Something to Consider

There was some debate at the Candidates Meeting in Baysville, with a question asking candidates how many environmental committees they sit on. Sitting on committees is a commendable thing, be it for the environment, or helping fundraise for a community project.

All the same, it crossed my mind that one can sit on every committee on the planet to promote environmental awareness, lobby for septic upgrades to protect water, encourage recycling and composting, and all the other good things that all of us are doing... but if we don't have good facilities to accept, handle and dispose of those waste products, we are in a bind.

So here's a cheer for the District of Muskoka -- and the folk like Bob Lacroix -- who have worked hard to ensures that the Lake of Bays (and all of Muskoka) have good, efficient, well run Waste management, transfer stations, recycle centres, septic lagoons, and water and sewer systems.

After all, if we want to keep it clean and green, if we want to reduce, reuse, recycle, we need to be able to put garbage in its place. My brother sits on the Muskoka Watershed Council, I am a Friend of Algonquin Park, a member of Eco-Watch, Ontario Nature, World Wildlife Fund, etc., but all of us at Bondi work hard to educate our guests about ways to soften their 'footprint', and we have long been advocates and leaders in composting, recycling and now solar energy. Like the local volunteers from the Lion's Club and the local Volunteer Firefighters (both incredibly valuable assets to our community) we have participated in Roadside Clean-up every spring along our section of the District Road for over 40 years. That's simply a given -- everyone needs to be paying attention to this, and doing their part.

Government policies are also critical. I sat on the Environment Committee during the development of the Lake of Bays Vision, and worked to bring our Official Plan into existence, with it's emphasis on the environment. No-one works alone on these projects - they are big, and involved a huge number of volunteers from the Lake of Bays. One such volunteer is Marie Poirier, recipient of many environmental awards over the years, incluing one from the city of St. Catherines for developing their Green Plan.She's got a long history of environmental work, through the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, Short Hills Provincial Park, and here, closer to home, in assisting the development of the Development Permit System which works to protect our fragile shorelines. We're going to have development, so it is imperative that we have people who understand the planning process working to ensure that development is as environmentally sensitive as it can possibly be.