Where I Stand
Issues discussed:Transportation+Energy+Environment
My family and I have one concern with Energy: The cost of our Electricity Bill
My family and I are very happy the reliability of our electricity to our home but we have a concern with the over priced electricity bills. Over the past ten years the electricity bill has doubled. Governments expect that prices will raise by another 40% by 2018. We are outraged by this because Ontario has a surplus of natural resources and ways to generate electricity. An example of this would be the Niagara falls power plant. If Ontario is a province with an abundance of ways to produce cheap electricity then why is the price of electricity going up. I would also expect that over time, advances in technologies would cause efficiencies that would reduce the cost of energy. One way we can improve this is by creating more hydro plants. This would be a great way to produce more electricity because it is a renewable source and we have an abundance of it in our province (example: Lake Ontario). The only problem with this in the short term is that it will cost more than building a coal mine, but in the long run it will save us money because it is renewable so unlike a coal mine it will never run out and need to be built somewhere else.
Niagara falls Hydro Plant
Ontario Coal mine before shut down
Ontario Hydro Power Plant
You can read more about electricity at: http://looniepolitics.com/electricity-become-expensive/
This video shows and example of how our government is hireing compnays to reduce the cost of energy
This video is relevant because I discussed on how we need to reduce the cost of electricity and this video shows that the government understands the issue and has invested in programs to reduce the cost of electricity.
How to cut energy costs: Government Buildings | saveONenergy | Ontario Power Authority
Transportation
My family's main issue with transportation is traffic congestion.
My family and my main issue with transportation is traffic. My dad has to travel to downtown to work everyday in his car. This trip takes him about an hour and a half, while he says that when there is no traffic it takes him just over 30 min. This is a big concern because due to the amount of people driving downtown to get to work the traffic increases to the point where when you get to the work you are already tired. The extra travel time takes away from time with the family. It is unaffordable to move downtown and it is unfair to have to move from a community you love because the population has outgrown the infrastructure. The solution is complicated but better city planning and an added north/south highway would make traffic move much smoother. The government introduced the 407(it is now private) and that has made east/west travel so much easier. The government may have to take over some private land which may cause some controversy but it is their obligation in a democracy to do the better good for everyone.
Rush hour in Ontario
Highways with many lanes and minimal traffic
Congestion!
Here is a website that shows you the timings of rush hour in Toronto: http://www.blogto.com/city/2014/04/when_exactly_is_rush_hour_in_toronto/
Here is a video on super highways
Super Highways are already being built in the US and need to start being built in Ontario as it is another way of reducing traffic
Super Highways Built for Speed - The shortest, fastest route to Distant Land
Environment
My family and my main issue with the environment is Government desions based on the Envionment
My family's main issue with the environment is the government's biased decisions toward a small group who lobby for the environment. This means that the government makes decisions to appease a small group because they are vocal and get lots of media play but ignore the wishes of most of the people which is why they were elected in a democracy. The environment is important but yet some of these decisions made by the government might not be practicle. This is why my family, and I have an issue with the environment. An example of this is the government is not expanding roads to have more lanes and reduce traffic, and the main cause of this is to save a tiny piece of land and reduce pollution. This unpractical because it is too small of a piece of land to save based on the amount of reduced traffic it will reduce.