We almost made 500 signatures and it’s the evening before Election Day in Vernon. I contacted each candidate that I could and asked how they would support deer pathways. There were some excellent ideas, suggestions and knowledge from the various candidates. I loved all their answers which I posted on my Friends of Animals Vernon facebook page, if you are interested in seeing the full responses.
Here are a few examples of the thoughtful answers I’ve received.
Brad Weston, who runs for the Lumby Mayor has a 46 point plan, one part is this: “i have created a 46-point Platform. i am proposing that we severely limit development in our area, ban G.M.O’s, spraying of chemicals such as herbicides and glyphosate and dredge the creeks so we may eventually restore them back to their natural creek bed and extend the riparian areas around creeks and rivers up to 150 feet to create a Healthy Ecosystem for the animals. i plan to create a Community Farm that will reserve a portion of the Land for wild animals and plant fruit bearing trees with wild flowers and shrubs all around the Community. ”
Part of Stephanie Hendy’s response was:
“I support your concern of overdevelopment, especially in cutting down forests. It has a huge impact on our ability to store carbon, slow down the spread of forest fires, and reduce the likelihood of floods.
The most recent community plan was drafted nearly 9 years ago, and gave no numerical data as to how greenfield development would be reviewed - in other words, applications to develop greenfield spaces (forest, marsh, field, etc) could not be measured against any standard.”
Akbal Mund said “Thanks for the questions, what you need to do is contact two authorities, the ALC, Agricultural Land Commision, and the Provincial Govt which control land use in the Crown land areas. Make sure no land is released to develop.”
Brian Guy
“Thank you for your question. On Council I will advocate for preserving and protecting environmentally significant areas including (but not limited to) riparian areas, gullies, ravines, and wetlands. These areas provide travel corridors and habitat for wildlife, in addition to having benefits for water quality and climate change mitigation.“
Ross Hawse: “It is the city's responsibility to manage our growth in a way that has the least impact on the indigenous wildlife. We need to co exist in harmony. I'm in favor of more density growth vs urban sprawl. We do have limited land with in the city to some growth will naturally lead us into forested lands and when we do we need to be sensitive to protecting the wildlife that were there before us.”
Patrick Vance: “I have signed the petition, and as a resident of East Hill, I can tell you that I feel your account of our encroachment to be highly accurate. It is my hope that initiatives like the one you've directed me to can help alleviate some of the harm that our ever increasing outward development is responsible for. I believe there has to be a way for us to grow our community that is more sustainable for wildlife and respectful of nature.”
Teresa Durning was particularly interested and wanted to connect by phone next week.
Scott Anderson also responded that he would support deer pathways and looked forward to learning more.
Jenelle Brewer expressed interest and a desire to learn more: “when I see deer pathways I have thought they were brilliant ideas.”
To see their full responses and my question please go to Friends of Animals Vernon Facebook page.
Thankyou for your continued support.