By: Christian Collington, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TheIFP.ca
Halton Hills residents packed the Acton Town Hall Centre Sept. 22 to hear from the three candidates running to be Halton Hills’ mayor.
Hosted by Heritage Acton, the Mayoral Candidates Meeting provided an opportunity for residents to hear from the three candidates on a variety of local issues ahead of election day on Oct. 26.
Heritage Acton board member Sean Ryan said attendance for the meeting was “beyond all expectations.”
A full list of upcoming municipal candidates meetings can be found here.
Here are some highlights of what the three candidates said:
Affordability and housing
Ivan Bosnjak
The first-time municipal candidate said addressing housing for youth is going to take “some creative ways of doing things, working with builders to entice them here.”
Bosnjak suggested exploring land zoned for higher density while warning that “someone has to pay for those charges.”
On working with developers, he added that “we’re going to have to work with builders, maybe free up some land in certain areas that can be used as higher density.”
Jason Brass
Brass said “affordability is a crisis here in Halton Hills” and that addressing it requires “someone who can foster relationships with builders and the right people.”
He called for internal municipal reforms to cut red tape on options like additional residential units and modular homes.
Ann Lawlor
“Municipalities do not build houses,” Lawlor said. “Municipalities approve plans and the development industry, the building industry comes forward with appropriate housing that the market, they feel, will bear.”
Lawlor noted that while she wants more affordable options, market conditions have stalled developer projects, making it “out of the league of the municipal government” to solve alone without federal and provincial government incentives.
Transit
Bosnjak
“Mobility is a huge issue,” Bosnjak said, pointing to the needs of youth and older adults. He proposed starting with a town-wide two-bus shuttle system to move residents between hamlets and urban areas on a predictable schedule.
Brass
“On-demand transit is definitely something we could look at,” Brass said. He pointed to models like Argo, which operates in other Ontario municipalities, as an option. He added the town is awaiting the results of its ongoing mobility master plan study to help guide decisions.
Lawlor
“A regional transit system would be the most effective,” Lawlor said. She added that as Vision Georgetown grows, neighbourhoods are designed to be transit-ready, though she cautioned that full transit will take time and additional assessment growth to affordably expand.
Fairy Lake revival
Bosnjak
Bosnjak raised concerns over basement flooding in nearby homes, algae blooms and water quality and said the lake should be used for swimming again.
He emphasized preserving wildlife while questioning the cost of current geese-control measures and suggested the splash pad might need to be relocated away from the lake edge due to geese.
Brass
“Fairy Lake is one of the crown jewels of Halton Hills,” Brass said.
He called for naturalizing creek runoffs to absorb contaminants before they reach the lake and suggested deterrents like hiring falconers to control the geese population.
Lawlor
“The Fairy Lake revival is an exciting project,” Lawlor said.
She highlighted securing more than $1 million in regional funding to improve the lake environment and address phosphorus, salt runoff and other impacts through a partnership with Halton Region and Credit Valley Conservation.
On the geese problem, Lawlor said the town is “conquering” the situation through ongoing management efforts.