Again, I'd be interested in your thoughts, because we need great people like you running for office!
open.substack.com/pub/lukasoak...
17.02.2026 16:31
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Again, I'd be interested in your thoughts, because we need great people like you running for office!
open.substack.com/pub/lukasoak...
This week in the @theparisindependent and on my own blog, I share why I think you -should- run for office, as a counterpoint to my article a few weeks back on the barriers keeping people from running for office.
I thought it was important to discuss the barriers to elected office (and my own experiences with those barriers), and what we all can do to help tear down those same barriers.
I encourage folks to check it out, and to get involved in this year's elections. Let me know your thoughts!
In this week's @theparisindependent, I wrote an editorial about the upcoming municipal election, and the declining participation in our democracy. Local elections are important, and we need both more great people running for office and everyone participating in electing these great people.
For more examples on how precisely these laws are problematic, review articles such as this from the Guardian, where a teenager was murdered for ringing a doorbell in Missouri: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023...
I appreciate and empathize with MPP Brady's passion and advocacy for improving public safety, but after reading her column this morning I felt compelled to speak against what would be an extremely erroneous and problematic measure for our federal Minister of Justice Sean Fraser to take.
The laws (and MPP Brady's statement) also invokes very colonial language and ideology ("An Englishman's home is his castle") that I fear within a Canadian context would be used to further perpetuate colonial violence against the indigenous people in Canada.
The "Castle" laws in the US allow for the lawful murder and persecution of racialized people, in particular black Americans, by white Americans. It is also deeply tied to the very problematic gun culture in the US, which would also be a tremendous error to bring into our Country.
The invitation to bring American style "Castle" laws into our country would be a grave mistake, and perpetuate the same type of violence against minority groups, in particular racialized folks, that it does in the US.
The funding the County of Brant dedicated in this year's budget towards several Gender-Based and Intimate Partner Violence service providers continues to go to great use in our community, supporting rural residents. Thank you to SAC Brant for the important work you do.
I was pleased council passed an amended version of my motion to oppose Bill 5 last night, but the fight does not stop here. I encourage you to get in contact with your representatives at all levels of government to discourage them from supporting these types of legislation.
Check out my latest piece on Bill C-5, how it relates to Ontario's Bill 5 and similar legislation, and how we cannot tolerate our governments utilizing a crisis to bypass democracy, ignore environmental protections, and not give Indigenous treaty holders their constitutional rights to consultation.
🚨 Councillor Lukas Oakley is bringing forward a motion to oppose Ontario’s Bill 5, calling it a threat to local governance, Indigenous rights & environmental protections.
🗓️ Brant County Council debates it Tues, June 25 at 6PM. Public delegations welcome.
#BrantCounty #ONpoli #Bill5
I would encourage those who are interested in supporting (or opposing) this motion to please consider contacting your councillors or delegating to our council next Tuesday night at 6pm. Please find the details on how to register as a delegation here: www.brant.ca/en/council-a...
It must go back to the drawing board so we can accomplish shared goals of economic growth, whilst respecting municipal jurisdiction, indigenous communities, and our stewardship of the environment.
Thus, I gave notice this morning of my motion coming to next week's council to oppose Bill 5 and request the government repeal this poorly crafted and wide sweeping legislation.
I have a great deal of concern about what this motion could mean for local governance, environmental protections, and indigenous treaty rights.
This morning at our Administration and Operations Committee, we received a report from staff on the potential impacts of Bill 5 on the County of Brant.
Happy Pride Month everyone 🏳️🌈
And to those in our community who are 2SLGTBQIA+, know that you have unconditional and stalwart allies in the Council and staff of the County of Brant. I encourage you of those in that community to please reach out if there is more than we can be doing to actively support you.
I have consistently pushed back against these transgressions against valued members of our community. I would encourage everyone to do the same in their day to day as well.
But in those three years, our neighboring community of Norwich has regularly had Pride flags vandalized, I helped organize a counter protest to the hateful "Million Person March" in 2023, and numerous smaller encounters where people have complained about "wokeness" or pushing LGBT on them.
I, perhaps naively, thought these conversations had long since been settled. Of course people are entitled to be who they are, and live their lives as their authentic selves without prosecution.
When I became a councillor three years ago, I never imagined that fighting for basic human rights and dignity would become something that I would need to regularly engage in.
As one of the students from PDHS said to the assembled crowd today, we must not tolerate intolerance, and call people out when they engage in bigotry, particularly as allies, as it is unfair and unduly burdensome to leave this on the shoulders of 2SLGTBQIA+ people alone.
We must never stop the fight to ensure everyone has access to the same spaces, resources, and safety; and right now is a particularly scary time for our 2SLGTBQIA+ friends.
Today, we had our Pride Flag raising at Council Chamber. We were joined by many members of our community to share in this moment where we come together to show support of the 2SLGTBQIA+ people who live in the County of Brant.
Hello folks, I am trying out a new way to connect with constituents for longer form articles, such as my conference recaps and opinion pieces that I have submitted in the past to our local papers, as well as new pieces.
Please feel free to check it out!
