There’s been good discussion lately about candidate experience and who understands how City Hall works. I agree that municipal literacy matters but I don’t believe a city pay cheque is the only way to learning how how priorities are set and how decisions are made.
I first got involved in municipal governance as a high school student pushing for recycling programs before those were commonplace. In the more than three decades since, I have continued doing the work of learning how City government functions, and I’ve done it as someone with a passion for community advocacy rather than as an employee.
Locally, from pushing for responsible planning on Stittsville Main Street during the Community Design Plan process to standing alongside other volunteers to fight the Carp Road dump expansion, I’ve spent years working both personally and through the Stittsville Village Association on planning, development, roads and transit in Stittsville.
I’ve read the Auditor General reports, analyzed relevant provincial legislation, studied the City’s Official Plan, asset management plans and various masterplans, dug into zoning applications, and logged hundreds of hours watching committee and Council debates, writing letters and presenting as a delegate.
Finally, as a paralegal familiar with administrative law (including the processes of the Ontario Land Tribunal) and trained in Alternative Dispute Resolution, I know how to work collaboratively in tough situations and how to catch the nuances of legislation, policies and bylaws. Coupled with my past experience as a legislative analyst for a Member of Parliament and as a newspaper reporter, I know how the different levels of government intersect and I’m comfortable asking hard questions.
Knowing the city system is important, but outsider experience shouldn’t be discounted. It’s true that I’ve never managed a city councillor’s office, but you can still count on me to be ready to go on day one if I’m elected.
