Donna Cragg runs for Ward 2 council seat

Ward 2 resident Donna Cragg registered last week as a candidate for the seat of regional councillor in the Nov. 13 election.

Cragg feels that when residents exercise their opportunity to elect their municipal representatives they directly help to ensure quality of life issues affecting their day-to-day living!

Cragg's interest in Caledon "living" stems from 1975 when she visited Caledon on a high school field trip through the Cheltenham and Inglewood areas. It was from this trip that her interest in Caledon grew and eventually led her, Tom her husband of 25 years, and five-year-old Shit-zhu Scruffy to make Terra Cotta their permanent home after 23 years of traveling and living in northern Ontario, Vaughan, Canada's High Arctic and southern Florida.

"Caledon offers the best of what we have encountered in our travels! It's the place we want to be," Cragg said.

Raised in Malton (now part of Mississauga) she has experienced all three municipalities of Peel Region and believes that today Caledon is at a pivotal point in its history. Her vision is one of a Caledon that will continue on the course it has set toward a highly desirable and totally functional place to live, meeting the diverse needs of its residents while maintaining the distinctive natural beauty, charm, rural atmosphere and green reputation that is so attractive.

She believes most residents want Caledon to be unique. To ensure this Cragg believes it is imperative to have a strong unified municipal voice and the ability to cultivate workable, business like relationships with all levels of government, community groups and interested parties.

From her years as director of marketing and administration with an interior design firm, to seven years spent in corporate finance with an international mining corporation, to business growth consulting with small to medium size businesses, real estate experience and running her own consulting business, she feels she has built a solid base of skills to bring to council. Working with a variety of businesses she has expanded her knowledge into areas such as green energy and the benefits this presents to families and the environment.

Cragg offers a unique combination melding marketing and finance skills not often seen. She served on the board of directors, Habitat for Humanity Brampton affiliate as chair of public relations, facilitated a strategic planning table at the 2005 Small Business Enterprise Centre (SBEC) in Peel. While in the Arctic, she volunteered on the executive for the Polaris High Arctic Club, a non-profit group focused on social, educational and healthcare issues and in 1994 was a member of the provincial task force, Design for a Strong Ontario.

Ralph Monkman, a longstanding member of the Peel Federation of Agriculture says he and his wife Earlene always enjoy working with Cragg on numerous projects with Habitat, including the excitement of winning the best and brightest of community floats in the 2003 Brampton Santa Claus Parade.

"She always gets the job done," Monkman said. It was after speaking to

numerous residents, taking a hard look at the issues and opportunities for Caledon's future, and measuring the value her background, experience and skills could bring to council, that Cragg was encouraged by the level of personal and political support to seek the opportunity to serve on council.

Active in the Terra Cotta Community Centre restoration she values community and the fact that Ward 2 is made up of a

series of special communities each with a history and abundant spirit Cragg feels is an attribute to be valued and cultivated. She believes the importance of agricultural issues, rural residential concerns, proper infrastructure, population growth, the effects of the greenbelt all need to be integrated to ensure we maintain the highest quality of life in Caledon.

Cragg feels agriculture has always been an important part of Caledon

and it is critical that its viability be maintained for those residents that select the agricultural life.

She firmly believes it is important to keep Caledon's history in mind when planning for a vibrant future we can all celebrate and she looks forward to working to preserve the unique Caledon living experience.

For more information contact Donna Cragg at 905873-2877, (cell) 416-3719968 or email, visioncaledon@gmail.com.