The ClimateFast newsletter shares information, resources, news, and activist opportunities about the climate crisis that may interest our readers, and does not necessarily reflect the views of ClimateFast members. If you have an event or resource you would like to share, please send it to newsletter@climatefast.ca.

In February, the group that is now called Gardiner East Transparency sent a letter to Toronto City Council about the need to have an updated financial report on the Gardiner East. That letter was signed by 35 groups, including many TCAN member groups.

It is now time to follow up since the Gardiner issue has been added to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee agenda for March 20th.

ClimateFast and our allies have been working hard to draw attention to this issue, and the news media are taking note: CBC Toronto reported on the issue, and ClimateFast co-chair Lyn Adamson spoke to CP24 about the group’s concerns. Now, Torontonians’ voices are needed to keep up the pressure!

Please take a few minutes to write a letter to the IEC chair and councillors THIS WEEK, if you can. Every letter will make a difference!

SEND YOUR LETTER TO: iec@toronto.ca. Address the letter to Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie and IEC members. 

The clerk will forward your letter to the committee members and list it on the record of the meeting, and if you request it will hyperlink to your letter -that's your option.

cc your own councillor if they are not on the committee – find your councillor here. Please bcc lyn@climatefast.ca.

Committee members are:
• Jon Burnside
• Mike Colle (Vice Chair)
• Jennifer McKelvie (Chair)
• Amber Morley
• Anthony Perruzza
• Dianne Saxe

You can also sign up to speak to the committee at their meeting on March 20th. To register, send an e-mail to iec@toronto.ca, using the reference: IE2.5 Gardiner

Toxic waste products of oil extraction in Canada’s tar sands are currently stored in vast tailings ponds, where they risk spilling into the local ecosystem and harming people and wildlife. The public recently learned of one such spill, at an Imperial Oil facility north of Fort McMurray, which was kept hidden from the federal government and from local and downstream communities for 9 months. Advocacy groups and indigenous communities are now calling on the federal government to protect vulnerable communities and require companies to take responsibility for cleaning up their waste.

Read the National Observer’s coverage of the issue
Sign the petition from Stand.Earth
Send a letter via the Council of Canadians

Children and youth stand to lose the most to ongoing climate change and environmental destruction, but they cannot vote and lack official representation in parliament. A group of environmental organizations is calling for a rule requiring MPs to consult with youth representatives in their riding before voting on any bill that can affect greenhouse gas emissions. The deadline to sign the petition is March 26th.

The Coalition of Ontario Water Guardians recently released a set of recommendations for the provincial government to promote responsible watershed management. They highlight issues such as wetland destruction, flooding risk, and biodiversity loss, all of which are exacerbated by Ontario’s current development plans, which favour sprawling development and encroachment on natural areas. The Ontario Headwaters Institute is calling on Ontarians to support their recommendations.

The federal government recently released their interim Sustainable Jobs Plan, a set of initiatives aimed at preparing Canadian workers for a future low-carbon economy. The plan contains some encouraging ideas, but there is ample room for improvement, both in the scope of the plan and the funding allocated for its initiatives. 350 Canada is calling on federal leaders to strengthen the plan

March 21, 2023, 4:00pm ET
Online
Citizens’ Climate Lobby will host an educational call with Senator Rosa Galvez regarding the Climate-Aligned Finance Act. Senator Galvez is the sponsor of a private members’ bill (Bill S-243) that aims to redirect private investment away from oil and gas and toward sustainable and equitable alternatives.

The Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign, Environmental Defence, and the Ontario Clean Air Alliance are working together on a campaign to lobby provincial and municipal governments against increasing our power grid’s reliance on natural gas plants. They are calling on citizens across the province to lobby their own representatives, and will be hosting several online events to support anyone interested:

• April 4th or 5th - Training/planning meeting for those wanting to participate in the lobbying campaign
• April 12th - Presentation by Environmental Defence on success stories opposing gas plants
• April 18th - Webinar with Mark Jacobson on renewable energy alternatives for Ontario

More details and registration links coming soon!

Earlier this month, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), a regulatory agency governing many of Canada’s financial institutions, announced new guidelines for climate risk management. These will require banks and insurers to disclose the climate-related financial risks that they face, and to develop transition plans for their institutions, among other expectations. While the risk disclosure requirements are an encouraging start, environmental groups have criticized the guidelines for not going far enough, as they impose few penalties for failing to meet guidelines, and focus mainly on mitigating risks to financial institutions themselves, rather than on the risks their investing practices pose to the country and the planet. 

Read the OSFI press release
Read the responses from Ecojustice and Greenpeace

The Trans Mountain expansion project (TMX) is now expected to cost $30.9 billion to construct, according to the Crown corporation responsible for the pipeline. The federal government purchased the pipeline in 2018; Its original owner, Kinder Morgan, had initially projected construction costs of just $5.4 billion. Trans Mountain Corporation has blamed rising costs on worldwide inflation, as well as severe flooding in British Columbia. The federal government continues to vocally support the project, despite its financial difficulties and devastating environmental impact.

Read the CBC article
Read the National Observer’s article

The United States government announced on March 13th that it has approved the Willow project, a large-scale oil drilling project in northern Alaska. The project, belonging to oil and gas giant ConocoPhillips, is expected to operate for decades and to produce approximately 576 million barrels of oil over its lifetime. The approval has drawn outrage from environmental and indigenous groups, who decry both the damage that it will do to local ecosystems and the greenhouse gas emissions that it will produce. US environmental groups are continuing to resist the plan, notably via a lawsuit filed by Earthjustice on March 15th.

Read the Guardian article
Read the Energy Mix article 
Read Earthjustice’s announcement