Toronto Environmental Alliance

04 October 2010
David Rider
Urban Affairs Bureau Chief

A look at ideas candidates are adding to their election platforms.

A ‘green’ council

Toronto’s next mayor will be dealing with a “green” council, predicts an environmental group that surveyed ward candidates. The Toronto Environmental Alliance released the results of the 20-question survey Monday.

More than 80 per cent of those who responded received a grade of A or A+, based on their answers to “yes or no” questions about public transit, waste diversion, green energy, toxic reduction, buying green products and building transportation infrastructure.

Of the 276 registered candidates, TEA found contact information for 211 and got 137 returned surveys, including 21 incumbents.

“We see at least a majority of wards electing a councillor who received an A or higher in our survey,” said TEA’s executive director Franz Hartmann, unless there are “some very strange results” on Oct. 25.

“That suggests most of Torontonians and the candidates agree we have to keep building on 10 years of making the environment a priority.”

The results seem to fly in the face of a predicted drift to the political right and the fact the front-runner for mayor in the polls is Rob Ford — who in July received the worst ranking in TEA’s interim mayoral candidate report card.

It said Ford had “shown no interest in the (group’s) environmental priorities.” TEA will release its final report card for mayoral candidates as early as next week.

As originally published here: http://www.thestar.com/news/elections/article/870557--the-daily-plank