Over the next few days, CambridgeToday will continue its series of articles in which candidates in the Kitchener South-Hespeler and Cambridge ridings explain how they will address key issues if they are successful in the upcoming election.
We have asked each candidate to provide answers to 10 questions which will then be shared with our readers, one at a time, in the days leading up to the election.
You can view the full series of articles by clicking the Ontario Votes widget on our homepage.
In Cambridge there are five candidates, including incumbent Belinda Karahalios.
In Kitchener South-Hespeler, which does not have an incumbent in the running, there are six candidates.
Candidates whose answers do not appear below did not respond to our request.
Here is our ninth question of candidates:
Can you tell us if you would support further environmental protection legislation, and what types of legislation you would support to ensure we can mitigate the detrimental impact on our environment as we move towards a zero carbon and sustainable future?
Joanne Weston - NDP - Kitchener South-Hespeler
Ontario is already feeling the impacts of climate change. We’re seeing more frequent and more extreme weather events – floods, wildfires, storms and droughts – that threaten peoples’ lives, destroy infrastructure and hurt our economic stability. The scale and urgency of the climate crisis means we must act now to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
Ontario’s progress on the climate crisis has been destroyed with the current government’s anti-environment crusade. Ontario’s money has been used to go to court to stop efforts to tackle the climate crisis and conservation authorities have been gutted.
The NDP has a plan to fight climate change. With the Green New Democratic Deal, we will set strong greenhouse gas reduction targets in line with the Paris Climate Accords. We will ensure that new homes are built efficiently, meaning lower energy costs and a smaller carbon footprint.
We will expand the Greenbelt to include vital green spaces like the Carruthers Creek Headwaters and we’ll cancel the costly and unnecessary Highway 413 both of which would waste billions of dollars while paving over irreplaceable prime farmland, wetlands and river systems in the Greenbelt.
David Weber - Green - Kitchener South-Hespeler
We need to invest in retrofits of housing so that they use very little energy to heat or cool. We need to better our building codes to universally require all new buildings in 2030 and beyond, to be net-zero.
Incentivizing existing building retrofits would create about 50,000 jobs, and allow homeowners to use heat-pumps for their air conditioning and heating, and eliminate the need for natural gas furnaces. We must do more research and development in energy saving technologies.
We need to mandate electrified rail and all transit, and build up our infrastructure with renewable energy sources to meet supply demands. Renewables are much cheaper than gas or nuclear (about one-third the cost) and are cleaner too.
Marjorie Knight - NDP - Cambridge
We cannot ignore the climate crisis. Fires, floods and tornadoes are already threatening our families and our communities. Our children and grandchildren deserve to have beautiful and safe lakes, forests and farmland, and a secure future.
Previous governments talked a good game but for years they did not do enough to punish big polluters and move Ontario towards a greener future.
I believe that now is the time to strengthen our environmental laws to protect the natural environment in our communities and tackle the climate crisis. An Ontario NDP government will work with Indigenous peoples, as well as community, business and environmental stakeholders, to ensure proper, science-based environmental protections informed by Indigenous traditional knowledge.
Carla Johnson - Green - Cambridge
Environment protection is the lens that guides the vision of the Green Party of Ontario. The GPO aims for a real net zero by 2045. We have a very detailed plan. https://gpo.ca/platform/
The key ideas of this plan are as follows:
Phase out fossil fuels
• Establish a Fair Share Carbon Budget for Ontario for the rest of this century and incorporate a legal annual reporting requirement on progress and pollution reduction plans.
• Cut carbon pollution in half by 2030 and hit real net zero by 2045
Move to renewable, clean energy sources
• Double Ontario’s electricity supply by 2040 and make Ontario’s electricity emission-free as quickly as possible in order to electrify transportation and buildings with clean energy.
Increase access to electric vehicles and charging infrastructure
• Increase demand for new low-emission vehicles with cash incentives up to $10,000 for buying a fully electric vehicle and $
Make buildings energy efficient
• Create hundreds of thousands of new jobs by retrofitting 40% of existing homes and workplaces to net-zero (conservation plus heat pump and solar) by 2030 and 100 per cdent by 2040 to help
Lead by example
• Set aggressive GHG targets for provincial government operations, and expand pollution reduction programs to include hospitals, schools, universities, and other public institutions
Support municipalities to be climate leaders
• Provide municipalities and practitioners with knowledge, technical expertise, resources, and training via a Green Infrastructure Support Hub.
Ensure a just and equitable transition to a new climate economy.
Surekha Shenoy - Liberal - Cambridge
Yes, I support further environmental protection legislation to ensure we can mitigate the detrimental impact on our environment as we move towards a zero carbon and sustainable future.
The climate emergency is happening now. Ontarians know this – they see it when they’re driven out of their homes because of floods and fires.
Ontario used to be a global leader in climate action – then the Ford Conservatives happened, and Ontario went backwards.
An elected Ontario Liberal government will re-establish Ontario’s leadership on the environment, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. We will slash all public transit fares across the province to $1 until January 2024, taking 400,000 car trips off the road, reducing pollution and congestion. We will designate 30 per cent of land as protected areas by 2030 – up from 10 per cent and take the equivalent of 500,000 cars off the road by planting 800 million new trees over the next 8 years.
Ontario Liberals will strengthen the requirements of the Conservative’s existing industrial carbon pricing system to ensure the biggest polluters do their part to meet our 50 per cent reduction target.
In addition, we will expand the Greenbelt and create five new provincial parks.
For Ontarians concerned about the impacts of climate change, the choice is clear: soaring emissions or a costed plan that makes polluters pay and that makes sustainable choices more affordable for families.
Belinda Karahalios - New Blue - Cambridge
The carbon tax does nothing for our environment and is unfortunately used as the excuse by PCs and Liberals for inaction on the environment.
Doug Ford implemented an industrial carbon tax in Ontario – so now we have two carbon taxes when considering Justin Trudeau’s consumer carbon tax.
Environmental solutions should focus on clean air, clean water, and clean soil, not focused on meeting unrealistic commitments signed by Justin Trudeau in international conferences that won’t result in a better Ontario environment.
Brian Riddell - PC - Cambridge
Climate change is real. Therefore, I’m proud that we are taking action by positioning Ontario as a world leader in the production of electric vehicles and batteries.
