Stacie Roberts running for Ward 5 Councillor

Roberts wants to bring collaborative approach to leadership

By Zachary Roman

Stacie Roberts said Caledon only has one shot at protecting its green spaces.

The Ward 5 Councillor candidate has been living with her daughter in Caledon for 10 years, but has been around Town for 25 as her dad used to own a horse farm in Palgrave.

Her background is in advertising and media, and she now runs her own communications business working from home.

Roberts said her experience in communications will be a big help if elected as Councillor, and since she's self-employed and makes her own hours, she said she'll have the time to really be engaged and put effort into the position.

Roberts decided to run for Council because she's already been doing a lot of advocacy work around environmental protection.

Roberts has been keeping up with Caledon Council meetings, has delegated to them, and has written letters to Council. She said getting fully involved and trying to become part of Caledon's government is the next step, and she's grateful for the support of her daughter Emily who encouraged her to take the leap and run for Council.

One of Roberts' main goals if elected as Councillor is to ensure the protection of Caledon's green spaces.

“If we start developing and putting subdivisions where they're not supposed to be… we can't take that back,” said Roberts. “I really think we need to take that time to make sure that we're doing it for the best interest of generations to come, and making sure that we protect what we have here and what we love — the trails and the waterways and the animals and our farms — going up the road to get fresh vegetables from the farm… if we don't do it right that'll all be gone.”

Across Caledon, traffic safety has been a concern, and for Roberts in Ward 5 it is no different.

She said people need to be able to get around safely and enjoy the community they live in.

She wants to advocate to bring more public transit to Bolton and its growing population. Roberts said transportation infrastructure needs to be in place before developments occur, and that she'll advocate to make Bolton more pedestrian-friendly.

“I feel I'm an active listener… instead of debating or contradicting what other people say I like to bring their ideas in and build on them so we can come up with a solution together,” said Roberts. 

Roberts is happy that Caledon's new Official Plan will not be adopted until the next term of Caledon Council has a chance to look at it. She thinks it was unfair of the provincial government to make regions and municipalities plan for the next 30 years in the middle of a pandemic.

People are custodians of the land, said Roberts, and that guides her leadership style which is collective. She said she's a communicator who takes the ideas of others into account and will represent them at council meetings.

“I don't want to be somebody who just brings their own opinions to the table,” said Roberts. “I want to make sure that we build on lots of people's ideas and bring it to a solution that everyone has contributed to.”

Roberts said she wants to contribute to a greater sense of community in Ward 5, if elected, and that it's important to get as many people as possible involved in local politics. She said while municipalities have a minimum amount of communication that's required of them, she wants to see Caledon go above and beyond these minimums to reach as many people as possible, especially when important topics are at hand.

“I believe there shouldn't be a one plan fits all approach,” said Roberts. “Communities, we can share knowledge and work with each other.”