Here you will find some of the responses to the challenge that Quebec town, Terrasse-Vaudreuil, issued to other Canadian towns and cities as to whether they also will adopt the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Trees in order to plant and maintain more trees in the urban environment. People have a wide range of opinions but generally seem positive to the idea.

Quick answers to your first two questions Alan; Yes.. and.. YES! Sometimes (I think) it's worth raising the rabble to get attention! If that gets some discussion happening, it's a good start.
That being said, Kate makes a good point about allowing others to share their opinions.
I personally, would love to see an urban forest management plan for Perth and surrounding communities, complete with things like tree inventories, preservation incentives and public education, but that's an ambitious idea right now.
In the short term I would be happy with improving stewardship of our existing trees (i.e.; stop the damage to tree trunks when mowing and weeding, increase the mowing buffer to reduce compacting the soil, proper watering, mulching and staking when used). Perhaps the Town would consider hiring the services of a qualified arborist each year to assess tree health and prune when/where necessary.
The Official Plan's Natural Heritage Features Policies section (8.6.4), references Significant Woodlands among other features (yet the section that includes the map of these areas is missing,,?).
Parks, Open Space and Natural Areas (8.1.3.20) doesn't specifically mention 'trees' (I guess it's assumed that natural areas include them..?). The Heritage section mentions trees as part of other policies to improve and beautify the downtown area. Maybe there's an opportunity to mention trees specifically in the OP?
The Town could perhaps set up a survey to gauge the public knowledge, interest and commitment toward trees and tree cover. This might be helpful in deciding how to use our effort.