In 2018, Toronto mayoral candidate Sarah Climenhaga wanted to proclaim the right answers, but in 2022 she says people themselves are the answer..“My first campaign was more geared about offering the right answer for everything. And this time, it's more offering to listen to try and to work together on what's going to benefit us every day,” Climenhaga told the Western Standard..“I'm realizing that the mayor needs to be a lot more flexible, and responsive to changing conditions. It's a better way of doing things because we see promises get broken all the time in political campaigns. And we also see politicians or government at large saying they know what's best, but then making mistakes if they're not willing to look at how to evolve.”.Climenhaga says her more flexible, more open, and less prescriptive approach started by watching governments that handled the pandemic in the opposite way..“I started speaking out against our response right from the beginning. And I was kind of rejected by a lot of the groups that I had felt affiliated with before,” she said..“I'm the one who's being looked at as ignorant, as selfish, as all these negative adjectives that were raised in political discourse towards people who didn't agree with mandates.”.The experience led the mother of three to reflect on herself and change. .“That really caused me to question my own view of the world. Like, where am I making categorizations and saying that people are bad if they disagree with me on something? I started questioning my own labels of other people,” she said..“It made me see that everyone has their own unique perspective and their own unique expertise. And it's so valuable to listen to all of those things.”.Climenhaga’s passions are more often associated with those on the left. Her LinkedIn profile reads, “Whether working at a non profit to protect endangered species and spaces, with a consortium of businesses to help their employees reduce their environmental footprint, or as a volunteer in my community on increasing transit access, road safety and green space, I've worked to create positive change in the world.”.On other issues, the former outreach coordinator for Cycle Toronto, sounds more like someone on the right. She says if governments want to deal with the high cost and low availability of housing, they should get out of the way..“When we take away some of that red tape, when we take away some of those zoning hurdles, we can have a lot happening by all the people who want to build housing and who want to have housing,” Climenhaga said..“Rather than having projects delayed, or canceled, or a small homeowner is unable to put in two apartments due to bylaws — there's all sorts of opportunities for housing in this city that I think the city could allow, rather than standing in the way of.”.Climenhaga knows most people don’t associate this kind of talk with an environmentalist. She says that too, needs to change..“Why do I have to say that if I love parks, that means X, Y, and Z about me? Why does it say that if I believe in personal choice and bodily autonomy that that means A, B and C about me? I reject those kinds of group categorizations. And I think a lot of people do too,” she said..“It's time for the media and our politicians to start representing what the larger population is like instead of fitting into these caricatures and boxes.”.In August, Climenhaga stated publicly the vaccine mandate for Toronto City employees should end. She believes much of the population is ahead of the politicians on the issue..“It's only a lonely stance when you look at current politics. We’ve had too much of a one-size-fits-all approach around the whole world, and certainly in Canada. Now people are willing to start asking those questions,” Climenhaga said..“We can also respect human rights, we can also listen to people, we can also welcome our city to everyone instead of these artificial categorizations of people based on their medical status that we never did before..“I think there's a lot of willingness to start accepting people for who they are instead of trying to say there's good people and bad people, which is what we've kind of been doing these past couple of years.”.Even Climenhaga’s view of the media has changed, thanks again to the pandemic and genuine reflection..“I used to go to one or two media sources and they were all kind of my worldview. And I tended to maybe dismiss others or just think they weren't applicable,” Climenhaga said..“I have valued the voice of independent media so much these past two years. It's broadened my perspective. Now I see the huge value, so I am very grateful to [independent media] for the work it does.”.Toronto’s election will be held October 24.
In 2018, Toronto mayoral candidate Sarah Climenhaga wanted to proclaim the right answers, but in 2022 she says people themselves are the answer..“My first campaign was more geared about offering the right answer for everything. And this time, it's more offering to listen to try and to work together on what's going to benefit us every day,” Climenhaga told the Western Standard..“I'm realizing that the mayor needs to be a lot more flexible, and responsive to changing conditions. It's a better way of doing things because we see promises get broken all the time in political campaigns. And we also see politicians or government at large saying they know what's best, but then making mistakes if they're not willing to look at how to evolve.”.Climenhaga says her more flexible, more open, and less prescriptive approach started by watching governments that handled the pandemic in the opposite way..“I started speaking out against our response right from the beginning. And I was kind of rejected by a lot of the groups that I had felt affiliated with before,” she said..“I'm the one who's being looked at as ignorant, as selfish, as all these negative adjectives that were raised in political discourse towards people who didn't agree with mandates.”.The experience led the mother of three to reflect on herself and change. .“That really caused me to question my own view of the world. Like, where am I making categorizations and saying that people are bad if they disagree with me on something? I started questioning my own labels of other people,” she said..“It made me see that everyone has their own unique perspective and their own unique expertise. And it's so valuable to listen to all of those things.”.Climenhaga’s passions are more often associated with those on the left. Her LinkedIn profile reads, “Whether working at a non profit to protect endangered species and spaces, with a consortium of businesses to help their employees reduce their environmental footprint, or as a volunteer in my community on increasing transit access, road safety and green space, I've worked to create positive change in the world.”.On other issues, the former outreach coordinator for Cycle Toronto, sounds more like someone on the right. She says if governments want to deal with the high cost and low availability of housing, they should get out of the way..“When we take away some of that red tape, when we take away some of those zoning hurdles, we can have a lot happening by all the people who want to build housing and who want to have housing,” Climenhaga said..“Rather than having projects delayed, or canceled, or a small homeowner is unable to put in two apartments due to bylaws — there's all sorts of opportunities for housing in this city that I think the city could allow, rather than standing in the way of.”.Climenhaga knows most people don’t associate this kind of talk with an environmentalist. She says that too, needs to change..“Why do I have to say that if I love parks, that means X, Y, and Z about me? Why does it say that if I believe in personal choice and bodily autonomy that that means A, B and C about me? I reject those kinds of group categorizations. And I think a lot of people do too,” she said..“It's time for the media and our politicians to start representing what the larger population is like instead of fitting into these caricatures and boxes.”.In August, Climenhaga stated publicly the vaccine mandate for Toronto City employees should end. She believes much of the population is ahead of the politicians on the issue..“It's only a lonely stance when you look at current politics. We’ve had too much of a one-size-fits-all approach around the whole world, and certainly in Canada. Now people are willing to start asking those questions,” Climenhaga said..“We can also respect human rights, we can also listen to people, we can also welcome our city to everyone instead of these artificial categorizations of people based on their medical status that we never did before..“I think there's a lot of willingness to start accepting people for who they are instead of trying to say there's good people and bad people, which is what we've kind of been doing these past couple of years.”.Even Climenhaga’s view of the media has changed, thanks again to the pandemic and genuine reflection..“I used to go to one or two media sources and they were all kind of my worldview. And I tended to maybe dismiss others or just think they weren't applicable,” Climenhaga said..“I have valued the voice of independent media so much these past two years. It's broadened my perspective. Now I see the huge value, so I am very grateful to [independent media] for the work it does.”.Toronto’s election will be held October 24.
