JUNE 2026

This ClimateFast newsletter shares information about the Climate Crisis that may interest our readers, but does not necessarily reflect the views of ClimateFast as an organization, nor the views of its members. If you have an event or resource you would like to share, please send it to newsletter@climatefast.ca.

PLEASE NOTE: This newsletter may be truncated when you receive it; click on 'view entire message' at bottom to see the full document.

Clockwise from top left: Toronto Climate Film Festival (tcff.ca) on militarization and the climate; peace activists Tamara Lorincz and Lyn Adamson; City Council Report Cards launch (x2)

WARDS PROJECT GEARS UP FOR FALL ELECTION!

On Monday May 25, Wards Project (WP) teams met to discuss their strategy for the 2026 municipal election. The goals of the strategy, based on discussions from their February 7 gathering, were:

1. To build and/or maintain positive relationships with candidates;

2. To continue to advocate and/or educate their councillor on climate action; and

3. To keep climate top of mind.

This will be done through each team interviewing candidates on climate and environment-related questions that also connect to broader election issues (e.g., data centres, equity, provincial government overreach, affordability, etc).  Each WP team will choose and adapt its list of questions to best reflect the pertinent issues in their ward.

CITY COUNCILLOR REPORT CARDS  A+ to D

On Saturday May 2, members of the Toronto Climate Voting Records team (a group within ClimateFast) launched report cards scoring members of Toronto City Council with regard to their climate voting record of the past four years. It was a lively event with lots of discussion and questions. The report cards are now in a public resource folder here. To get involved in the project, please email info@climatefast.ca. NOTE: If you missed this event, there is another one being held virtually June 2 @ 6:30 pm. Click here to register.

BUILD CANADA'S EAST-WEST GRID WITH RENEWABLES

Canada’s electricity demand will double, or even triple, by 2050. We need a power grid that is fit for the future that provides clean, reliable and affordable electricity for Canadians.

We’re calling on the government to invest $20 billion over five years in new electricity transmission connections between provinces, supports for Indigenous-led projects, and training for workers.

A stronger and more connected grid offers hundreds of thousands of jobs, reduced pollution, real energy security and lower energy bills. We can do this all while upholding Indigenous and workers’ rights and benefitting communities from coast to coast to coast.

TIME FOR TORONTO TO BAN MORE SINGLE-USE PLASTICS!!

Demand for single-use plastics is destroying our environment, harming our health and exacerbating waste and recycling issues in Toronto. We need to urge our elected representatives to BAN all significant single-use plastics as determined as a first step by City of Toronto consultations.

The city should immediately ban all items it determined to be of high and medium priority in its commissioned report, Technical Memorandum No.1 - Single-use and Takeaway Reduction Strategies:

• Plastic bags (all weights and types including produce bags) 
• Cold cups and lids
• Plastic bottles and caps and plastic liners in metal caps
• Plastic cutlery
• Single-use EPS (expanded polystyrene styrofoam), which includes containers, plates, hot/cold cups, trays, cutlery, foam egg cartons, [and more]
• Plastic food containers
• Hot cups and lids
• Black plastic
• Condiment packets

If the City of Toronto is committed to zero waste and reducing the effects of single-use and takeaway items on our environment, Toronto MUST say NO to destructive single-use plastics NOW, regardless of the actions of the provincial and federal governments.

REJECT ALBERTA'S PIPELINE PLOY!

Canada faces a choice: build new fossil fuel pipelines that deepen the climate crisis, damage ecosystems, endanger communities and enrich oil and gas billionaires, or build a truly resilient, people- and nature-centred future powered by renewables.

In November 2025, Prime Minister Carney made a damaging deal with Alberta to fast-track a new diluted bitumen oil pipeline to B.C.’s coast while rolling back key environmental protections. This pipeline would lock Canada into deeper dependence on a declining, high-polluting industry and put North Pacific ecosystems and coastal First Nations at risk from increased tanker traffic and catastrophic oil spills.

There’s still time to stop this pipeline ploy and choose a fossil-fuel free future. Alberta intends to submit its pipeline proposal to the federal government’s Major Projects Office by July 1, 2026.

Toronto Climate Week (TOCW) transforms the city into a global stage for climate solutions by uniting Canada's climate ecosystem and welcoming international partners to participate in a week of cross-sector collaboration. As a decentralized event platform, TOCW convenes climate innovators, industry leaders, creators, researchers, policymakers, and community groups to catalyze innovation, investment, and public engagement. Browse the events calendar and register for sessions.

Excerpted from "Toronto350 Member Lyn Adamson Honoured With 2026 Pax Christi Toronto Teacher of Peace Award" Toronto350.org blog - May 27, 2026. And  from The Globe and Mail, Agents for change, by Naomi Buck, April 21, 2026.

Lyn has held the position of National Co-Chair of Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (to sign up for their monthly newsletter go to https://vowpeace.org), Canada’s oldest feminist peace group, since 2009.  In 2012, Lyn co-founded ClimateFast and for four years she co-led ‘Hungry for Climate Justice’,  a multi-day fast on Parliament Hill calling on the government to put a price on carbon, stop subsidizing fossil fuels, and promote renewable energy.  By the end of the fourth summer, in 2015, the movement had gained the signatures of 130 MPs and 17 Senators, and the Liberal platform of 2015 included commitments to ClimateFast’s pledge requests.

Today, Lyn continues her work for climate and peace with passion and energy. She has a lead role in several groups, including, among others, ClimateFast and the Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign.

Recently, in recognition of Earth Day 2026, the Globe and Mail honoured Lyn (and five other seniors) who are working for the planet. Lyn's life is a non-stop deluge of deputations, meetings and demonstrations. Often a spokesperson on local and national  media, Lyn’s energy, focus, and commitment to climate action are truly remarkable and an inspiration to all those she works with.

Congratulations Lyn and thank you for everything you do!

ClimateFast is run solely by volunteers  - if you would like to make a donation,

please e-transfer any amount to

finance@climatefast.ca

We are grateful for your support!