Victory for quality of life

The Nov. 6 unanimous decision of council to stay the course on the earlier decisions to establish more rational goals to guide Caledon's growth was and is very important.

While some of us who live in Caledon would like even lower population increases between 2021 and 2031, the Nov. 6 decision does represent an important victory for our quality of life. What lessons may we now have gained from this experience?

1. When people become more informed about issues that affect the community, elected politicians are made more accountable. This fact also also may explain why some politicians do try to educate the public while others like to keep people in the dark and sometime misinform/manipulate people.

2. To ensure that the quality of life of a community is protected, all of must stay informed and insist that elected politicians remember to keep the public informed and involved, on a continuous basis.

3. Community media have a very important responsibility to educate the public through examining all points of view on matters affecting the general good of the community. This is an example of solid community service while being good corporate citizens.

4. To ensure future decisions reflect/protect community interests, individuals must have the courage to state their concerns in a manner that reflects knowledge of the issues and respect for others and the implications of the matters under discussion.

Finally, maybe we could say that this entire experience was one of popular, active, democracy. We also should remember that there are many other matters that demand our continued attention and action.

Joe Grogan, Bolton