LOCAL DEMOCRACY

Democracy doesn't end at the ballot box, people need to be engaged and know city council hears them. I will support permanently returning public council meetings to evening hours, allowing more public participation and voices to be heard.

In addition to how we fund elections, we should look at city ward boundaries and implement boundaries for Regional Councillors. I will support reviewing the current ward boundaries to make sure Councillors represent as equal a number of residents as possible. I will also support matching our regional council seats to the same geographical areas as our school trustees.

No one on council should be elected with less than 50% of the votes. I will support changing all future council elections in Richmond Hill to Ranked choice voting.

Most of the money spent during elections comes from wealthier residents and special interests like land developers. Many other voters want to donate and get involved but this imbalance can discourage many. It's time we changed that, I will support the following,

• Implement a Municipal Election Tax Credit.

• Lower the maximum any one individual can donate to $500.

• Implementing a Donation Matching program.

• Lower the spending limits for all candidates.