A Record, Not a Promise: My Commitment to East Gwillimbury’s Environment

Every candidate for Mayor will tell you they care about the environment. Fewer can point to thirty years of actually doing something about it.

Long before “climate action” was a campaign slogan, I was doing the work. Back in the early 1990s, I was a founding member of East Gwillimbury’s Environmental Advisory Committee, helping lay the groundwork for how our Town thinks about growth, green space, and environmental stewardship. That commitment never wavered, it’s carried through my entire time on Council.

In fact, my record on Council speaks for itself: I have voted in favour of every single environmental motion and by-law brought before Council during my time as your Ward Councillor. Not most. Not the easy ones. Every one, because protecting our environment shouldn’t be negotiable, and it shouldn’t depend on which way the political winds are blowing.

That commitment shows up in the details, too. When the new Health and Active Living Plaza was being designed, Councillor Carruthers and I pushed to add extra environmental and energy-saving features to the project. These weren’t just feel-good additions, they were smart investments. After their payback period, these features will save East Gwillimbury taxpayers money for years to come. That’s what real environmental leadership looks like: decisions that are good for the planet and good for the people footing the bill.

Most recently, on July 21st, Council’s Committee of the Whole considered two of the most important environmental initiatives East Gwillimbury has seen in years: the Community Energy Plan and the Climate Adaptation Plan. These plans will shape how our Town reduces emissions, builds resilience to extreme weather, and manages growth responsibly for decades to come.

I voted in favour of both. I am the only candidate for Mayor in this election who did.

That’s not a coincidence. It’s a pattern, one that goes back thirty years, from a founding seat on our Environmental Advisory Committee to a Council chamber vote just weeks ago and countless decisions in between. While others may talk about the environment when it’s convenient, I’ve shown up for it consistently, over decades, through every vote, every plan, and every project.  Not everyone can say that. It’s not a campaign promise; it’s a record.

East Gwillimbury is growing fast, and how we grow matters. We can build the homes, roads, and infrastructure our community needs while still protecting the moraine, the greenbelt, our wetlands, and the natural spaces that make this Town special. It takes experience to know how to balance that growth responsibly, and it takes integrity to keep showing up for it, vote after vote, decade after decade.

That’s the leadership I’ve brought to this file for thirty years, and it’s the leadership I’ll bring to the Mayor’s chair.