All topics Housing Getting Around Climate Food Growth & Planning Budget & Taxes

Steven Martin

City/Township Council · Wilmot Ward 4

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All topics Housing Getting Around Climate Food Growth & Planning Budget & Taxes
This candidate finalized their responses after this guide and scoring methodology was published.
Housing & Homelessness 3 questions

Housing & Homelessness

How should municipalities and the Region balance providing permanent housing with the management of encampments in public spaces?select up to 3 per part
A. Pathways to permanent housing
  • Partner with non-profit and supportive housing providers
  • Use publicly owned land for permanent or interim housing
  • Focus primarily on market housing to reduce overall pressure
B. Interim management of encampments
  • Establish and maintain clear minimum standards (sanitation, safety, outreach)
  • Allow temporary encampments to persist while permanent housing options are actively being developed
  • Continue working on the Erbs Road Hybrid Shelter
C. Accountability and collaboration between levels of government
  • Establish clear regional leadership with coordinated municipal roles
  • Actively advocate to the province for defined funding triggers and program supports
  • Continue to work on Housing issues

Please describe one concrete policy, program, or decision you would support to address both encampments and permanent housing.candidate's own words

Continue with Erbs Road Hybrid Shelter

Would you like to provide any additional context for your views on housing?candidate's own words

Housing is complicated and there is no simple answer

Getting Around 4 questions

Getting Around

How should municipalities use existing street infrastructure to better prioritize walking, cycling, and public transit?select up to 3
  • Reallocate space on selected streets (e.g. road diets, transit lanes, protected bike lanes)
  • Increase transit to the townships
What role should public transit play in regional growth, and how should future transit investments be prioritized?ranked from highest to lowest importance
  1. Prioritize expanding coverage area
  2. Prioritize maximizing operational efficiency
  3. Use transit to shape land use
  4. Invest in rapid transit to anchor growth
  5. Prioritize lower-cost or incremental transit improvements
Do you support the municipality taking responsibility for snow removal from sidewalks adjacent to private properties?single choice

No, maintain the current system where property owners clear adjacent sidewalks

Do you support expanding fare-free transit for the Region?single choice

Improve existing subsidies and discounts, but maintain fares for most riders

Would you like to provide any additional context for your views on transportation?candidate's own words

We need to continue to work on transit

Please describe one criterion or principle that should not be compromised when making transit investment decisions.candidate's own words

We need to continue to work on transit to the townships

Other priority not listed abovecandidate's own words

Increase Route 77

Please name one specific street, corridor, or project where you would prioritize these changes.candidate's own words

Increase the Route 77

Climate & Sustainability 3 questions

Climate & Sustainability

How should municipalities and the Region incorporate climate and sustainability into policy, including development and infrastructure decisions?select up to 3 per part
A. Perspective on climate change
  • Climate change is an urgent and defining crisis of our time; reducing greenhouse gas emissions should be a primary consideration across municipal decision-making
  • Our local and regional governments need to renew coordinated action towards implementing the Transform Waterloo Region strategy
B. Building and development standards
  • Where possible, require or incentivize energy efficiency standards in new development, beyond current provincial minimums
  • Require green infrastructure as part of development approvals (e.g. stormwater management, tree canopy, permeable surfaces)
C. Infrastructure and capital planning
  • Require climate risk and lifecycle cost analysis in major capital decisions
  • Require climate change mitigation and adaptation impact assessments for large growth decisions (greenfield expansions, settlement boundary changes)
  • Require an assessment of impacts on aquifer recharge

Describe one concrete policy, incentive, or decision you would prioritize to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Where possible, explain how it balances environmental goals with fiscal responsibility.candidate's own words

Work across the Region on energy sustainability.

Would you like to provide any additional context for your views on sustainability?candidate's own words

It is an important topic that requires ongoing attention

Food Systems & Security 3 questions

Food Systems & Security

In the context of growing pressure for economic development and the connected loss of farmland, what role do municipalities and the Region hold in promoting local food livelihoods, production, and processing?ranked from highest to lowest importance
  1. Develop a local food strategy, including research on how land-use change affects the food system
  2. Promote and support low-barrier spaces for local producers to distribute and sell food
  3. Partner with other levels of government to develop local food hubs that reduce costs and barriers for small businesses
  4. Leave local food livelihoods to the private market
  5. Encourage and support local landowners to rent to newcomer farmers
How should municipalities and the Region approach food insecurity and affordability?select up to 3 per part
A. Access to food
  • Partner with local charities, non-profits, and other organizations to strengthen access to food and redistribution of surplus food and produce for low-income residents
  • Support programs to prepare food for those who are unhoused or unable to cook
B. Access to land for growing food
  • Make public lands (Regional and municipal) available for sustenance food provisioning, including in urban and peri-urban spaces as cities expand
  • Encourage and support private landowners to make lots available for food provisioning
Growth & Planning 4 questions

Growth & Planning

How should councils weigh the long-term cost of maintaining existing infrastructure when making decisions about outward growth and expansion?ranked from highest to lowest importance
  1. Require detailed cost and risk analysis before approving
  2. Use development phasing tied to infrastructure capacity
  3. Prioritize infill and intensification where infrastructure
How should councils balance provincial and regional mandates for increased housing density with neighbourhood opposition and local infrastructure constraints?select up to 4 per part
A. Planning & zoning tools
  • Focus incremental density near transit, schools, and commercial areas
  • Allow small-scale housing forms city-wide as-of-right (e.g. up to four units per lot)
B. Managing neighbourhood opposition
  • Use public engagement to inform design, not to veto density
  • Continue to work with the community on what makes sense
C. Infrastructure & servicing
  • Approve density where infrastructure capacity already exists
  • Pair density approvals with targeted infrastructure upgrades
  • It is an ongoing process to make good decisions that fit in that community

Describe one concrete zoning, planning, or development decision you would support (or oppose) that reflects how you would balance these priorities.candidate's own words

I think that we need to look at building up, rather than sprawling out in our rural township to protect farmland.

Please describe one concrete example of a growth or infrastructure decision you would support or oppose using this approach.candidate's own words

Intensifying the areas where there already are settlements

Other priority not listed abovecandidate's own words

Work with the community to make good decisions

What can the municipality/region do, if anything, about land which sits vacant for years because it is being used as an investment (land banking)?candidate's own words

In Wilmot township, encourage the land use for agriculture.

Budget & Taxes 5 questions

Budget & Taxes

Do you think the Region's or municipality's budget process should be more transparent and accessible to residents?single choice

It should be more transparent and accessible

Municipal and regional costs have generally risen faster than revenues restricted by property tax rules and limited local revenue tools. How would you balance tax increases against maintaining service levels and long-term financial sustainability?select up to 3 per part
A. Revenue approaches
  • Moderate, predictable tax increases to maintain service levels
  • Prioritize not increasing taxes and service fees
  • Actively pursue provincial and federal transfer funding and grants
D. Growth & cost recovery
  • Ensure new development pays a greater share of long-term infrastructure costs
  • Re-evaluate development incentives or subsidies that create long-term liabilities
B. Service levels
  • Adjust service delivery models to reduce costs without reducing access
C. Capital & infrastructure
  • Prioritize maintenance and state-of-good-repair over expansion
  • Defer or cancel capital projects with low long-term return on investment

If you chose "It should be more transparent and accessible", please describe how.candidate's own words

Make sure that the information is accessible for Water and Infrastructure costs

About the Candidate3 questions

About the Candidate

Why are you running for this position?candidate's own words

I have been on Council the last four years. I am running again to continue the work that I have been doing.

How does the current two-tier structure of municipal and regional government affect the Region's ability to make coherent decisions on housing, planning, and infrastructure?candidate's own words

The current structure works well and coordination between levels is sufficient, There are things like zoning and dealing with water that deserve ongoing attention.

Please describe one specific area where you think the governance structure helps or hinders good decision-making.candidate's own words

The Township works with the Region. We are a rural township and it is all farmland. So anything that we do is part of the farmland and it affects our Agricultrual Industry.