The ClimateFast newsletter shares information, resources, news, and activist opportunities about the climate crisis that may interest our readers, and does not necessarily reflect the views of ClimateFast members. If you have an event or resource you would like to share, please send it to newsletter@climatefast.ca.

Ontario legislators will be returning to Queen’s Park next week - please scroll down to the Events section to learn about actions planned for February 21st and 25th!

Photo by Betty Muir, from 2017 - this is our 7th year deputing for climate in the budget!

Letter to Council: ClimateFast members Lyn Adamson and Anne Keary (also with For Our Kids) prepared a letter on the budget which was signed by 43 member groups of Toronto Climate Action Network (TCAN). The letter stressed the need to fund the Net Zero Climate Action Plan and to meet the social needs of the city. It was given to Councillor Dianne Saxe to present as a petition at the start of the council’s budget meeting.  

Please note: the budget still does NOT provide the needed funds to stay on track on the Net Zero Plan, nor does it meet the social and transit needs of the city. However, city staff continue to work hard and we continue to advocate in support of their work on the TransformTO climate plan and the city’s net zero by 2040 goal. ClimateFast co-chair Lyn Adamson is a member of the City’s Climate Advisory Group. For more info on our municipal work take a look at our municipal page.

Sharon Bider deputing via video link

The Gardiner expressway eastern rebuild is an exceptionally expensive project that will benefit only 3% of morning commuters. We need to shift commuters out of cars and onto transit to achieve Net Zero by 2040. It doesn’t make sense to put $2B toward the Gardiner when we could use those funds for the TTC and for active transportation options (see the graph below, from City Hall Watcher, for a comparison of spending on the Gardiner versus other transportation infrastructure in Toronto). ClimateFast has helped organize a letter to City Council urging councillors to stop issuing new contracts and to rethink the Gardiner. Less than $400M has been committed so far. We could save at least $1B through redesign. The letter is open for groups to sign on. 

ClimateFast members spent the last year pushing hard for climate action at all levels of government. Our most recent blog post takes a look back at our accomplishments in 2022.

Residents of York-South Weston, led by a group of Indigenous youth from the ENAGB agency, are calling on Metrolinx and the municipal and provincial governments to ensure that the planned Eglinton Crosstown West Expansion does not destroy essential parkland in the Eglinton Flats area. Park defenders have been keeping a sacred fire burning continuously in the park, and holding ceremonies to honour the trees that are under threat. Earlier this month ClimateFast sent a letter to provincial and local leaders in support of the Stop the Trains in Our Parks campaign.

For a trip down memory lane watch this 2 minute video: Valentine's Tea for the Mayor by Nadine Mackinnon. 2017 was ClimateFast’s first year deputing for TransformTO funding.

February 21, 2023, 9:45am
Queen’s Park visitor’s gallery, Toronto 
Join Greenbelt advocates for a ‘Ford-Watch Party’, to hear updates on efforts to protect the Greenbelt and to continue to hold premier Ford accountable for his actions.

Feb 21, 1:00pm-3:00pm ET
Online
The City of Toronto is hosting a consultation on EV charging stations
are interested in attending please email lyn@climatefast.ca who will forward the details.

March 2, 2023, 1:00PM ET
Online
Learning Together: Indigenous Rights, Climate Justice and Parenthood
For Our Kids hosts Indigenous authors, educators and activists Chelsea Vowel and Clayton Thomas-Müller for a conversation about decolonial approaches to parenthood, community life and advocacy.

The City of Toronto has opened public consultations on a new complete streets project focused on Eglinton Avenue (EglintonTOday), with a view to making the street safer and more inviting for all. CycleTO is asking residents to participate in the consultations in support of their Eglinton for Everyone campaign, which calls for a strong focus on cycle lanes and pedestrian infrastructure. The City is hosting two in-person consultations; CycleTO invites residents interested in joining them at these sessions to register here. 

• Tuesday, February 21st from 6:30PM - 8:30PM at Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School, 1107 Avenue Rd, cafeteria
• Saturday, February 25th from 2PM - 4PM, at Fairbank Public School, 2335 Dufferin St, gymnasium (parking lot located north side of school with back-up parking located on south side of school)

You can also contribute by filling out a City of Toronto survey on the project; the deadline to complete the survey is March 7.

The Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign (OCEC) is planning a lobby day! This provincial lobby day will be held in mid-April and we will make appointments with as many MPPs as we can book on that day. We need YOU to join us!  We always like to have a constituent reach out to make the appointments. A prep session will be held in advance of the MPP meetings.

Our topics will be: how can we stop the expansion of gas plants and make sure our electric grid does not get re-carbonized?  How can we protect farmlands, wetlands, and forest and support urban intensification for housing? We will be asking MPPs how they can address these concerns, and seeking their suggestions on how to collaborate for a better climate future for the province. If you’d like to be part of the lobby day, please contact Lyn at ocec.chair@gmail.com.

Around Ontario, public transportation is under threat as municipal and provincial leaders opt to cut service and raise fares rather than making the necessary investments to build and maintain world-class transit systems. Advocacy groups are lobbying both levels of government to counter this trend. 

Send a letter to provincial lawmakers (via the Suzuki foundation)
Toronto residents: Tell city council to Stop TTC Cuts (via TTC Riders)
Ottawa residents: Tell city council to Stop the Cuts to Public Transit (via Horizon Ottawa)

The Bay du Nord project, a new offshore oil drilling project off the Newfoundland coast supported by Norwegian fossil fuel company Equinor, was approved by the federal government in April 2022. If the project goes ahead as planned, it will continue producing oil for decades, generating massive carbon emissions as the oil is burned, and endangering biodiversity in local marine ecosystems. Environmental group Equiterre is currently calling on the federal government to revoke the project’s approval.

Ontario’s Bill 23, passed late last year, threatens to strip conservation authorities of their powers, open up large parts of the province’s formerly protected Greenbelt for development, and put a significant dent in municipal budgets around the province. Since the bill’s inception, advocates in government and civil society have been calling strongly for its repeal. Public policy research group SPR is currently surveying Ontarians on the issue, and plans to incorporate their findings into a position paper to present to the government and the public by March. The deadline to complete the survey is February 28th.