It doesn’t represent the livable future we all want for our children.

I am running because…We need to stop spewing carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into our atmosphere.

We need to reach a point at which we help Earth’s natural systems remove at least a tonne of greenhouse gas from the air for every tonne we add by our reliance on burning fossil fuels like coal, gasoline, oil and natural gas. And the less fossil fuel we burn, the more we preserve our planet’s ability to keep its heat within livable limits.

I am running because…We need to introduce proven green alternatives to choking ourselves with fossil fuels – alternatives that we know will build our economy.

Governments can help fight climate change. We know how to do it. We need to escape the false and strangling belief that a green world produces a dead economy. We can be clean, green and prosperous. We need provincial policy that emphasizes green building standards and green growth instead of relying on the unsustainable fossil fuel economy. I don’t believe this because I consider myself an environmentalist – I believe this because this is where economic growth is.

I am running because…We can help create fairer, kinder communities when we build a cleaner greener economy.

Our current government sees a world of winners and losers and conflict. The Green party sees a world of winners and winners and working together, if we choose to make it so through a just transition to an economy fueled by renewable energy.

I am running because… Everyone deserves a home that meets their needs – not the unattainable dream of a home.

We have a housing crisis in both our built-up and rural areas. We must help build and maintain an affordable housing supply, including rental units. Across BGOS it’s a challenge to find a livable, affordable home. It takes 15 years of full-time work for the average Ontarian to save for a down payment on a house – an unattainable, cruel dream for many. Ontario must introduce ways to prioritize home sales to people who need a home rather than to speculators and Ontario must raise revenue and increase available housing supply by taxing domestic and foreign speculation.

We must also expand realistic pathways so people can live in the places that best suit their families’ needs. Everyone is worthy of an affordable home close to family, friends and work, with access to responsive public services and vibrant local businesses. And we all deserve access to the healing force of nature, in our parks and at our doorsteps.

I am running because…We need to be strengthened by, rather than wounded by, our common experience living through the pandemic.

The pandemic has taken a toll on society, especially on our mental health and especially for communities in BGOS that struggle for their fair share of what our world provides. I see mental health challenges in my community, in my workplace, in my children. Isolation, loss of income, anxiety about the future, the effects of illness and the fear of illness, all trigger and worsen mental health conditions. Ontario’s increases in suicides and opioid deaths must not be allowed to continue. Mental health issues and addictions are treatable conditions, not crimes or character flaws.

I am running because…I believe politicians can help make things better if they remember they are caring servants, not entitled masters.

“Politician” shouldn’t be a dirty word. I’m proud to be Green, and I’m honoured to be part of a political party that works cooperatively instead of disjointedly. I strongly believe that divisive politics are a barrier to real solutions that improve people’s lives. Politicians can do better, so much better, and as the MPP for BGOS, I will strive to make “politician” evoke a positive image. I am running because I am committed to changing this picture. I am running to fight for our farmlands, our wetlands and forests, our communities, our health and our homes.

www.daniellevaliquette.ca
daniellevaliquette@gpo.ca