Health & Wellbeing

Human health is intimately connected to the health of the planet. We need fresh water, clean oceans, and natural spaces that contain a rich array of animals, insects and plants. Promoting education about and recreation in our natural spaces has been a part of the Sierra Club philosophy since it was founded in 1892.

Potential Revival of Mid-Peninsula Expressway Threatens Ontario's Greenbelt and Local Habitats

Yvonne Ho — May 9, 2017

“A Politician only thinks of the next election... A Leader thinks of the next generation.” 

Patrick Brown, Ontario PC Leader, has shown support for the shelved Mid-Peninsula Expressway - representing a threat to Ontario's Greenbelt, including some of the local communities, green space, and wildlife habitat that it has been supporting ever since its establishment in 2005.

The following article was written by Dr.

UPDATE: OPG's Proposed Deep Geological Repository Project near Lake Huron rejected by CEAA

Yvonne Ho — April 19, 2017
In 2013, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) proposed to construct, operate, and ultimately decommission and abandon a deep geological repository (DGR) for low- and intermediatelevel radioactive waste. The repository would accommodate waste from commercial nuclear reactors that are owned or operated by OPG, and are located at the Bruce, Pickering, and Darlington sites. 

ACTION ALERT: Act Now to Protect our Greenbelt from Costly Urban Sprawl

Yvonne Ho — March 21, 2017


Going from Greenbelt to a ‘Swiss Cheese belt’...

On Monday March 20th, the development industry hosted a lobby day at Queen’s Park to drive home the message that land in and around the Greenbelt is essential to avert the growing housing crisis in Toronto and the GTA. However, we know this is not accurate. 

Remembering Dan McDermott - Former Chapter Director, Sierra Club Ontario

Yvonne Ho — January 20, 2017

Dan McDermott (May 6, 1947 - January 4, 2017)

 

Dan McDermott, Sierra Club Canada’s Ontario Chapter Director for 13 years, passed away peacefully on January 4th 2017. It is wonderful to see his influential life mentioned in these posts, which have featured in the news recently with reflections and thoughts on Dan’s life, what he dedicated it to, and his passing three weeks ago.

 

Trump's lump of coal

Mary Kainer — December 14, 2016

Breathing is easier “beyond coal.”

In 2007, before the shut down of the coal-fired power generating plants in Ontario, there were 29 smog days and 11 smog advisories in Toronto.  It seemed that almost every hot day there was choking smog.  At that time, I couldn’t even escape to my cottage in the Kawarthas.  That same year, there were 21 smog days and 8 smog advisories in Peterborough County.

Make Muskrat Right - It's On all of Us Now

Gretchen Fitzgerald — October 28, 2016

Over the past few weeks,  protests about the potential for methyl mercury contamination downstream of the Muskrat Falls development in Labrador made national headlines. Sierra Club Canada Foundation has voiced strong opposition to the Muskrat Falls project for years, and tried to show the damage it will cause to wildlife and the Grande River, and the people who live downstream. We also tried to demonstrate that this type of mega-hydro development was not needed to meet our climate objectives, and there were plenty of less damaging, less expensive alternatives. All to no avail.

Contact Premier Wynne to voice your support for a fully protected and growing Greenbelt

Posted on October 7, 2016

There are positive proposals within the four draft provincial plans, including the Greenbelt plan, open for public comment until October 31st, Urban River Valley additions to note one example. There are also some alarming proposed changes that would allow land to be taken out of the current Greenbelt and handed to the developers. Section 3.4 Settlement Areas of the Greenbelt draft contains an outline of a proposed process that could do just that and subject the Greenbelt to being turned into a Swiss cheese belt.

Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility: Letter to Prime Minister Trudeau and President Obama

Posted on October 4, 2016

Over two dozen non-governmental organizations from Canada and the United States are asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Barack Obama to postpone or cancel an unprecedented series of shipments of highly radioactive liquid waste from Ontario to South Carolina along public roads and over bridges crossing the waters of the Great Lakes.

See below for a letter from the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility to Prime Minister Trudeau and President Obama.

Shipments of Liquid Nuclear Waste Scheduled to Begin Soon

Peter Smith — September 26, 2016

Authorities in Canada and the United States are preparing to ship approximately 150 truckloads of liquid nuclear waste from Chalk River, Ontario to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The material is a mixture of bomb grade uranium together with a witches’ brew of highly radioactive fission products dissolved in nitric acid.