When the current Ontario government came into power with a majority, the first thing they did was reverse the climate initiatives that were well underway. They cut funds to energy efficiency programs, rolled back renewables and clean industry projects and put out a climate plan with significantly less ambition. The new plan reduced greenhouse gas emission cuts by about a third, allowing for 30MT more pollution!

Now, the Ontario government wants to ramp up Ontario’s gas-powered plants, undoing a third of the gains made from coal plant closures and increasing Greenhouse gas emissions 300% by 2025 and 400% by 2040. In fact, they just spent $2.8 billion on 3 gas plants to do so!  To supply the plants, Enbridge wants to build a new pipeline through Hamilton to import fracked gas from the U.S.

First Nations, land and water at greater risk after Supreme Court denies leave to appeal

On July 2, 2020, in a ruling with no explanation provided, the Supreme Court of Canada denied the Squamish Nation, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation and the Coldwater Indian Band leave to appeal an earlier federal court decision that found Cabinet’s approval to proceed with the Trans-Mountain pipeline expansion project was reasonable.

The Nations challenged the consultation process, effectively asking: is consultation adequate where the owner of a project, who also has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the Nations impacted, performs the consultation, then assesses the adequacy of its own process? The Canadian government purchased the pipeline from Kinder Morgan in 2018.

Toronto350 stands against the murder and brutalization of Black, Indigenous, and racialized people, and honours the memory of all Black, Indigenous, racialized, and other marginalized/targeted victims of police violence across Turtle Island. We unequivocally support the demands of Black Lives Matter-Canada (BLM-Canada) to defund, demilitarize, disarm and dismantle the police.

Organizations all across the country, including Toronto350, want to prompt changes coming out of the pandemic that confront inequality and systemic racism, to ensure safety and health, and to seize the window of opportunity we have now, to turn the corner away from harmful practices that destroy our climate and the living world around us.

Toronto350’s Just Recovery teachin presents a way that we can win this safer, greener and healthier future. Here is a recording! Toronto350 Teach-in. There are also some things listed near the end of the blog, that we can do now.

We at Toronto350 are appalled but not surprised by this latest upsurge in Racist police violence against Black People.

We strongly condemn the actions of Police forces across Turtle Island, with particular emphasis on the lynching of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department. In Toronto we have seen that we are in no way immune from these Racist Police actions. The death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet is horrifying and alarming. She, her family and community deserve better than a cursory investigation by the SIU. They deserve justice. The police can not be left to police themselves.

On Monday morning, the Just Recovery principles launched! People are ready for a #JustRecoveryforAll, a positive transformation of society that stems from COVID instigated reforms. According to EKOs research from earlier in May, 73% of Canadians are ready in fact! This bodes well for the change we need to see, to #BuildBackBetter, to address the inequalities that are currently embedded in our system and make choices that protect our long-term health and wellbeing.

Art by Corrina Keeling

TRUDEAU AND FOSSIL FUELS

On April 20, the Trudeau government, as part of its economic responses to the ravages of the pandemic crisis, announced that it was allotting 1.7 billion dollars to the fossil fuel industry to help clean up orphaned oil and gas wells.  There was also an additional 750 million dollars to reduce industrial methane emissions.  This is a small step in the right direction of assuming our environmental responsibilities.

News about our government’s actions during COVID-19, in relation to a potential oil and gas bail-out, is coming in fast! Toronto350 members support a just recovery where funds go directly to workers, people and communities, helping create a greener, healthier future. This post is the first in a series of responses. Also, see the end of the blog for a recap of what’s happened provincially and federally so far.

On Earth Day this year, a contentious film entitled “Planet of the Humans”, directed by Jeff Gibbs and executive produced by Michael Moore, was made available for free on YouTube. Although the film was first released in 2019, it rapidly gained fresh attention and considerable notoriety starting on April 22. Its viewership now sits at over seven million.

“Planet of the Humans” has evoked strong reactions across the board, from climate and green energy advocates refuting the content to climate-change deniers and fossil fuel advocates enthusiastically promoting it. It paints a misleading picture of efforts by the climate movement to secure a livable planet. We won’t debunk point by point the misinformation presented in the film, as many others have already done so in extensive detail (see below); however, we believe it is important to expose some of the key arguments (mis)represented in the film. 

Earth Day 2020 marked its 50th anniversary on Wednesday! To commemorate the event, Toronto350 co-sponsored  the LIVE webcast organized by ClimateFast, Earth Day 2020: Toward a Green and Healthy Recovery.

On the first Earth Day in 1970, 20 million people from “groups that had been fighting individually against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness and the extinction of wildlife,” marched together to raise awareness about the harms caused to the environment and to human health(1).