Why Politics?

by Sarah Thomson

Over a year ago I decided to spend the next segment of my life working politically to do what I can to shape the world into a better place.  With women consistently holding only 20-25% of political positions in Canada, I felt motivated to step up to the plate. After my first loss in the mayoral election, I discovered that I can work on the issues that inspire me in or outside of government. This is why losing an election (or two) doesn’t have much impact.

There were three major issues that drove me to politics: the need to invest in our transit systems, to build our energy supply efficiently, and to eliminate the pockets of poverty created by bad design and planning decades ago.

The lack of transit development over the last 40 years in Toronto has a huge impact on our economic vitality, with gridlock now costing Canada over 6 billion dollars a year.  While other major cities have expansive subway systems, funded by toll roads or extra tax levies, Toronto lacks the political vision necessary to create a funding strategy for the expansion of our transit system.  Even now, the city refuses to make infrastructure investments, cutting bus routes because we lack the funds to buy or repair our current bus fleet.  The need for a downtown relief subway line is growing, and as our density in the core continues to increase, so too will our gridlock. 

During last year’s mayoral race, I brought toll roads into the debate. It didn’t win me the election, but it fuelled the discussion and there are more options that should be discussed and considered.

When it comes to energy, we are at a crossroad. Centralization swept over Ontario’s power system years ago, ushering in costly nuclear energy and taking us away from diversified local and sustainable energy sources.  As more companies get into the sustainable industry, the push to have the entire costs of nuclear evaluated (from the environmental waste to the building cost over-runs and the expense of maintaining the nuclear plants) is increasing.  Combine this with the increasing fluctuation of energy consumption – due to conservation, less manufacturing, and more efficient appliances – and having energy sources that can power up and down quickly becomes much more economically important.  Nuclear energy can’t power down quickly and excess energy has to be dumped from our grid at a cost to taxpayers.  It will take tenacity, transparency, and education to build the grassroots support for more sustainable options

And then there is the issue of affordable housing. Years ago, city leaders created neighbourhoods filled with cheap “affordable” housing, but over time these areas turned into the worst slums in North America.  Urban planning plays a large role in how these areas are used and, as Jane Jacobs pointed out, the “lack of eyes on the street” created conditions that allowed crime and vandalism to flourish.  But if affordable housing is spread evenly across our cities, we can disperse the pockets of poverty created in the past. I believe we must create urban zoning that puts people first (pedestrian-only streets, and mixed use, mixed income housing) to create more liveable cities. Through better legislation designed to create a level playing field for all developers, the goal of 10% affordable housing across our cities is possible.

Politics offers the opportunity to solve major issues that impact millions of people.  And while running for election isn’t easy (long hours, hate mail, people yelling at you for no reason), I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything else. Through a campaign, friendships are created, ideas are shared, and relationships are built.  If you are a woman who loves people, who wants to give back to the world around you, and are inspired to fix problems in our communities, please give it a shot.