What separates you from the other candidates as far as your priorities for making Saanich a greener, more sustainable community than it already is?
David Cubberley, mayoral candidate:
"My record shows I'm innovative and creative in building alternatives to single-occupant vehicle use. I am an avid cycler, and I have a strong commitment to make progress on improving mobility and walkability. I am inveterate an recycler; the blue box program, getting electronic waste out of landfills – all that interests me. I see up needing to make the step toward curbside organic collection at a regional level. I find that Saanich, on paper, has a strong commitment to farms and farming and food security, and on the ground it's mixed. We need to grow our farming economy. I don't want to be a mayor of missed opportunities. Even Panama Flats – I'm ashamed at the way Saanich handled it. Saanich could've bought that land five years sooner and for less than $1 million."
Frank Leonard, mayoral candidate:
"Our council has had incredible success on the sustainability file. We've taken the mandate from citizens and created sustainable documents that we work from. These are community goals, set out in the strategic plan. I don't see it's my role to try and impose a personal agenda – the citizens and council together set a mandate and I lead the team to achieve those goals. I point to accomplishments in this past term like Panama Flats and Haro Woods. We faced challenges with both of those, but we gave clear direction to staff based on our goals. We've shown that we can deliver outcomes that this community can be proud of. I take these as council achievements, but I'm proud to be the mayor that leads this council."
Susan Brice, council candidate:
"I think all of us incumbents are there. I believe I have a practical streak to me. I brought forward the pesticide free proposal, so that we ceased using pesticides on our properties for anything that were simply ornamental. And we took that even further. And I'm currently trying to get focus, when we're talking about transportation demand management plans from developers, on public transit, and having parking be tied to use of public transit. That is the dot that has to be connected if we want to achieve our sustainability goals."
Judy Brownoff, council candidate:
"I can point to a number of the green and sustainability policies we've done at Saanich to reflect that I brought them forward. When I was first elected I brought a report forward that we should join a program to reduce our greenhouse gases by 20 per cent. The climate change adaptation plan that came forward recently? I guarantee that came as a result of comments I made. I bring back to staff projects that I've seen nationally that would absolutely move us forward in a number of green and sustainable areas. I don't want to leave the next generation with a burden, either environmental, social or economic."
Vic Derman, council candidate:
"I insist on visionary long-term planning. We're trying to be greener, we're insisting on building greener projects, but we haven't got that long-term vision of what sustainable should be and look like. I have pushed much, much harder for that process because we absolutely need to do that. And once you set policies, you have to embed them in the decision-making process so they consistently guide the direction of the community. You can make small steps, doing things one-off, but that limits where you'll go."
Paul Gerrard, council candidate:
"As far as the sustainability aspect of Saanich, I say we keep need to be doing the same. Collectively, as a council, we've surpassed our targets for construction of sidewalks and bike lanes, we're surpassed our greenhouse gas reduction targets. When it comes to sustainability, it's one word all the candidates are using, but I really think we walk the talk. This council has done a tremendous job collectively achieving our sustainability goals."
Ingrid Ip, council candidate:
"I already compost, we all recycle. What I don't compost I take to the Saanich composting facility. I would like to see curb-side compost pickup."
Dean Murdock, council candidate:
"I've got a record of commitment to sustainability and climate change. I'm the former chair of the the Sierra Club, and I've been a long advocate for sustainability for Saanich. My record demonstrates that's a commitment of mine, and that'll continue. I'm hearing from Saanich residents that they view the environment, climate, our natural ecosystems and wildlife as a high priority, and we need to do everything we can to ensure we're reducing our impact on all these things."
Vicki Sanders, council candidate:
"I walk the talk. I don't have to learn to be environmentally sensitive or conscious , it is something that is just within me. The carbon trust fund, I already do that personally at my home. I've contributed to the carbon calculator. Organic collection – I do it at home. I'm a firm believer that we, as individuals, need to be responsible for ourselves and not expect somebody else to pick up after us. I have a passion for the natural environment. As chair of the environmental committee, I'm blessed to have that portfolio because it's a natural fit for me."
Nichola Wade, council candidate:
"I've actually worked in the field in community engagement and sustainability – I've been paid to do this, and to be a leader in that area. I'm hoping to build on that experience. We now have a climate action mitigation strategy and an adaptation strategy, and they'll with our sustainability plan for Saanich. Those initiatives will take us quite a ways with what we need to accomplish, which include smart growth planning and reduction of our own emissions and community emissions."
Leif Wergeland, council candidate:
"There's no one area that needs to be focused on more than another. I notice a lot of discussion around building green, there's agriculture, here's urban forests. But the biggest one is working with the community and helping us realize we really do have a part to play in the whole climate issue. In reality each one of us has to change, in every area of our life. How we travel, what we eat, how we build our homes, how we maintain our homes."
Rob Wickson, council candidate:
"I come at sustainability from an economics point of view. It's about the fiscal, social and ecological side of things. All need to be in balance. A lot of times we put profit ahead of everything else, to the detriment of the social and ecological side. Once we understand that by behaving socially responsible and ecologically responsible, the fiscal side may drop a little bit, but the other two will become more balanced and we'll end up with a more sustainable community."
Harald Wolf, council candidate:
"I'm a geologist – I've been tackling issues of sustainability for decades. My understanding of the concepts are much deeper than the vocabulary, and the idea that we can meet our carbon reduction targets by fudging numbers in spreadsheets and paying carbon offsets. The discussions being had right now are too superficial. Nobody is challenging developers with tough questions about solar orientation or the carbon footprints of the building materials. And we have to support the people living outside the urban containment boundary with our actions and planning for food sovereignty – striving towards being able to sustainably feed our population."