Ontario Chapter

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At Sierra Club Ontario, our work mainly focuses on protecting the Great Lakes ecosystem, increasing awareness about air pollution, and promoting Green Energy adoption in Ontario. Sierra Club Ontario also works on very local issues, in coordination with smaller communities in Ontario.

What's happening at the Ontario Chapter?

Key Issues for Environmental Justice in the Ontario 2022 Election

Posted on May 3, 2022

This is a key election for the environment and the future of Ontario. We can no longer afford to wait for the government to catch up on meaningful climate action. Sierra Club Canada Foundation is demanding stronger legislation that prioritizes people, the environment, and a liveable future. 

Below you will find the actions our members are calling for. You can reference this document for discussion when local candidates come to your door. Ask your local candidates what they plan to do to tackle the issues Ontarians are facing. 

Sierra Club Canada Foundation joins Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign

Posted on April 28, 2022

Sierra Club Canada Foundation's Ontario Chapter has joined a coalition of over 125 groups across Ontario in calling upon candidates in the upcoming provincial election to treat climate change as an emergency.

This election is critical for Ontario and for Canada. Now more than ever, we need strong action and leadership on climate change. 

The Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign encourages diverse groups from every sector to urgently work together towards our shared climate action goals.

Future Threats in Niagara If Urban Boundaries Expanded: Voice Your Opposition

By Dr John Bacher and Danny Beaton, Mohawk of the Turtle Clan. — April 20, 2022

In Memory of Alicja Rozanska.

***Scroll down to reach out to local councilors

From John Bacher: 

It is an old but true saying that photographs express threats to the natural world more vividly than the most eloquent warning. Some of these images recently emerged, which captured the beauty of the portion of the Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls, on the eve of its destruction for a subdivision.

Take a Deep Breath…

Sarah Morgan-White — April 1, 2022
Recently, a resident flagged that he had noticed an increase in dust in the air, which through a series of events led me to start volunteering with the Sierra Club Canada’s Breathe Easy project. Since then, I’ve had an opportunity to perform air quality measurements in Blackburn. The air quality monitor measures a number of air pollutants including particular matter (PM2.5), which is the focus of the Breathe Easy project.
The following are some of the take-aways I have so far from my experience volunteering with Breathe Easy and in measuring PM2.5 in my community.

Struggle Continues To Protect World's Purest Water In Simcoe Ontario

Dr John Bacher — April 1, 2022

In Memory of Alicja Rozanska.

The Federation of Tiny Township Shoreline Association (FoTTSA), a group of concerned citizens from Tiny Township, organized a protest to bring attention at Queen’s Park Legislation on United Nations World Water Day (March 22, 2022) about the quality of aquifers being threatened by aggregate mining in North Simcoe County. Around noon, the last speaker at their rally which had scientists, activisits, citizens, politicians and Native people speaking out for the protection of their aquifers, was Native elder Danny Beaton, a Turtle Clan Mohawk. 

Niagara Carolinian Bulldozer Massacre

By Dr John Bacher and Danny Beaton, Mohawk of the Turtle Clan. — March 28, 2022

In Memory of Alicja Rozanska.

From John Bacher:

Over the past week and a half, there has been a Carolinian tree massacre by bulldozer underway in Niagara. A preliminary report, completed on August 11, 2021, by Nash Colville of Colville Consulting Inc. provides a rough description of the damage. 

Watch: Sierra Club Ontario member opposes plans to decimate key Niagara habitats

Posted on March 11, 2022

The Niagara region's new Official Plan threatens to promote urban sprawl, degrading key habitats for endangered species and impacting the region's thriving agricultural community. 

These plans have been made without any scientific due diligence to assess the impact of pushing development outside of urban areas. 

Dr. John Bacher recently spoke to the region's Planning and Economic Development Committee to stress three key points.

Two Court Battles Seek to Defend Southern Ontario’s Threatened Forests

By Dr John Bacher and Danny Beaton, Mohawk of the Turtle Clan. — March 8, 2022

From John Bacher:

In her last report before her office was shut down by the provincial government of Premier Doug Ford, Ontario’s Environment Commissioner, Dr. Diane Saxe, drew attention to what she termed “Southern Ontario’s Disappearing Forests.” She urged that, “Conserving forests must become a top priority in land use planning.” Since “each incremental loss has a big impact on the services the forests provide to society and the wildlife they support.”

Joint submission from environmental groups on Environmental Assessment requirements for “advanced recycling” facilities

Posted on March 3, 2022
Sierra Club Ontario joins 16 other environmental groups in submitting a joint letter against the provincial proposal.

 

February 28, 2022 

Ian Drew 
Resource Recovery Policy Branch 
40 St. Clair Avenue West, 8th floor 
Toronto, ON 
M4V 1M2 

Monstrous Mid-Peninsula Highway Sought to Be Resurrected from the Dead

By Dr John Bacher and Danny Beaton, Mohawk of the Turtle Clan. — March 1, 2022

In Memory of Alicja Rozanska.

From John Bacher:

Shortly after being forced into hospitalization following an attack of congenital heart failure, veteran environmentalist Doug Draper sent me an ominous warning. He informed me that powerful cliques in Niagara were trying to convince the Ontario provincial government of Premier Doug Ford to resurrect the terminated 130-kilometer Mid-Peninsula Highway from the dead. 

Who, me? How we can mitigate air pollution and improve our health

Daniela Ravindra — February 24, 2022

Air pollution does not have to be as obvious or as extreme as that in Delhi to cause harm. Believe it or not, even Canada – a place we think of as very clean and healthy – experiences air pollution which is caused both by human activity, such as simple daily tasks or, more complex economic activity such as building, manufacturing, farming, and mining.

The choices we make, both in our everyday lives, as well as in supporting specific public policies, have important effects on how our neighbourhoods, our provinces, and our country addresses air pollution. 

Protesters' idling trucks are making downtown Ottawa's air quality worse

Posted on February 10, 2022
Author: 
Sarah Sears
Source: 
CBC
Date published: 
Thu, 02/10/2022

Fumes from anti-vaccine mandate protesters' trucks and smoke from their barbecues and campfires is damaging air quality in downtown Ottawa.

Local resident Bonnie Charette said she wears a mask outside downtown — partly as a COVID-19 precaution and partly because of what she calls the "stench" in the air.

"The smell is disgusting," she said.

Abby Donald, who lives in an area where trucks line the streets, agrees.

"I hate breathing it in," she said. "I walk into my apartment and I smell like it."

The Right To Repair & Why We Need It

Lucy Bain — February 4, 2022

The typical lifespan of products today seem to only be a few years. From mobile phones, to dishwashers, to equipment; you buy a product, use it for a few years, and then it breaks. Leaving you with only one or two, usually costly, options. In fact, it is almost always easier and cheaper to replace the product with a new one, instead of simply repairing it. This has become the standard. 

Sierra Club Ontario members oppose proposed urban expansions in Niagara

Posted on January 18, 2022

Proposals have been put forward to urbanize vast swaths of land via the Niagara Region’s new Official Plan. Planned urban expansions threaten Canada’s most biologically diverse Carolinian zone.  These expansions would impinge on land currently restricted for rural purposes, including habitats for many endangered and declining species.

Two members of Sierra Club Ontario (Dr. John Bacher and Danny Beaton) recently spoke to oppose planned urban expansions to the Niagara region. Click to see their full presentations.