E112 Eric Davis Local Government and Wellness
Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 112
Date: March 19, 2024
Participants: John Webster, Elise Seifert, Cameron Earnshaw, Julie Wilson and Sheila Webster
Guest: Eric Davis
Start Times and Segments:
[0:00:16] What’s On Your Mind: We talk about the list of activities from John’s book (Accidentally Well) that enhance intellectual wellness. It’s all about exercising the mind, not about getting a higher.
[0:09:01] Expanding Minds Interview: [Social Wellness] We interview Eric Davis about the importance of local government, which impacts wellness in many ways. Municipal government has the most direct impact on everyday life, yet ironically it is the level of government which most people pay the least amount of attention to. Some municipalities put much emphasis on health, wellness and livable communities, and less on keeping the car king. Others show they are not interested in that. People need to understand they can have an impact on what their local community looks like, that is if they get engaged. Each of us can make a difference by learning about how local government works, who’s interested in what, who supports the wellness type initiatives we want to undertake, then voting.
[0:24:58] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Cameron took time from a busy schedule to work on a personal project, which included trying to get his chops back up with an 8-string guitar.
[0:29:25] Move That Body: We found a list of ways to exercise while doing other things, so you may not even realize you’re exercising. It includes kids roughhousing, or with them. Another is playing video games that make you work.
[0:33:40] Running Popup: John wonders why he imagines having conversations with famous people?
[0:34:38] Flipside of the Coin: Sheila was intrigued by an internet post about 3 core components of relationships: mutual respect, mutual trust and mutual affection.
Quotes and Take-Aways:
John – I think of all my traits, curiosity is the one I’ve come to cherish most while I’ve aged. It’s great to know that by being curious and inquisitive, there’s wonder out there. There are still more things to learn. It makes me want to learn.
Eric – The level of government that has the most direct impact on your everyday life is the municipal level of government. Think about things like garbage collection, street signs, road maintenance, water, all of the sorts of things a lot of people take for granted. That all falls within the municipal sphere.
Eric – If you’re interested in parks, bike lanes, walking trails, infrastructure to support wellness, those are all things that a municipal government has control over. Yet ironically it is the level of government which most people pay the least amount of attention to.
Eric – Different municipalities and the councils they elect are oftentimes the deciders of what the priority is for the municipality. Some councillors who are focused on road maintenance. Some campaigned against bicycle paths or adding bike lanes to roads. If you care about those things and want to support health, wellness and active transportation routes (walking, cycling, skateboarding, whatever), then you need to elect members to council who care about those issues. You can’t take it for granted that all municipal governments care about that.
Eric – If you look around Ontario, I could point to examples of municipalities who have really put a lot of emphasis on health, wellness and livable communities, and less on keeping the car king. Let’s focus on different ways to get around. Let’s try to make liveable communities. There are other municipalities who show they are just not interested in that.
Eric – Municipal government has the ability to really impact the policies, such as creating trails masterplans, walking masterplans, encouraging active transportation, encouraging infrastructure to be created, to promote a health an active lifestyle, like public parks, but that must be made a priority.
Eric – A lot of people don’t appreciate the degree of impact that they can have on influencing their municipal government, and that the municipal government has on impacting their everyday lives.
John – The pitch that I’m making is to do your homework. Figure out how your voting system works for local government where you live. Who can you vote for? What do the people stand for?
Eric – The municipal government has invested a tremendous amount of money in arts and cultures industries. Right now they are facing serious financial pressure to withdraw that. Municipal governments invest heavily in arts and culture initiatives to try to promote art. Arguably, the municipal governments can do more if people push for things like public art installations and other things to beautify and create the most livable community possible, so that people want to get out and about, want to engage with other people and want to engage with the city. There are art installations people can interact with and other options. It requires public money investment and creativity. There are thing we can do to promote that. I encourage people to look up European examples of livable cities. It is amazing what one can do.
John – Each of us can make a difference by learning about how local government works, who’s interested in what, who supports the wellness type initiatives we want to undertake, then voting. That’s the ask.
Eric – It’s about trying in whatever way you can to get involved in your community. I could be your neighbourhood community council or something else. It’s about trying to find ways to give back, to interact with your municipal government and to learn what it can do.
Eric – People need to understand that they can have an impact. You can really impact what your local community looks like if you get engaged. To the extent that people can do so, that would be great.
Bulletin Board Quote brought to you by John: As soon as I didn’t get that cheering squad, I was mad
Guest Information: Eric Davis is a Partner at SmithValeriote Law Firm LLP. He practices Municipal & Planning Law. He’s an Law Society of Ontario Certified Specialist in Municipal Law: Local Government / Land Use Planning & Development. Throughout his over 17-year career, he has acted for both private- and public-sector clients on all manner of issues related to municipalities. He is a Director on the Board for KidsAbility, a Trustee of the Waterloo Region Law Association, and a Member of the Ontario Bar Association’s Municipal Law Section Executive. In 2019, Eric was awarded the Waterloo Award, the City of Waterloo’s highest civic honour, for his involvement in the community.
Eric’s page at SV Law: Eric Davis
Connect with Let’s Be Well Together Podcast:
website: https://letsbewelltogether.com
Follow our Instagram account: @lets.be.well.together use hashtag #letsbewelltogetherpodcast
Provide input on Instagram using hashtag #letsbewelltogetherinput
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Lets.Be.Well.Together
Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle, Noura and Julie