The following was in response to Sierra Club Peel's call for candidates to support their proposed environmental platform:

I have read your recommended environmental platform and I have no hesitation in supporting and endorsing it.

In fact I have been doing most if not all of these initiatives over the years I have been on Council and have plans to do even more.

You may be aware that the Churchill Meadows Community (which was in Ward 9 - now part of Ward 10) was the first walkable, bikeable and transit-oriented community designed since Meadowvale and Erin Mills in the 1970's. I take great pride in having led this initiative and insisting that the community be designed to these standards and I am very proud of the successful implementation that occurred mainly during the time I was the Councillor for the district.

At Council, I have been a strong proponent of energy efficient vehicles and our fleet at both the City and Region has an ever increasing number of environmentally friendly vehicles. I led the initiative to use biofuels at a time when it would have cost us more but was the right thing to do. In fact the cost has been less than diesel so we won on both ends.

With the highest growth community in the city, Ward 9 (and now the part that is Ward 10) led the way in low impact development. Most of the homes are built with disconnected downspouts. I am encouraging builders and homeowners whenever possible to install permeable driveways and in fact had such a meeting this week. I was insistent in the designing and planning of the neighbourhoods that the storm water facilities be built as naturally as possible and in fact had a full study done on Lisgar's storm water pond. This was initially built as a concrete holding pond and I had it totally retrofitted to become what is now Osprey Marsh - a natural wildlife habitat in the city. I also had the storm water pond on Tacc Drive at Winston Churchill designed to be a natural facility rather than the usual concrete holding pond. The natural corridors through Lisgar were implemented as a naturalized area and are now an asset to the community. We are undertaking a stewardship program at Lake Wabukayne to improve the natural heritage that is there.

Much of the Ninth Line lands that the city bought under my direction many years ago will be left in a natural state to provide a passive corridor alongside the 407 highway.

The City has been a leader in energy conservation and the region maybe even more so. I was successful in getting GO Transit to install a wind turbine at the new Lisgar GO station in Ward 9 and have included a wind turbine at the new Mississauga fire training centre also in Ward 9. I am also encouraging a large industrial developer to install wind turbines in the same district.

I have numerous LEED-certified buildings in the Meadowvale business park and work closely with the companies to ensure they are encouraging their employees to be energy conscious. As we build bike lanes through the business district I meet with the businesses to encourage them to install showers and bike storage for the employees and many are getting on board.

At the region I have been a strong proponent of energy from waste and was instrumental in getting the composting facility up and running. We need to move ahead on this front and will be able to once the province relaxes some of the restrictions in the sale and use of the energy.

It is exciting that more citizens are getting on board and looking for ways to reduce their energy use and to create new energy sources. Sometimes a simple proposal such as encouraging use of outdoor clothes driers can over time make a big difference. I'm working with Enersource to see if we can get a rebate for these purchases as we do now for low flow toilets at the Region etc.

While we have had many successes, there is always more to do and I appreciate the work of the Sierra Club in reinforcing the need for the continuance of our efforts.

> Contact Pat with questions or comments about her record and plans on protecting the environment
> Visit the Sierra Club Peel for more information about this project

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