The climate is heating up and so are we!

For all of us.
For our children!

On September 8th, join us at the Toronto Rise for Climate action!  Rally with us, in solidarity with thousands of people worldwide, to speak out for climate, jobs and justice. Together, we can challenge our dependence on oil and gas. We can demand a swift transition to a sustainable economy with green jobs that support it.   

All are welcome, so bring your friends and family!

On July 11, we will be screening the film "Directly Affected," a documentary film by Zack Embree and the Raincoast Conservation Foundation.

Supporting and working with other organizations who share our goals is a key strategy for Toronto350. We are proud members of several coalitions. One of them is TCAN, the Toronto Climate Action Network, which brings together a number of environmental organizations in the City. Another is the Good Jobs for All Coalition, whose co-chair will be presenting at our January 9th, 2018 educational meeting (6:30 p.m., 25 Cecil Street). This coalition brings together partners in the labour, environmental and social justice movements.  We are also part of the Fight for 15 and Fairness campaign; while provincial in scope, many of its actions take place in Toronto, for example when we march with the “Raise Wages, not the seas” banner at various rallies.

"Indigenous Peoples and Canadians who believe in human rights need look at Canada's 150th birthday party as a period to undertake a commitment to decolonize Canada and recognize the rights of Indigenous People to self determination"-Arthur Manuel, Late Secwepemc Organizer, Author of Unsettling Canada

Toronto350.org endorses Idle No More and Defenders of the Land's project"UNsettling Canada 150"- a call for national actions on July 1st to celebrate Indigenous and human rights to self-determination, lands, territories, and resources.  See below for resources and events.  

Hopposition Ale is a project by Toronto350.org with Junction Craft Brewery. Proceeds from sales will support First Nations legal challenges to the Kinder Morgan Trans-Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project.  It is also delicious! Check out pulltogether.ca for more info on where funds will go. 

written by: Tresanne Fernandes

Why do I fight against climate change?

Turtle Island (a.k.a. North America) is a place of continued Genocide. When I look at ‘history’ I see Genocide. When I look at the ‘present day’ I find environmental or Eco Genocide: killing off a group of people by destroying the lands, water, air, and food sources they rely on. I wonder if my children will learn an extremely watered down version of the history of Eco Genocide from the school system and then once they graduate post secondary education start to relearn it more graphically - as I did with the Genocide of Indigenous people on Turtle Island.

The Kairos Blanket Exercise is something I’ve done a few times and the last time I did was when I asked for the exercise to be done with Toronto350. What struck me the most was watching the family, with three kids, who came to participate in the exercise. During the exercise the narrators spoke of children being taken from their families and placed in residential schools where they were forced to speak English (or beaten), and if they did manage to find their families again, were not always able to integrate back (loss of language, culture etc). I wondered how this family of five was feeling. I read scroll 14, about mice running over their lunches, about children knowing that other kids had better schools with science labs and libraries - and knowing their school didn’t left them them believing that they don’t matter. 

Toronto350 is in solidarity with Chippewas of the Thames First Nation and their Supreme Court of Canada case to fight for their constitutional rights of being consulted and stop Enbridge Pipeline Inc from transporting diluted bitumen through their community. Do you want to help?

1. To make an online donation click here OR to reduce admin fees being deducted for online transactions, use an email money transfer to Chippewas of the Thames First Nation: [email protected]; or bank transfer directly to Chippewas of the Thames First Nation BMO account 2915 1998348 001; or mail cheque or money order to Chippewas of the Thames (mark Legal Fund on bottom of cheque), 320 Chippewa Road, Muncey, Ontario N0L 1Y0. For further info click here.

2. To order a beautiful feather lapel pin, go to www.etsy.com/ca/shop/SupportCOTTFN?ref=search_shop_direct

Costs $10.00 plus shipping

We have all watched with increasing dismay and concern the treatment of Black Lives Matter- Toronto protesters and allies by Toronto Police Services. On the evening of March 21st, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Toronto police circled and ambushed peaceful protestors. Children, young women and men, trans people, disabled people and their friends were shoved, punched, and pushed on to the ground. Their materials were smashed, tents and personal belongings were taken, and a barrel of fire to keep them warm was extinguished with an unknown toxic waste.

For Immediate Release Toronto, Board of Trade, March 27th 2015, 12:30pm

CITIZENS CALL FOR TRUDEAU TO FIX HARPER’S NATIONAL ENERGY BOARD AT TORONTO EVENT

Today, the CEO of the National Energy Board (NEB) will be at the Toronto Board of Trade to make an ‘important announcement about Canada’s energy future.’ Just outside of this event, a crowd of peaceful demonstrators took action to call out the illegitimacy of the NEB’s pipeline review process. The group of demonstrators, which includes students, youth and climate justice activists, held space at the registration table for the event, until escorted out by security, with placards strung around their necks. These placards displayed the following messages:

• Canada’s Energy Future shouldn’t ignore Climate Change

• Canada’s Energy Future shouldn’t ignore indigenous rights

• Canada’s Energy Future shouldn’t include Harper’s National Energy Board

• Canada’s Energy Future must have 100% Clean Energy

Once escorted out, they held a mock press conference outside of the building.

Yesterday the Trudeau Government announced they would require an additional climate test for the Kinder Morgan and Energy East Pipelines. While this is a victory for the directly affected communities fighting these projects, it ignores how any new fossil fuel infrastructure is incompatible with the Trudeau Government’s promise at the Paris Climate negotiations to strive to limit global warming to 1.5C.

“These commitments are a great start,” said student divestment campaigner, Ben Donato-Woodger, “but the government is still trying to push through projects such as the Kinder Morgan and Energy East pipelines using the Harper government’s assessment process. If they’re committed to real action, they must redo the review process for these projects – or reject them outright given the massive Indigenous and public opposition, as well as the dire repercussions for the climate.”

These demonstrators are also expressing their opposition against a pipeline review process that does not respect Indigenous rights, and one that is currently being challenged in courts by Indigenous communities such as the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. These Toronto-based activists are not alone. Hundreds of other people across Canada that have mobilized over the last two weeks in opposition to the broken pipeline review process -- including at the Kinder Morgan hearings in Burnaby, the office of the Minister of Natural Resources in Winnipeg, and at the Prime Minister’s constituency office in Montreal. “It’s 2016. Canada’s energy future needs to be powered by Indigenous and community-led renewable energy projects – not antiquated fossil fuel infrastructure.” said Suhail Barot, a Toronto engineer.

Contact Information: Ben Donato-Woodger 416-320-0340 [email protected]