City Council – Wards 1 & 5

A primary role of the City Councillor is to support the vision of the City/Region and support the agreed to Council priorities while representing the interests of local Ward constituents. Being a City Councillor requires tact, diplomacy, leadership and negotiation skills.

It also requires balance. On one hand, Councillors are elected by their constituents to represent their views when dealing with issues that come before council. Constituents have many views and opinions, and Councillors cannot represent all of them, all of the time. On the other hand, election to office requires Councillors to have a broader understanding of the issues that impact the municipality as a whole. Conflicting interests will have to be considered and decisions must be made that will not be popular with everyone.

Generally, evidence-based decisions are made by taking into account all available information in an open and transparent process. Balancing municipal and constituent priorities is critical in achieving One Planet Living through the 10 principals identified below.

Culture and Community

Climate change represents a significant threat that can only be addressed through collective action. When it comes to environmental issues, we truly are all in this together. Council can impact residents’ opinions about the importance of environmental sustainability by relating them to different cultures and backgrounds and providing concrete actions we all can take that will give them hope as we collectively deal with the climate crisis.

Question: How well do you understand and support the City’s 2040 vision document?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
I’m intimately familiar and support it			X
I’ve read it. It is a good aspirational goal	X
I know about it and don’t have strong opinions either way
I think it is time for a new vision for the City
I’m not familiar with it but would like to learn more
I don’t think Vision 2040 is a priority for Council		X

Question: If elected what would be your top three priorities to help the City maintain focus on achieving the 2040 Vision?

Stacey Ann Brooks
Steven Lee	Candidly, I have concerns about the scale of the 2040 Vision plan and the thinking that went into some elements of it. As an example, the idea that a university or arts precinct will come into Brampton’s Downtown and totally transform it seems optimistic. My philosophy is to wisely and systemically develop the city rather than seek silver bullets to address all of our current ills. I’m also very concerned how disruptive this will be to existing residents and if gentrification and displacement will be a result of some elements. I think the careful analysis and evaluation of neighbourhoods’ needs is a critical step in this program. We need to begin encouraging mixed-use and walkable neighbourhoods in all parts of the city and we cannot wait for a master plan to totally transform certain districts. Land-use, road design and transit all go hand-in-hand. The successful reform of one will help the other two be more effective. A denser, more walkable environment, one closer to the concept of the 15-minute city we see elsewhere, should be our goal. I do not want to see Brampton transformed into a purely car-dependent towers.
Tracy Pepe	1. Culture and community – Proposal to address legislation so a NEW building development of no less than 1% of development levy goes to arts & culture to promote tourism. Support local artists and improve awareness of the incredible arts and culture community in Brampton. Add the vision lens of seniors to all new development ensuring that NEW development adds to the aging population to be ready in the next ten years to come. 2. Environment – Development funds are properly dispersed to support new greenspace and to improve our parks and recreational facilities. Specifically, the Orangeville-Brampton Railway Corridor, ensuring this NEW greenbelt is properly funded with new development levies. Working with Parks and Recreation, and the teams needed to ensure the residents’ best interests are met. 3. Housing – Implement a new program to help low-income housing for students & seniors. Increase BY-LAW penalties of properties that are not maintaining and present illegal apartments. Add enforcement issues and a three-strike policy to property owners who do not live on site, rent without responsibility and cause issues to residents. Increase a program to change the requirements of illegal apartments with a program of support.
Rowena Santos	Continuing to invest in and provide options for sustainable transportation (transit and AT), planning and building walkable neighbourhoods, supporting a vibrant creative industry

Land & Nature

Efficient use of land is one of the most important ways that municipalities can protect and restore land for the benefit of people and wildlife. Higher building densities means more land can be preserved for nature protection and recreational activities. Higher density also provides larger tax revenues per hectare and reduces the per unit costs associated with infrastructure, servicing and maintenance.

Question: How do you think Brampton should grow as a City? How would you prioritize the following types of development?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Single-family homes	Rank 6	Rank 6	Rank 6
Rental/Condo Towers	Rank 5	Rank 1	Rank 2
Townhouses	Rank 4	Rank 2	Rank 4
Mixed use subdivision	Rank 3	Rank 4	Rank 1
Social/affordable housing	Rank 1	Rank 3	Rank 3
Mid-rise medium density housing	Rank 2	Rank 5	Rank 5

Question: What is the ideal amount of greenspace (hectares per 1,000 persons) that Brampton should aspire to?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
.9
1.2
5.7			X
8.0	X	X

Question: Do you support the current Heritage Heights Plan including the Boulevard option?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Yes			X
No
Other	I have major concerns about greenfield development. If the neighbourhood truly is going to be built along new urbanist and sustainable lines, I might be open to it as a concept. I’d like to know more about the details.	Not familiar with the details

Question: Do you support the current Grow Green Master Plan?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Yes	X		X
No
Other		I need more information to understand fully

Question: Do you support the current Urban Forest Management Plan?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Yes	X		X
No
Other		I believe improvements can be made

Question: Do you support the continuation of trail building in Claireville Conservation Area?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Yes	X	X	X
No
Other

Question: Parks in Brampton play an important role in protecting habitat, reducing climate impacts, reducing stormwater runoff and helping people to preserve mental and physical health by connecting to nearby nature. Will you ensure that the parks department has the budget they need to maintain and help improve the quality of parks and related programming in the city of Brampton?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Yes	X	X	X
No
Other

Travel and Transport

A 2018 energy audit reports that 60% of the City’s carbon emissions is from transportation with over 80% of that coming from personal automobiles. A 2013 TDM study indicates that the Region cannot build sufficient road space to accommodate the growth in car traffic by 2040 if current mode share patterns persist.

Question: Do you support the current Active Transportation Master Plan?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Yes	X	X	X
No
Other

Question: Do you support extending the Hurontario LRT to the Brampton downtown GO station and points further north?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Yes	X		X
No
Other		Not within the next four years

Question: Do you support the expansion of Zum BRT lines in the City?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Yes	X	X	X
No
Other

Question: Would you continue with the six lane moratorium on Brampton roads to maintain accessibility?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Yes	X		X
No
Other		I think other design options may want to be considered.

Question: What other approaches would you support to reduce traffic congestion in the city and improve accessibility and road safety especially for vulnerable road users?

Stacey Ann Brooks
Steven Lee	I think a key element would be to keep transit fares as low as possible and drive demand there. I also think we do a poor job of giving active transportation users end destinations. For example, many major locations do not have parking for bikes. The city should facilitate bike infrastructure and eventually require it at major institutional and commercial areas.
Tracy Pepe	Various infrastructure improvements can be considered, traffic flow studies, implementations of safety zones, better designs to include cycle, increase GO train schedules and add additional charging areas to the city platform.
Rowena Santos	Improve public education and awareness re: active transportation infrastructure, vision zero, invest in transit

Heath & Happiness

The physical health of our community has been in decline in recent decades due in large part to sedentary lifestyles. Mental health is also affected by people not feeling a sense of connectedness to their community. These problems are particularly acute in youth and young adults.

Complete communities that are walkable, bikeable and have links to public transit tend to have much higher rates of physical activity than communities that are considered to be “car-centric”. Higher rates of physical activity also contributes to better mental health outcomes.

Question: How important is it for Brampton to prioritize building complete communities where the majority of amenities are within a 15 minute walk?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Very important	X	X	X
Somewhat important
Neutral importance
Somewhat unimportant
Not at all important

Question: If elected, what would you do to encourage the development of complete communities and to retrofit existing neighbourhoods to become less car-oriented?

Stacey Ann Brooks
Steven Lee	We are going to have to examine every neighbourhood as a unit and assess how best to help them make these transitions. However, in general, I think we need to talk about gentle intensification across the city, converting single-family homes into duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes. Along corridors we can immediately zone for ‘missing middle’ apartments. We should zone for commercial and retail in neighbourhoods, especially corner groceries and the like. I’d also like to see us reconsider the design of our streets to deprioritize cars. I think the benefits of my approach is that it can come together gradually over time and it will not cause disruption to existing residents.
Tracy Pepe	Some areas of my ward can be re-evaluated and new design ideas added. new development can begin with new ideas to implement the changes from the start. Depending on budgets, we can take a view to address various problems at once, to have various devisors dealing with multiple issues to create a complete plan, rather than one off’s that are too expensive.
Rowena Santos	On top of my support for active transportation, Public education is a top priority in getting people to understand what these changes mean to Brampton and how it will benefit the city

Question: Brampton has a growing rat problem. At present the region pays 250.00 for residents to hire an exterminator to “get rid of the rats”. This has proven to be temporary and ineffective. What measures do you propose to address this urban problem that will restore eco-system balance with rat/natural predator populations?

Stacey Ann Brooks
Steven Lee	I can speak to this from personal experience. My apartment has suffered from mice and rats a couple of occasions and I’ve lived in it for less than a year. I have assumed that the rat population has been related to extra food being available in the form of excess garbage, though I am not certain that is the case. I do not have solutions to the problem, but I would be very interested in green proposals to reduce the pest problem.
Tracy Pepe	This program has not been implemented effectively. this question is misleading for the costs to this program go to administration and this program is an effective tool if implemented properly. However more can be done, increase of predator birds within urban areas can be a specific approach, however with the rat poison this can cause harm to the birds. Environmental assessment and pilots can be implemented.
Rowena Santos	I would like to learn more about how other cities around the world have effectively dealt with this issue in a more natural way. Again, public education on the topic is also a must. Finally when major infrastructure projects occur at the region, making sure that this does not displace rats onto private property.

Zero Carbon Energy

Mitigating the climate change risk means reducing fossil fuel consumption as quickly as practicable. City infrastructure consumes a lot of energy and cities can be amongst the leaders in implementing energy conservation and fuel switching programs.

Question: In 2022, Brampton Council approved the CCET, Centre for Community Energy Transformation, a not-for-profit corporation to help Brampton implement its Community Energy and Emissions Reduction Plan and Peel Region meet its carbon emissions reductions targets. The City provides partial funding. Would you continue to support the CCET if elected?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Yes	X		X
No
Other		I would like to see the results, the current plan and success and failures of this plan before I agree to any further funding.

Question: In September 2020 Brampton Council endorsed the Community Energy and Emissions Reduction Plan (CEERP) to, improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create economic advantage, ensure energy security, and increase Brampton’s resilience to climate change. Would you support the continued implementation of the CEERP and the achievement of its GHG reduction targets?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Yes	X	X	X
No
Other

Question: Will you support the phase-out of gas-powered electricity in Ontario, ask the province to supply renewable energy to municipalities, and oppose the re-contracting of the Goreway gas-fired power plant, the largest greenhouse gas emitter in Brampton and the third largest emitter of nitrogen oxides?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Yes	X	X	X
No
Other

Sustainable Water

Brampton has parts of three watersheds within its boundaries including the Credit and Humber Rivers as well as the Etobicoke Creek. These watersheds provide significant eco-system services including temperature moderation, storm-water management and recreational opportunities. The City is responsible for co-managing these resources with the Conservation Authorities.

Question: Water quality in our watersheds has been declining in recent decades due to pressures of development including, low levels of natural cover as well as increased imperviable land cover causing sediment, road salt and other toxic runoff. How important is it that watershed water quality be maintained or improved even if it means altering development plans adjacent to or near watershed areas?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Very important	X	X	X
Somewhat important
Neutral importance
Somewhat unimportant
Not at all important

Equity & the Local Economy, Materials & Products, Zero Waste:

If everybody lived the way that North Americans do, it would take five planet’s worth of resources. We have only one planet. We must use resources more efficiently if we are to sustain our living standards and allow others to improve their lot. Cities consume significant materials and products. How they are procured and used can have a big impact on the City’s local economy as well as on its sustainability.

Question: How important is it for the city’s procurement process to favour local manufacturers, fair trade or ethically sourced products, and encouraging the circular economy?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Very important		X
Somewhat important	X		X
Neutral importance
Somewhat unimportant
Not at all important

Question: How important is it for the City to encourage residents’ waste reduction practices by installing waste separation bins in all city facilities and parks, to work with the Region on waste reduction education and to work with Brampton library on materials repair and reuse, (Repair Cafe)?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Very important		X
Somewhat important	X		X
Neutral importance
Somewhat unimportant
Not at all important

Question: What other things would you support to reduce waste and support equity in the local economy?

Stacey Ann Brooks
Steven Lee	A vibrant local economy is good for equity in Brampton and the environment. Too much of Brampton’s business and commerce is extractive – pulling money out of our city and into major centres, often far from us. Local producers would use less resources, produce less waste, and stimulate more local investment. I think it is important to look at tools to encourage local growth in businesses and co-ops to build resilience in our city.
Tracy Pepe	Compose areas, local public farms in areas of dense growth. I have a n area of apartment buildings in my ward, public gardens can be a great tool.
Rowena Santos	Proper education/campaign on how to reduce waste and separate properly. Working with community organizations and groups like PAL. Conducting local neighbourhood audits with volunteers and stewards to help with education/awareness.

Local and Sustainable Food

Ontario is a net food importer, importing annually about $10 billion more than it exports, (ERL et al., 2014). Local food security is threatened by loss of farmland due to development and increased cost of imported food due to political uncertainty and climate change.

Question: How important is it for Brampton to have a food security strategy and a plan to provide more locally grown food through projects like urban agriculture and agricultural land reserves?

Responses	Steven Lee	Tracy Pepe	Rowena Santos
Very important	X	X
Somewhat important			X
Neutral importance
Somewhat unimportant
Not at all important