With the municipal election a few weeks away, the Innisfil ideaLAB & Library, in partnership with the Innisfil District Association and the Rotary Club of Innisfil, held a mee-and-greet with candidates followed by a mayoral and deputy mayoral debate Saturday.
The debate between Lynn Dollin and Dan Davidson for mayor and Rob Nicol and Kenneth Fowler for deputy mayor was moderated by Innisfil District Association president Deborah McGrath.
It consisted of four questions focused on climate change, protecting Lake Simcoe, household food insecurity, and affordable housing.
As a result of the effects of climate change, the Town of Innisfil declared a climate emergency in February. McGrath asked each candidate what policies and strategies they’d want the town to implement to address the issue.
Davidson emphasized protecting the lake as part of the climate change action plan the town put forward.
“Protect Lake Simcoe, first of all, our parks and our rural areas. Also, the use of green technology to reduce our carbon footprint,” he said. “If people don’t think that climate change is happening, just look what happened on our east coast and look what’s happening currently in Florida, where they denied that climate change is happening.”
Dollin talked about the pillars of the action plan, and the community and town working together to achieve those goals.
“Mitigation with reducing energy use and our carbon footprint with things like car chargers and renewable energy,” she said. “Adaption — that’s adjusting our behaviour as well as our infrastructure. Resiliency — making sure when something is damaged, we rebuild it to withstand more. And, sustainability, which is reducing our waste and using the circular economy — reduce, reuse, recycle.”
Looking at other municipalities, Fowler spoke about the short-term impacts on long-term environmental health.
“When it comes to climate change, we can’t think immediately to the three or four years in the future; we have to think 30 or 40,” he said. “I use Mississauga as an example. They had to tax for the water because there wasn’t enough green space left over to absorb the rainfall that occurs.
“When we look forward to the future, we have to look at the new green technology that comes along. The big thing is preservation of our green spaces. You can put $100,000 into 100 acres, but once it’s gone, it’s gone. Nature is the best way to manage this. We need to preserve and maintain it as much as possible.”
Nicol spoke about the work that has been done since he was appointed as Innisfil’s representative on the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority board of directors.
“It was my motion on Bill 229, which passed unanimously, supporting conservation authorities and their role in watershed management,” he said. “I collaborated with councillors around Lake Simcoe to unlock a phosphorus reduction for the Upper York Sewage Solutions and to secure funding for it to help reach its phosphorus targets.
“I’ve argued against many applications negatively impacting our environment and, unlike others here, I voted down on the golf course expansion onto (environmental protection) land. I’ve also called on the federal government to honour their pledge for tens of millions of dollars to help protect Lake Simcoe.”
With the health of Lake Simcoe being a top priority, McGrath asked the candidates what steps they’d implement to ensure Innisfil reduces the phosphorus load in the lake by 2026.
“Nothing is more important to residents than our beautiful Lake Simcoe,” said Dollin. “The Lake Simcoe Protection Plan is something the Town of Innisfil is very committed to. We do our septic inspection program around the lake every five years.
"We advocated with Bradford and other municipalities around the lake for the waste treatment centre. So much of the phosphorus is coming from the West Holland River and we really need to do something to protect that. As chair of the South Georgian Bay Lake Simcoe Source Protection Plan committee, we’re doing everything we can to protect the sources of drinking water. We also have to watch sodium chloride because that can be just as dangerous.”
As Innisfil continues to grow, Fowler pointed to green policies and procedures to ensure smart growth while protecting the lake.
“A lot of it comes with growth,” he said. “We have been a dedicated growth hub and we know there’s going to be more housing, more people, more transportation. Intensification comes into play. If you have buildings that go up instead of sprawl, you maintain the green space — the natural filtration into the lake, which removes the phosphorus in many ways. (With) better management within growth in Innisfil, we can actually assist nature.”
Working to reduce phosphorus in the lake, Nicol and other councillors around the lake fought for a phosphorus-reduction facility separate from York Region’s overall sewage facility, and to continue to improve the situation he wants governments to keep their promises.
“The federal and provincial governments have previously committed millions of dollars to Lake Simcoe but have not fulfilled all of their promises,” he said. “As a community, we need to continue to push them to fulfil their promises.”
As a member of Ladies of the Lake and Environmental Defence, Davidson credited organizations for stepping up to bring attention to the issues.
“(Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau’s great for going around the world and saying Canada’s a great carbon-clean country, yet he doesn’t give us the money to clean up our own water,” he said. “We also need to look at new technology with our water and wastewater treatment plants.”
Candidates were then asked what steps they’d take to further reduce or eradicate food insecurity in Innisfil.
“I’ve seen first-hand how our residents step up for each other in times of need,” said Fowler. “The last two years with COVID, it was incredible the amount of generosity I saw from our residents. We’ve moved forward with the Troy Scott Community Fridge and we’re creating an environment where people can come judgment free and can take or donate.
"But we also need to build our local economy so that local jobs are available to local residents. Eighty-two per cent of us right now commute. We need to create a situation where people can get to work locally to sustain the household. So, people who don’t make a living wage can figure out how to get to work together through the growth of our local economy. We need to give people the opportunity to provide.”
With the last two years amplifying the needs of the community, Nicol said he wants to see council continue to do what it can to keep costs low.
“Nobody is necessarily looking for a handout, just a hand up and a shoulder to lean on,” he said. “We need to continue to find ways to help our neighbours and for them to help themselves. As a council, we donated part of our pay to those in need during the pandemic as well as supporting the tax freeze to help our residents. We need to fully support our community church and the existing programs that are there for our residents.”
Davidson looked at housing affordability as the prime contributor to food insecurity for Innisfil residents.
“It’s often caused by the fact that they can’t afford the house they live in, or the apartment rent they’re paying,” he said. “What we have to do is find attainable housing for our residents. By having attainable, affordable housing, they will have money to help buy food. We also have to increase our economic investment in Innisfil to create jobs that are good-paying jobs. I’m a believer if we can work regionally with the County of Simcoe and our neighbours to the north and south, we can do things to save people on their bills monthly.”
Proud of the response of residents during the pandemic and with programs to lean on, Dollin believes these programs are “just the tip of the iceberg” of what can be done.
“Having the Troy Scott Community Fridge added to our community to enhance what we already have, which is a wonderful food bank, has been astounding,” she said. “We were also able to allow anyone a free trip to the food bank in order to access those programs.
“There are other ways we can make life more affordable so there is more money for food. Part of that was instituted by this last council when we passed a zero per cent increase in property taxes in 2021 and one per cent in 2022. There are other programs like Harvest Canada that can help because so much food is thrown away every day.”
Finally, the candidates were asked how the town will assure affordable housing is included in all future developments.
“The housing market in Innisfil has gone crazy,” said Nicol. “We’ve gone from $400,000 house prices to $800,000, further exposing the need for more affordable housing. (At) this past Wednesday’s council meeting, we approved allocation for more housing options on Innisfil Beach Road. We’ve been proactive in legalizing second dwelling units as well as third dwelling units.
“With me as your county council member, we’ll work with the county on initiatives for more affordable housing projects as well as municipal tax breaks to encourage more developers to work with us and provide more choices. With this in mind, I’ve always fully supported the Orbit to deter urban sprawl.”
Davidson said the best way to address the problem is for Innisfil to look at “walkable, workable” communities.
“We have to look at mixed-use housing and commercial that build up, not out. That will provide homing and attainable units for first-time buyers and seniors who are downsizing. We have to think differently, and we have to go up to keep our agricultural land and our water clean.”
Dollin said it’s about more than being attainable and affordable.
“We need wraparound services for supportive housing, we need to look at emergency shelters for the homeless, and we need to look at market housing,” she said. “It’s a whole suite of policies. (Municipal Affairs and Housing) Minister (Steve) Clark always says it’s not one and done to solve the housing crisis, and he’s right.
"We need to do a number of different things to crack that nut. What Innisifl is doing with the Orbit is absorbing much of the growth in an area so that you don’t use up as much land. We’re planning smart and doing it in a way where we can provide different product and more attainable product.”
Fowler talked about sprawl and how it leads to a shortage of space, which, in turn, leads to fewer housing options.
“If we can use the existing space we have in a more equitable fashion, building up and not out, it has three factors that work in its favour,” he said. “One, you create more units per square foot. It allows people who are downsizing to sell their home (to) move into something more comfortable. We’re also ignoring the services that come with sprawl. If you have two kilometres of road with the same number of units as a 40-unit building, take into account the amount of sewer, sidewalk, trees, maintenance, and roads.
“Everything has to be maintained, and then you take into account the phosphorus and the salt. By minimizing this, we reduce the cost to the taxpayers and put it onto the owner of the property while reducing the cost of people’s homes. Let’s give them the opportunity to stay here.”
