Elections

Do you support term limits for municipal politicians? Why or why not?

Responses to the question: "Do you support term limits for municipal politicians? Why or why not?"

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5 Candidate Responses (top)

Hamilton Centre
CandidateBrief ResponseFull Response
Andrea Horwath Maybe Ontario's NDP believes that measures are needed to enhance democratic participation and accountability at the municipal level. Too often, municipal politicians are beholden to big donors such as developers rather than the needs of their constituents. The NDP proposed stronger restrictions on municipal donations such as reducing donation amounts and banning loans to candidates. These were defeated by the McGuinty government.
Christopher Lawson Maybe As a candidate for the Provincial Legislature, it might be intrusive for me to promote a specific opinion on matters of municipal operations. I do promote public input in a democratic system. I suggest that a responsible municipal politician will see a possible opportunity to create a public referendum of some nature to address this issue.
Michael Baldasaro Yes I believe a politicians tenure should be permitted to go on for no more than 1 generation, 10 years.
Peter Ormond Maybe It depends. Don't the voters decide each election with their vote?

I've run in four elections, and the challenge for me is that people don't really know the policy differences between the parties that they're voting for. At the municipal level, we have the same lack of understanding about what a politician stands for. We need mechanisms to educate eachother (including politicians) about the real issues, and present real solutions to those issues. That's why I run for the Greens - otherwise our voice is not heard.

In today's fast-paced world, these messages have not been relayed, and hence Hamilton is stuck with a system that is not state-of-the-art. During election campaigns, forums should be arranged that 'tell' all candidates the realities of our system, and then ask them what they or their parties will do about the issue. This will educate everyone...

For additional information, here are some of the Green Party policy highlights:

1. Meet the promised upload of $1.5 billion in social service and court security costs by 2018.
2. Not download costs, or add new ones to Ontario's limited property tax base.
3. Create a separate, new, predictable and permanent fund for municipal roads and bridges once the budget is balanced, and we will provide funding for municipalities to invest in safe roads and trails for active transportation.
4. Make permanent Provincial Gas Tax revenue of about $318 million for transit.
5. Work with you to revise the arbitration process to ensure transparency, and to require consideration of local circumstances and government's ability to pay when deciding public sector wage settlements.
6. Seek your advice in developing solutions to protect taxpayers from excessive insurance claims.
7. Commit to shifting the tax burden for waste disposal from municipal property taxpayers to industry through extended producer responsibility laws.
8. Advocate for tools for collecting $1 billion in unpaid Provincial Offences Act fines
9. Consolidate housing programs with current funding to allow more local decision making and seek innovative partnerships with the private sector to increase the availability of affordable housing.
10. Not introduce property assessment or taxation caps. The Green Party supports establishing a legislative committee to study best practices for reforming and improving the property tax system, with special consideration of moving to a system of Land Value Taxation in order to eliminate inaccurate and arbitrary property assessments, deter speculative land holding, reduce abandoned lots and encourage job creating property improvements.
11. Provide clear, fair energy policy that supports sound planning and investment in our electricity system. The Green Party will prioritize investments in energy efficiency and conservation to reduce the effects of rising energy prices. We will strengthen the Feed-in Tariff program to require local ownership, local decision making and local financial benefits for energy projects. We will establish a transparent timeline for FIT pricing reviews and reductions.
12. Support a review of the Development Charges Act so that growth pays for itself without unsustainable burdens on property taxpayers.
Robert Kuhlmann No As long as the electorate thinks the person in question is doing a good job at representing their interests, they will continue to vote for them. By what right do we believe we have the right to refuse them the right to exercise that choice? Telling others what to do"for their own good" is never for their own good but for the good of others. It's unfair competition; the start on the long slow slope toward totalitarianism and it's done in the name of freedom and fairness. Fair to whom? Certainly not to the persons prohibited from participating in the electoral process or those who would vote for them.

Response Summary (top)

Brief ResponseCount% of Total
Yes120.0%
No120.0%
Maybe360.0%

5 Candidates Have Not Responded (top)

Hamilton Centre
Anthony Gracey
Don Sheppard
Donna Tiqui-Shebib
Robert Szajkowski
Steven Passmore