CLIMATE ACTION - TORONTO CITY BUDGET!
CALL TO ACTION!
Calling all Torontonians to work together for a safe climate future for Toronto!
City staff from the Energy and Environment Division have presented City Council with a climate action plan that aims to reduce carbon emissions 30% by 2020 and are working on one to be presented in the spring to reduce emissions 80% by 2050.
Please sign a petition to the Mayor and call or email your councillor!
Many of you receiving this signed a handwritten petition to Mayor Tory – we’ll be delivering that petition on February 7 th , at the Executive Committee meeting. Some of you asked if there was an on-line version of the petition – and there is!
Please help us by signing and sharing this petition.
PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION TO MAYOR TORY!
Transform TO plans are in jeopardy - because they are not funded! City staff need just $1.6 million, that’s about $1.60 per household, OR 15 cents per month, to start gearing up that plan in 2017. So far the budget committee has put in 1/5 th of that amount. We need you to help INCREASE the city’s commitment to climate action.
RIGHT NOW MAYOR TORY AND CITY COUNCILLORS ARE DELIBERATING OVER THE 2017 BUDGET. This budget will be decided on at the Feb 15/16 council meeting. We want our city to be a city that is a sustainable and healthy place to live decades into the future.
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO MAYOR TORY !
And make a CALL or send an EMAIL MESSAGE to your councillor’s office. You can find your councillor’s contact info here.
DRAFT MESSAGE YOU CAN SEND TO YOUR COUNCILLOR , feel free to revise
“Dear Councillor ________, I want to know that you will support the budget request of Transform TO when it comes for a vote in Council on Feb 15 th . So far there is just 1/5 th of what the program needs, $330,000, in the preliminary budget. Will you support raising that amount to the full $1.6 million? That’s just 15 cents per month per household to help us reduce our carbon emissions. That’s important to me. All the programs outlined are valuable and should start now, and not wait. I especially want to ensure that Transform TO has the funds needed to work with the community so together we can make sure Toronto goes in the direction of deep cuts to our carbon emissions.”
IF YOUR COUNCILLOR asks for the links to what is being requested, please send these two links:
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Summary of the 2017 budget request
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2017/bu/bgrd/backgroundfile-100376.pdf
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Attachment A, which describes each of the programs that need funding. 5.1 is the Transform TO Community Engagement request of $340,000.
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2016/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-99127.pdf
Are you able to attend a meeting with your councillor before Feb 15 th ? Volunteers from the CarbonFreeTO campaign are here to help you set it up and go with you. Please email us, carbonfreeto@climatefast.ca , if you’d like to be part of a delegation. And you can find out more about this campaign at our campaign meeting
MONDAY FEBRUARY 6 TH 7 PM FRIENDS HOUSE –
CARBONFREE TO – PUT CLIMATE IN THE BUDGET!
ALL ARE INVITED!
60 Lowther Ave., 1 block north of St. George subway, Bedford exit.
Learn more about the TRANSFORM TO recommendations to help our city reduce emissions 30% by 2020 and get started on a path to 80% emissions cut by 2050.
Join other climate activists to develop a ward by ward strategy to support this campaign both for the 2017 budget and in the year ahead. Please join us!