We sent all candidates running for Mayor and City Council a questionnaire about key climate and environmental issues. Head to the main page to learn about the policy positions of mayoral candidates and City Council candidates in other districts.
Lakeside Candidate List
- Stephen Cuthbertson: Broad Priorities & Vision | Key Policy Commitments
- Wendy Stephen (has not responded)
We contacted non-responding candidates multiple times via their official campaign channels. This page remains open for updates, should they decide to fill out the questionnaire before election day.
Compare Candidate Policy Commitments at a Glance
Click on any of the coloured buttons below to read more about a candidate’s answer.
| Policy Commitment | Stephen Cuthbertson | Wendy Stephen (Did not respond) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Corporate GHG Emissions Target (45% by 2030) Full question: “Will you vote for the City of Kingston to adopt a corporate greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal of 45% by 2030 to align municipal operations with science-based targets and show leadership to the rest of the Kingston community?” | Yes ↵ | No Response |
| 2. Climate Impact Assessments & Carbon Budgeting Full question: “Will you vote to mandate climate impact assessments and carbon budgeting for all municipal policy, planning, and procurement decisions?” | Yes ↵ | No Response |
| 3. 26°C Maximum Temperature Bylaw Full question: “Will you vote to pass a comprehensive Maximum Temperature Bylaw setting an upper limit of 26 °C for all rental housing, paired with measures to protect tenants from additional costs?” | Conditional ↵ | No Response |
| 4. Free Air Conditioners for Vulnerable Residents Full question: “Will you vote to maintain and scale the municipal pilot program supplying free air conditioning units to low-income seniors and vulnerable residents?” | Yes ↵ | No Response |
| 5. Heat Protections & Encampment Protections Full question: “Will you vote to end encampment displacements and, during extreme heat events, expand 24/7 cooling centres and guarantee continuous clean drinking water distribution at sites like Belle Park?” | Yes ↵ | No Response |
| 6. Better Homes Kingston Funding Full question: “Will you vote to establish multi-year capital funding to scale the Better Homes Kingston program?” | Yes ↵ | No Response |
| 7. Mandatory Green Development Standard Full question: “Will you vote for Kingston to develop a mandatory Green Development Standard, following the lead of other Ontario municipalities like Toronto, Whitby, and Ottawa?” | Yes ↵ | No Response |
| 8. Hold Urban Boundary Line Full question: “Will you vote to hold Kingston’s urban boundary where it is and prioritize infill, gentle density, and brownfield development within current urban limits rather than expanding into rural/agricultural lands?” | No ↵ | No Response |
| 9. Maintain Direct Council Oversight of Utilities Full question: “Will you vote to maintain direct City Council oversight of water and wastewater decisions instead of approving a Municipal Services Corporation?” | No ↵ | No Response |
| 10. Defend Planning Decisions at OLT Full question: “When developers appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) to force urban boundary expansions on lands excluded from the draft Official Plan, will you vote to instruct City legal staff to defend Council’s and City staff’s planning decisions at the OLT?” | Yes ↵ | No Response |
| 11. Data Centre Moratorium Full question: “Will you vote for a moratorium on resource-intensive data centres?” | No ↵ | No Response |
| 12. Protected Bike Lanes & Winter Maintenance Full question: “Do you support accelerating the construction of protected bike lane networks and improving bike lane winter maintenance?” | Conditional ↵ | No Response |
| 13. Zero-Emission Bus Fleet Expansion Full question: “Will you vote to expand the zero-emission bus fleet?” | Yes ↵ | No Response |
| 14. Fare-Free Transit Pilots Full question: “Will you vote to pilot expanding fare-free transit beyond youth to post-secondary students, seniors, and low-income residents?” | Yes ↵ | No Response |
| 15. Seasonal Pedestrian Streets Full question: “Will you support pedestrian-friendly street conversions during high foot-traffic seasons?” | Yes ↵ | No Response |
Broad Priorities and Vision
Stephen Cuthbertson
Website: stephencuth.ca
1. What do you consider to be City Council’s greatest climate action success over the past term? (max. 1,000 characters)
Publishing the Climate Change Adaptation Plan as a framework to keep the city organized on its climate action is a strong achievement in my opinion, even though it’s just a piece of paper. The continued actions of Better Homes Kingston is probably the greatest success in a physical capacity for its ability to improve efficiency of older, less environmentally conscious housing.
2. In terms of climate action, where do you think City Council fell short over the past term? (max. 1,000 characters)
I think that the city needs to take stronger action on reducing how much municipal solid waste is produced, as well as work on diverting from landfills. Landfills become a major producer of GHGs, so developing alternative waste solutions should be at the forefront of our planning when it comes to what we do with our trash.
3. If elected, what would be your top climate action priority in the 2026–2030 term? (max. 1,000 characters)
I want to work with other regional municipalities to develop a waste incineration plant. I used to think burning garbage was nasty, and it sort of is, but it’s been proven to be better than the alternative of letting it stew underground for eternity. While the long term goals of human society should obviously be about sustainable practices like more biodegradable and recyclable products, in the interim we are still going to have a lot of waste to deal with. Our current plan is to keep sticking it in holes in the ground and that doesn’t sit well with me.
Key Policy Commitments
District 4 (Lakeside) — Comments on Policy Commitment Answers
“I’m a fan of leading by example. If the city doesn’t step up and do this, how can we expect other local leaders to try and do the same?”
“Without including such assessments in our decision making process, how else could we prove we made the most environmentally conscious decision?”
“This would require the purchase of thousands of AC units across the city. This is a massive opportunity to work with suppliers to establish some standardized equipment, reducing the cost of implementation and ongoing costs through an economy of scale. I wouldn’t want to vote on this unless we’d developed a plan to reduce the dollar impact on those affected.”
“These residents are most susceptible to the complications of extreme heat. As it continues to get hotter we need to do our part to ensure their living conditions remain safe.”
“In my opinion (which just so happens to be shared by the Ontario Superior Court) encampment displacements, for the most part, are kind of evil. I also think we need to explore options to provide tap water for the unhoused considering how much more cost effective and environmentally friendly it is than bottled water.”
“As I mentioned previously, I think Better Homes is one of the most effective programs the city has.”
“It’s not that hard to exceed the building code, I think there’s a lot that could be done with local development to ensure better long term sustainability.”
“Some day the city will need to expand its urban boundary. While I would certainly prioritize intensification and infill, there’s only so much space available. But I’m not a fan of urban sprawl, believe me I’m not just picturing endless suburban development when it comes to urban expansion.”
“I can talk for hours on this, 350 characters is not enough. Please reach out to me if you read this and wonder what my thoughts are on the matter.”
“The whole point of having our official plan is it indicates where we plan on development occurring, and we prepare our infrastructure accordingly. We can’t let the OLT dictate that development occur in spaces we are not prepared for.”
“This is too broad to be good policy. What if Queen’s wanted to build a datacenter to run models for a cancer cure? I know that example sounds far fetched, but there are legitimate uses for datacenters. Banning them outright could do more harm than good in the long run. Certainly we should scrutinize any such developments in Kingston to ensure they are performing net-good for our society.”
“In general, yes. I like active transportation. Winter maintenance operations are costly. I would want to better understand how active transportaion systems are used in the winter before I’d be able to make a decision like this.”
“Diesel buses stink.”
“I’ve spoken several times about reducing barriers to transit, and I have visions of making transit free for everyone.”
Candidate indicated a “Yes” position without additional written comments.
Head back to the main page to learn about the policy positions of mayoral candidates and City Council candidates in each district.