As the last blog post of my election campaign, I wanted to express why being involved in politics makes me feel alive, and why I believe that municipal government can play such an important role in improving our lives.
In 1991, the town of Hudson, Quebec, was
the first municipality in Canada to ban the use of pesticides for cosmetic
purposes. Pesticide manufacturers fought the town all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, and they lost. In 2008, the Ontario government enacted a similar ban province-wide.
In 1996, the Region of Waterloo was the first municipality in Ontario to ban smoking in restaurants and bars. In 2006, the Ontario government enacted the same ban province-wide.
My point with these two examples is this: municipal
government is the perfect arena to implement and test new ideas at a
small scale.
I care about street-level concerns: they affect our day-to-day lives, and the smooth delivery of municipal services allows us to carry on with whatever each of us has chosen as our way to contribute to society. But I'm passionate about the bigger picture because when a bold idea is given a chance, and people realize that their lives have improved and the sky didn’t fall, it’s a catalyst for change on a much larger scale.
And that’s a
force for good.
