Elections
Tony Morris, Candidate for Hamilton Mountain in Ontario Provincial Election 2011
Details page for this candidate.
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Candidate Details (top)
| Name | Tony Morris |
|---|---|
| Election | Ontario Provincial Election 2011 |
| Area | Hamilton Mountain |
| Party | Green Party of Ontario |
| Votes | 0 |
| tonymorris@gpo.ca | |
| Website | (no website listed) |
| Home | |
| Business | 905-648-0649 |
| Fax | |
| Bio | Born and raised in Ancaster, Ontario, Tony Morris has also lived in Peterborough and Toronto while obtaining degrees in Environmental Studies. Tony believes that an ecological policy approach to governance is best to achieving a sustainable society and economy.
Tony holds a Masters of Environmental Studies from York University where his research examined biodiversity policy, science and education in Ontario. His Bachelor of Arts is from Trent University with a joint major in Environmental Studies and Political Studies. Tony spent a year teaching science at a bilingual school in Honduras. While there, he established a Green Team of students to create a school garden and develop a recycling program. Tony also spent two years as the Coordinator of the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability at York University, leading research projects involving environmental issues. Tony has volunteered his time over the years to educate about the importance of environmental issues. He volunteered with the Royal Ontario Museum’s Biodiversity Galleries engaging the public about the importance of biodiversity. Furthermore, he volunteered with Evergreen, a Toronto based environmental organization committed to bringing nature to cities. Tony also spent a year volunteering with the Peterborough Humane Society. In his spare time, Tony enjoys reading, hiking, cycling, and water sports and recently became a certified scuba diver. Tony is committed to the Green Party’s five point plan for an ecologically, economically and socially sustainable Ontario. |
Responses to Questions (top)
| Question | Brief Response | Full Response |
|---|---|---|
| Hamilton has a large number of contaminated brownfield properties that present a risk for investors. What, if anything, will you do to make it easier to remediate brownfields? | Yes | The Green Party of Ontario is committed to restoring the ecological integrity of former industrial sites through land use policies and tax incentives for cleaner industries. Through revenue generating funds for the extraction of certain resources, the Green Party will then be able to assist in investing in the remediation of brownfield properties to develop new and cleaner industries. |
| Hamilton has a lot of available office space in the downtown. Will you move any departments to Hamilton to boost the local economy and save on rent costs? Why or why not? | Maybe | The Green Party will make it easier for small and large businesses to succeed thus reducing the dependence on government departments. By lowering small and medium business payroll taxes we will make it easier for businesses to expand. Planning policies will focus on dense and vibrant communities, reducing sprawl and encouraging job creation in already established city centres. The Green Party will expand research and development tax incentives into knowledge based businesses like clean energy, biomedical research, and new technologies, which Hamilton would be well positioned to exploit with its manufacturing history and medical research capacities. |
| Do you believe municipalities should have more powers to generate revenue? If so, what would you propose? If not, why not? | No | The Green Party of Ontario promises to work with municipalities to strengthen our communities. By doing this, there would be no need for new revenue streams as each level of government would be responsible for paying for the services under their jurisdiction. Increasing local decision making is a theme of our platform www.itstimeforgreen.ca.
The Green Party is committed to ensuring that we're not downloading costs on municipalities, or adding new ones to communities limited property tax base. We will also support municipalities with infrastructure funds for active transportation and water and sewage upgrades. |
| Do you support completing the Mid-Peninsula Highway? Why or why not? | No | The Green Party does not support the Mid-Penisula Highway. The Niagara Escarpment is a legislatively protected area of Ontario with some of the best agricultural land in Canada. To ensure the future sustainability of Ontario's food supply requires maintaining the integrity of farms in this area. Another highway would only increase the reliance on the automobile and add to an already congested region. Money for such an initiative would be better spent on increased rail and other public transit initiatives. |
| In 2007, the Ontario Government promised two light rail lines in Hamilton. Will you fulfill that promise to build light rail in Hamilton? Why or why not? | Yes | The Green Party is committed to accessible and convenient public transit. In that light, the Green Party would provide provincial funding to the proposed two light rail lines in Hamilton. To do this the Green Party would make the Provincial Gas Tax transfers to municipalities for public transit a permanent deal. |
| The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area has some of the worst traffic congestion in North America. What, if anything, will you do to alleviate the gridlock? | Yes | The Green Party envisions an Ontario with smart and liveable communities. This means streets designed for all users and communities planned with mixed use purposes (live, work and play in the same area). To do this the Green Party will provide economic incentives for transit users, ride sharing, car pooling, and those that use active transportation (walk or bike to work). Furthermore, the Green Party will provide long term public transit funding through gas taxes. Additionally, we will reform the Planning Act to encourage denser and more compact communities reducing sprawl, which contributes significantly to the regions gridlock, lost productivity, and poor air quality. |
| Do you support term limits for municipal politicians? Why or why not? | No | The Green Party does not support term limits for municipal councilors. Local councils need experienced members that have time to learn the difficulty of governing in a municipal setting as well as developing an opportunity to become great councillors. Term limits would effectively prevent good councilors from retaining their positions even if the public supports them. Eliminating corporate and union donations to provincial and municipal campaigns, can be used to dissolve some of the advantages that an incumbent has. |
| Will you complete the job of uploading social services costs to the Province? Why or why not? | Yes | The Green Party will complete the promised upload of $1.5 billion in social services and court costs by 2018. Without a revenue base to pay for these services, municipalities are at a disadvantage in providing efficient and effective programs. |
