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.
Collins-Bayridge Candidate List
- Joel Bruce: Broad Priorities & Vision | Key Policy Commitments
- Lisa Osanic: Broad Priorities & Vision | Key Policy Commitments
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 | Joel Bruce | Lisa Osanic |
|---|---|---|
| 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?” | Conditional ↵ | Conditional ↵ |
| 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?” | No ↵ | Yes ↵ |
| 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?” | No ↵ | Conditional ↵ |
| 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?” | No ↵ | Yes ↵ |
| 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?” | No ↵ | Yes ↵ |
| 6. Better Homes Kingston Funding Full question: “Will you vote to establish multi-year capital funding to scale the Better Homes Kingston program?” | Yes ↵ | Conditional ↵ |
| 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?” | No ↵ | Conditional ↵ |
| 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?” | Conditional ↵ | Yes ↵ |
| 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?” | Yes ↵ | Yes ↵ |
| 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?” | Conditional ↵ | Yes ↵ |
| 11. Data Centre Moratorium Full question: “Will you vote for a moratorium on resource-intensive data centres?” | Conditional ↵ | Yes ↵ |
| 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 ↵ | Yes ↵ |
| 13. Zero-Emission Bus Fleet Expansion Full question: “Will you vote to expand the zero-emission bus fleet?” | Conditional ↵ | Yes ↵ |
| 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?” | No ↵ | Conditional ↵ |
| 15. Seasonal Pedestrian Streets Full question: “Will you support pedestrian-friendly street conversions during high foot-traffic seasons?” | Yes ↵ | Yes ↵ |
Broad Priorities and Vision
Joel Bruce
Website: joelanthonybruce.ca
1. What do you consider to be City Council’s greatest climate action success over the past term? (max. 1,000 characters)
Better Homes Kingston is a program that couples both a green initiative with public-private incentive and collaboration. I believe that the City needs to continue to look for opportunities that support business growth, bring together parties with a vested interest in the success of a project, and advances climate action in a manner that does not disrupt the community at large.
2. In terms of climate action, where do you think City Council fell short over the past term? (max. 1,000 characters)
The City has invested heavily in protected bike lanes, creating more cycling infrastructure than some residents believe is necessary for the current level of use. The multiple conflicting Collins-Bayridge corridor bike lanes have reduced road space for cars and increased congestion without providing enough benefit to justify the cost. Going forward, Kingston could focus on evaluating bike-lane usage and prioritizing protected lanes on routes where they provide the greatest safety and transportation benefits.
3. If elected, what would be your top climate action priority in the 2026–2030 term? (max. 1,000 characters)
Kingston should prioritize expanding the use of home energy retrofits, heat pumps, and energy-efficiency programs. Over the next four years, the city should also accelerate public and active transportation by improving transit, sensible cycling infrastructure, and walkable neighbourhoods. These actions would make a climate action without disrupting local commerce.
Lisa Osanic
Website: lisaosanic.ca
1. What do you consider to be City Council’s greatest climate action success over the past term? (max. 1,000 characters)
We purchased electric buses and we gave out funding for home retrofits to make them more energy efficient.
2. In terms of climate action, where do you think City Council fell short over the past term? (max. 1,000 characters)
Saving our woodlands.
3. If elected, what would be your top climate action priority in the 2026–2030 term? (max. 1,000 characters)
We have to put all of the recommendations from the natural heritage study (and even amend the recommendations to make them stronger) into our new Official Plan as policy that must be followed. Wider buffers to wetlands. Better protection to the few woodlands we have left. Save more trees.
Key Policy Commitments
Joel Bruce
District 3 (Collins-Bayridge) — Comments on Policy Commitment Answers
Survey 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?
“There are opportunities to adopt municipal operations that both reduce the carbon footprint and support local economic develop. However, I will not vote for this goal if it forces the City of Kingston to make fiscal commitments that jeopardize the function of city-wide operations.”
Survey Question: Will you vote to mandate climate impact assessments and carbon budgeting for all municipal policy, planning, and procurement decisions?
“Having worked extensively in a project management sphere in a science-based capacity, I have not found impact assessments to be an effective tool. Where I believe the largest impact can be made is through project advocacy, climate offsets, and a social incentive metrics.”
Survey 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?
Candidate indicated a “No” position without additional written comments.
Survey Question: Will you vote to maintain and scale the municipal pilot program supplying free air conditioning units to low-income seniors and vulnerable residents?
Candidate indicated a “No” position without additional written comments.
Survey 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?
Candidate indicated a “No” position without additional written comments.
Survey Question: Will you vote to establish multi-year capital funding to scale the Better Homes Kingston program?
“The program will allow the expansion of access to home energy retrofits, heat pumps, and energy-efficiency programs. Over the next four years, the city should also accelerate public and active transportation by improving transit, sensible cycling infrastructure, and walkable neighbourhoods. These actions would make a climate action without disrupting local commerce.”
Survey 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?
Candidate indicated a “No” position without additional written comments.
Survey 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?
“City development must be incentivized to lean toward multi-use, medium density modernization. There are plenty of opportunities within the city that remain stagnant in part due to the high cost of permitting. To defend rural and agricultural land the city must encourage offsets within the urban and suburban areas that encourage multi-use density building.”
Survey Question: Will you vote to maintain direct City Council oversight of water and wastewater decisions instead of approving a Municipal Services Corporation?
Candidate indicated a “Yes” position without additional written comments.
Survey 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?
“The city must consider the second and third order consequences of this approach. I would like to see a clear outline of where concessions may be made and where the city would explicitly defend urban boundary expansion decisions at the OLT.”
Survey Question: Will you vote for a moratorium on resource-intensive data centres?
“Data centers, especially the largescale sprawling operations, present particular concern for communities. I would be hesitant to vote for a moratorium given the significance of such an action. However, I would like to see empirical work done to identify tangible mitigation strategies could be used where a data center opportunity exists within the city.”
Survey Question: Do you support accelerating the construction of protected bike lane networks and improving bike lane winter maintenance?
“The bike lane network in the Collins-Bayridge is a major concern for residents. General opinion supports bike lanes in practice but opposes the overbuilt nature of the new bike lane corridor. Kingston should fulfil its existing contractual obligations and review lessons learned with respect to both cost and efficacy.”
Survey Question: Will you vote to expand the zero-emission bus fleet?
“I would like to see resources pushed towards a bus fleet with contingency. While zero emissions is a goal to strive for, resource and technology limitations suggest a hybrid model applied in the short to medium term. Kingston can continue to modernize the fleet while both reducing it’s net emissions and ensuring services remain within the fiscal constraints of our municipality.”
Survey Question: Will you vote to pilot expanding fare-free transit beyond youth to post-secondary students, seniors, and low-income residents?
“Kingston has a predominant car culture and I do not believe this will be an effective use of economic resources. I would like to see a more integrated approach to encourage public transportation usage. I do not believe cost is a primary driver to the lack of citizen usage within the city.”
Survey Question: Will you support pedestrian-friendly street conversions during high foot-traffic seasons?
“Where pedestrian friendly street conversions provide both economic and social value, I think it’s an excellent tool to bring people together in public spaces. I would like to see this type of initiative paired with a strategic approach to event planning in the city to maximize the draw to local businesses during peak tourist season.”
Lisa Osanic
District 3 (Collins-Bayridge) — Comments on Policy Commitment Answers
Survey 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?
“Maybe it will be easier to achieve that when all of the electric buses come on board.”
Survey Question: Will you vote to mandate climate impact assessments and carbon budgeting for all municipal policy, planning, and procurement decisions?
“However, I saw in planning reports that the climate impact sections of planning reports were very limited – one sentence or two sentences.”
Survey 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?
“Yes, if the city is allowed to do that. I thought the problem was that our city lawyer said that we can’t. I’ll double check. However, yes I agree that no housing unit should be hotter than 26.”
Survey Question: Will you vote to maintain and scale the municipal pilot program supplying free air conditioning units to low-income seniors and vulnerable residents?
Candidate indicated a “Yes” position without additional written comments.
Survey 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?
Candidate indicated a “Yes” position without additional written comments.
Survey Question: Will you vote to establish multi-year capital funding to scale the Better Homes Kingston program?
“Yes, as much as the city can afford to in the capital budget. It might not be as much as we would like nor as much as what would be truly needed. The demand for the program exceeds the funds”
Survey 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?
“The Premier of Ontario took away the Green Development Standard in early 2026. I would have said yes otherwise. Right now, based on what the Premier did, I don’t believe council can make following a green development standard mandatory, which is very sad.”
Survey 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?
Candidate indicated a “Yes” position without additional written comments.
Survey Question: Will you vote to maintain direct City Council oversight of water and wastewater decisions instead of approving a Municipal Services Corporation?
Candidate indicated a “Yes” position without additional written comments.
Survey 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?
Candidate indicated a “Yes” position without additional written comments.
Survey Question: Will you vote for a moratorium on resource-intensive data centres?
Candidate indicated a “Yes” position without additional written comments.
Survey Question: Do you support accelerating the construction of protected bike lane networks and improving bike lane winter maintenance?
Candidate indicated a “Yes” position without additional written comments.
Survey Question: Will you vote to expand the zero-emission bus fleet?
Candidate indicated a “Yes” position without additional written comments.
Survey Question: Will you vote to pilot expanding fare-free transit beyond youth to post-secondary students, seniors, and low-income residents?
“I want to read the staff report first when it comes out.”
Survey Question: Will you support pedestrian-friendly street conversions during high foot-traffic seasons?
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.