L to R: John Tory, Doug Ford, Olivia Chow
As Ontarians prepare to head to the municipal polls on October 27th, the race for the Mayor of Toronto has captured the lion’s share of attention from both mainline and non-traditional media. The reasons are plentiful for this, especially given the scope and influence carried by the largest city in the country.
While not a Toronto resident myself, living just outside the city I too have kept tabs on the race for Mayor of Toronto given that I know that the new Mayor and council will render decisions that ultimate will affect me, regardless of whether I live there or not.
As an advocate of eco-friendly automobiles, and in preparation for a monthly television segment I do for Toronto TV station CP24 on their popular live call-in program ‘Autoshop’, I decided to reach out to the 3 leading Mayoral candidates to get their take on Electric vehicles and how they would facilitate the growth of eco-friendly automobiles if they were elected.
I contacted the campaigns of each of John Tory, Olivia Chow and Doug Ford via email and posed 3 questions to each, and mentioned to them how I would be using their answers. Mr. Tory’s camp was the first to get back to me within 36 hours of my initial request. After 3 reminders being sent I did also hear from Ms. Chow’s team as well. Sadly, despite 5 attempts on my part to reach out I did not receive any correspondence from the media, policy or communications team working on the Doug Ford campaign.
Given that I did not have all three candidates providing full answers, the show producer asked that I scale back the segment somewhat, and I understood the reasons why.
The segment did proceed however and you can view it by clicking here.
I still believe it is important to share, without editing the answers provided by Mr. Tory and Ms. Chow to provide voters with greater insight on an issue that may be of importance to them. Therefore below you can read the exact questions I posed and the answers provided by both Mr. Tory and Ms. Chow.
What is your position with respect to the continued growth of eco-friendly, alternative propulsion vehicles such as full Battery Electric Vehicles and Fuel-Cell vehicles?
JOHN TORY: As oft stated during his years in the Legislature, John Tory is supportive of clean, alternative fuel vehicles.
OLIVIA CHOW: I support low- or no-emission travel options. in our city. Whether by transit or cycling, I have plans to address this. But cars are part of our lives and we need to find solutions to rely less on fossil fuels. I like electric cars and support incentives that help make them more attractive options for people.
What role do you feel the City of Toronto should play, if any with respect to the continued infrastructure development of Battery Electric Charging Stations and Hydrogen Fuel-Cell filling stations in Toronto to ensure the viable and easy operation of such vehicles in Toronto?
JOHN TORY: John would like to see consideration, as part of his Smart Track surface rail project, the location of charging stations and the allocation of electric car parking spots in the train stations.
John will collaborate with local clean energy technology leaders and incubators to support local talent. See more of John’s environment policy here: http://www.johntory.ca/environment-policy/
OLIVIA CHOW: I believe that the city has a role to play in creating incentives for charging stations across the city. We already have 6 public-use stations and we should encourage more in partnership with private companies.
Would you support the passing of a bylaw similar to what was passed by the City of Surrey, British Columbia that requires any future development proposal related to an automobile gas/service station to also include in its proposal AT LEAST ONE other fuelling option such as Battery Electric charging station, hydrogen fuel-cell fill up, compressed natural gas, propane or bio-diesel in addition to regular gasoline?
JOHN TORY: The province offers up to $1,000 to help purchase and install charging stations for home or business use. John fully supports this initiative. And GO Transit has introduced electric car chargers at five of its stations in the GTA, and there are around 20 charging stations on the route between Detroit and Montreal, opened by a private company.
OLIVIA CHOW: I would support studying the feasibility of a by-law like this in our city.
To all municipal voters across Ontario, please remember to vote on October 27th.
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