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MAKE TORONTO'S NEXT MAYOR A CLIMATE MAYOR

ADVANCE POLLS ARE NOW OPEN JUNE 8-13: VOTER INFO HERE

This week, the urgency of the climate crisis has grown even more tangible. You can now smell it in the air and feel it in your lungs. Relentless wildfires have devoured 3.3 million hectares of land across Canada so far this year - roughly 10 times the usual average for the entire wildfire season.
EXTREME WILDFIRES ARE CAUSED BY FOSSIL-FUELLED CLIMATE CHANGE 
 

The reason these fires are spreading so rapidly and are so hard to extinguish is that the forests are tinder dry. The forests are tinder dry because we are in a drought. And we are in a drought because we have not yet slashed our emissions and temperatures are rising, twice as fast in Canada as in the rest of the world. If we want the forests to stop burning we need to cut our fossil fuel reliance as quickly as possible. Now is the time to talk with friends, neighbours, work colleagues about the need to switch from burning fossil fuels to renewable energy, and to conserve energy using heat pumps, home retrofits, cycling, walking and public transit. And now is the time to encourage the media to tell their audiences to do the same!
TORONTO NEEDS A CLIMATE MAYOR! 
 

Now is the time to elect a mayor who takes the need for climate action seriously, who will support and find funding for the TransformTO Net Zero by 2040 climate action plan, and who will help our communities adapt to the effects of climate change that they have already started to feel.

In response to the climate emergency, Toronto environmental organizations have joined together to ask all mayoral candidates to sign a climate pledge. The pledge commits them to doing everything in their power and using all means available to implement Toronto's climate strategy, TransformTO, and to implement an effective plan to make the city more resilient in the face of those impacts that are now unavoidable.

ClimateFast is non-partisan, however we can report to you what we know about the commitments and pledges of the candidates running.  If you are concerned about the climate, these are the candidates who have pledged to act.

To date, we have received signed pledges from six mayoral candidates, including two front-runners: Olivia Chow and Josh Matlow. Thank you to everyone who wrote to the candidates!
Climate Candidates
 

If elected mayor of Toronto, the following candidates pledge to do everything in their power to fully implement TransformTO and prepare our city for the negative impacts of a changing climate.

Josh Matlow

Olivia Chow

Celina Caesar-Chavannes

D!onne Renée

Jeffery Tunney

Kiri Vadivelu

In order to ensure that our next mayor is a climate mayor, we urge you to take the following actions:

  • Vote. If you have any doubt about your ability to get to the polls on June 26, take advantage of early voting beginning on Thursday, June 8 at 10 am and continuing until Tuesday, June 13 at 7 pm. If you didn't receive a voter card you can register at the polling place. Bring one piece of ID. A wide variety of documents can be used - check here for details. 18 year old high school voters can use their provincial report card as ID as the document is issued by the government of Ontario and includes name and address.
    HERE'S HOW TO VOTE IN ADVANCE POLLS

  • If you support a candidate, consider volunteering your time, taking a lawn or window sign, canvassing and/or making a donation. Running a campaign is a huge investment of time, energy, and funds, and community support makes all the difference. You will not only be supporting a campaign, but supporting democracy.

  • Spread this message to friends and family, and encourage like-minded friends, family members and neighbours to vote. Call 5 friends and invite them to vote with you! Share with them the information on the climate commitments of the candidates.  Voting can be a fun, social and very positive action to do together!

  • Come out to leaflet on a climate day of action - June 13, in the morning (7 - 8:30am, or 7:30- 9am) or evening (4:30- 6pm) outside a subway station, with the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) and ClimateFast. If it’s still smoky, wear a mask outdoors. Register here.

  • KEEP WRITING TO THE MEDIA - IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE!! Thank you to everyone who wrote to the CBC, to ask for coverage on climate -  we got a climate question on the CBC debate!  You can watch the 8 minute segment with responses to the question: Will you commit to fully funding TransformTO?

    WRITE THE CBC!  Thank them for good coverage and ask for more! Send this action letter!

    The Toronto Star has also covered climate as a campaign issue, in their article on the debate: Six Takeaways

  • Send letters to the editor: Our letters make a difference! Letters to the editor is the most read page in the paper, and your messages can help keep climate in voters' minds. You can contact the major Toronto papers at letters@globeandmail.com and lettertoed@thestar.ca. Some tips for writing an effective letter:
    • Respond to a specific article; agree or disagree and make one key point
    • Be concise: 150 words or less
    • Sign it with your full name, address and phone number
    • Find more resources on Ray Nakano’s blog

Check out the following resources:

ABOVE ALL, BE SURE TO VOTE!

Polls are open this weekend through Tuesday June 13, 10 am to 7 pm,  or vote on Monday June 26th, 10 am to 8 pm. Advance voting info here.
LET’S MAKE TORONTO'S NEXT MAYOR A CLIMATE MAYOR! 
 

ClimateFast is run solely by volunteers and is funded entirely by donations. Your donation  will be used for mailings, campaign materials, room rentals and transportation.

Donate online or by cheque, made payable to:
ClimateFast
c/o Lyn Adamson
Friends House
60 Lowther Ave.
Toronto, Ontario M5R 1C7

Your support is greatly appreciated!

ClimateFast

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