David Suzuki and the City of Mississauga Strategic Plan

This evening I attended the David Suzuki lecture series that followed the strategic plan by the City of Mississauga.

I checked the foundation website (Suzuki) and found that this talk was not on his list of scheduled stops. The crowd clapped at in opportune times. There were moments during the unveiling of the plan that seemed as if masses of rhetoric were being rained upon the audience in order to disguise the fact that there were key problems with the way the city is run, and how it is growing.

"A city built for cars" is how Hazel describes it. Their solution? To build not one, but two mass transit corridors that will run the length of Dundas and Hurontario. The true length on Dundas was not apparent (and was not mentioned in any other strategic plans but may have been trumped up in an effort to placate the public consensus that there is next to no reliable and affordable public transit). This bandaid solution seems to only fix a minor issue that faces Mississauga in their apparent 40 year strategic vision that will culminate in an enviable and vibrant city.

David Suzuki, invited into our house (the LAC) was politically minded and did not make any open comments directed at the lack of leadership when it comes to the building of a sustainable future. Having sat through his lectures previously it was disheartening to hear the same descriptions, same anecdotes and similar laments.

Of five strategic "Pillars" that the city plans to help build this city on, Green lists as fifth. The looming fuel crisis (which will undoubtedly call for more energy generators one of which is being slated for Clarkson here in south west Mississauga) is not addressed. Unchecked growth is not addressed. The commuter population and amount of Condos, Apartment buildings and Town house complexes that add to the amount of Carbon Load Mississaugans put on the local environment is not addressed.

We as a community were asked by the city what we needed. We told them what it was that we needed. Now, they are giving it to us, promises.