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45| O akville B eaver | T hursday,M ay 17,2018 insidehalton.com Q&A: OAKVILLE NORTH-BURLINGTON Metroland file photos As part of its compre- hensive coverage of the provincial election cam- paign, the Beaver invited each of the Oakville North- Burlington riding candi- dates to weigh in on a par- ticular issue. This is the first in a three-part Q&A with your local candidates. GROWTH: With devel- opment booming, what would you and your gov- ernment do, if elected, to control urban sprawl? Alvin Tedjo • Liberal Protecting our green spaces is a vital part of the Ontario Liberal plan to control urban sprawl. They are a major part of what make Oakville and Burlington some of the best places to live in Ontario and are why so many peo- ple choose our communi- ties to raise their families. It's not surprising, then, that the people here know the value of green spaces and fight hard to protect them. That's why I was shocked when we learned of PC Leader Doug Ford's secret back-room promise that he would pave over a "big chunk" of the Green- belt. Our approach is differ- ent. Since creating the Greenbelt in 2005, the On- tario Liberal Government has continued to expand it to protect even more farms, forests and wetlands from development. Ford's reck- less back-room plan to pave them over would be a disaster for our environ- ment and forever change the character of our local neighbourhoods. I believe our green spac- es should stay green, and that's why, as MPP, I will fight every day to make sure they do. Marianne Workman • Green Ontario is losing green space and farmland at an unsustainable rate. We all want and need clean air, clean water and nutritious food. Controlling urban sprawl helps ensure sus- tainable, abundant sup- plies of our natural re- sources. As your MPP, I will per- manently protect Onta- rio's prime farmland and source water regions; ex- pand the Greenbelt; com- pensate farmers for pro- tecting water sources and storing carbon; introduce that all new greenfield de- velopment applications be heard at the Environmen- tal Review Tribunal, to ad- equately consider source water, wetlands, farmland, wildlife habitat, First Na- tions' heritage, and ecosys- tem protection; ensure that the new Local Plan- ning Appeal Tribunal sup- ports citizen participation, good land use planning, and respects provincial and municipal policies; an eliminate minimum popu- lation growth quotas im- posed on municipalities. I will push for innova- tive solutions to housing, updating the zoning laws, if needed, to allow alterna- tives to single-family de- tached homes. I will incentivize munic- ipalities to zone for in- creased residential densi- ties while still maintaining the look and feel of the neighbourhood. We do not need to 'open up' the Greenbelt. We have used a mere 20 per cent of the land set aside for devel- opment in the 2006 Growth Plan. Land availability is not the bottleneck to our housing problems. Charles Zach • Libertarian A Libertarian govern- ment believes that private property owners have the right to use their land as they seem fit as long as they do not cause any harm to any one else. Therefore a Libertarian government would not in- terfere in the free market exchange between Ontari- an landowners, except in disputes, which it would duly process through a re- vamped restorative judi- cial system. The supply of land is es- sential to fill the demand for housing. Government creates problems for young people who want to purchase a home two fold. First they control the supply of land, and se- condly they con- trol building heights. Is it any wonder there is a housing shortage, and prices are out of reach of young people? EDITOR'S NOTE: Candidates Frank DeLuca (Trillium), Effie Triantafilopou- los (PC) and Sai- ma Zaidi (NDP) did not respond by the Beaver's Mon- day deadline. Member - Canadian Investor Protection Fund www.edwardjones.com Need directions to your financial destination? Marc Nutford Financial Advisor . 2387 Trafalgar Road Unit E2 Oakville, ON L6H 6K7 905-844-4043 Member - Canadian Investor Protection Fund www.edwardjones.com/marc-nutford Marc Nutford Financial Advisor . 2387 Trafalgar Road Unit E2 Oakville, ON L6H 6K7 905-844-4043 Does your financial advisor know your life goals?J.M.CConcrete Interlocking LTD Oakville's Favourite Patios & Driveways! DIAMONDDIAMOND DIAMONDDIAMOND LIKE US ONAsk for John www.jmcconcrete.ca 905-878-8595 • stamped concrete • interlocking • exposed aggregate • flagstone • french curbs • retainingwalls • garage floors • free estimates Check out the latest online on the upcoming provincial election. insidehalton.com/provincialelection The Oakville North-Burlington candidates running in the June 7 provincial election include, from left, Alvin Tedjo (Liberal), Marianne Workman (Green) and Charles Zach (Libertarian)