OCTOBER 2024

The ClimateFast newsletter shares information about the Climate Crisis that may interest our readers, but does not necessarily reflect the views of ClimateFast as an organization, nor those of its members. If you have an event or resource you would like to share, please send it to newsletter@climatefast.ca.

As reported in last month’s newsletter, ClimateFast is building an independent website that will serve as a reliable source for tracking the climate-related voting records of Toronto city councillors. The website will provide information to members of the public - now and at election time - enabling voters to gauge the climate and environmental stance of their mayor and councillors. It may also be a resource for climate groups looking to do related research. 

STAY TUNED for the next focus group for the Voting Records website prototype happening in October (date TBD). The purpose of the focus group is to get your feedback on ease of navigation, as well as general use and design of the site. It will be a 90-minute Zoom session. Please contact us at climatefast@gmail.com if you have any questions or want to get involved with/beyond the focus group.

North York has been a hotspot of late for activities and events, and ClimateFast members have been there, working behind the scenes to make things happen. They’ve also been on hand during events to share information on climate action -  live! - in person. There was The Taste of North York, Friday’s Farmers Market and coming up, the Willowdale Climate and Health Forum (Oct 5 - see Events below for more info). If you would like to help with tabling at upcoming events (in North York and elsewhere in Toronto), reach out to us at climatefast@gmail.com.

From Future Generations, Japan Project

At the recent Summit of the Future in New York City, Antonio Guterres had a message for young people of the world:

“Do not accept that what we have today is inevitable. 

Do not accept that you cannot transform things.

Look at the impact that youth movements have had in the world with fundamental changes that took place afterward.

So if we want to change the world, we need to fight.

If we want to change the world, we need to unite.

We need to mobilize; we need to fight for a better future for all.

And that means to fight those that want to keep things as they are because they serve their interests, but in a way that would put into jeopardy the perspective of the future of our planet and of the well-being of the people.”

https://t.co/H0QjllVfQM https://t.co/78PxZPsOih" / X (posting on X)

Canadians urgently need a unified, progressive choice in the next federal election. To make this happen, the progressive parties must adopt a cooperative approach — rather than competing with each other, splitting the vote and allowing less-progressive candidates to prevail. 

Cooperate for Canada aims to bring groups and individuals together to promote electoral cooperation among the progressive political parties committed to tackling the many challenges facing Canadians, including the destructive climate crisis, growing economic disparity, and tragic lack of affordable housing. These are issues that will not be dealt with – or will be made worse – under a CPC majority government.

Cooperate for Canada is a diverse group that knows that the next federal election will be one of the most important in this country’s history. This is an “all hands on deck” effort … please click here for more on our plan and how you can get involved.

The impacts of the Climate Crisis are literally on our doorsteps, threatening our health, homes, and communities. While regular folks are left to shoulder the burden of these impacts alone, fossil fuel companies and the corporate class continue to rake in obscene profits.

350.org has created a national campaign called Heat Pumps For All which calls on MPs across the country to champion a Universal Heat Pump Program, overseen by a new publicly-owned entity that produces, distributes, and installs heat pumps in homes across the country. With built-in tenant protections, this program would save lives, cut our bills, and protect the planet.

Join communities calling for real climate action! Search your postal code to find the petition for your federal riding in the link here, and join the fight for Heat Pumps for All!

Grassy Narrows River Run Rally - Wrap Up!

All the work by so many people planning, preparing for, and advertising the Grassy Narrows River Run Rally paid off big with 8,000 marchers turning out to walk through the sunny streets of downtown Toronto on September 18. 

It was an INCREDIBLE day with beautiful imagery, moving speeches, and powerful drumming and round dances. There was great media coverage (check this clip from CBC), and the Grassy community members who attended were moved by the support and solidarity they saw.  

If you can, please use the social  media posts below (created by Grassy organizers) to share news of the turnout and tag both levels of government (PM Trudeau and ON Premier Ford), as we try to keep the momentum going and get mercury justice for Grassy Narrows. 

• Facebook
• Instagram 
• Twitter

Willowdale Climate and Health Forum: How Climate Change Affects your Health and What You Can Do About It

• When: Saturday October 5 - 1:30 - 4:15 pm
• Where: North York Central Library Auditorium
• Who: Panelists are from Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE); Environmental Defence (ED) Canada; Energy Neighbour; Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA)
• What else: TO City Councillor Lily Cheng will hold a Climate Action Roundtable starting at 1:30 pm. The panel discussion will follow at 2:45 pm. The panel event is organized by SCAN!, Green Neighbours Network, and ClimateFast. Light refreshments will be provided. All are welcome to attend both events (see link above to free registration).

Youth Climate Anxiety and Religious Education

• When: Saturday October 5 - 10 am - 2:30 pm
• Where: Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology; 100 Wellesley St. W.
• Who: Keynote speaker Joyce Mercer - “Standing with Young People in an Eco-Anxious Time” - respondent Simon Appolloni
• What else: Panel discussions on: climate anxiety, youth and  Indigenous knowledge / pedagogical strategies for eco-resilience; also an art exhibit called “Holiness and Justice”; CF will lead a ‘climate ribbons’ activity (see link above to free registration).

Rally to Fix the TTC 

• When: October 17 @ 5 pm
• Where: Bathurst Station 
• Who: Hosted by TTCriders, an advocacy group representing all Toronto transit riders
• What else: This rally is part of a national week of action, with transit groups across the country pressuring the federal government to step up for public transit. It is a critical moment to secure federal transit funding – the new Canada Public Transit Fund is not set to begin until 2026, but an election could be around the corner (see link above to RSVP).

• Climate Change | Royal Ontario Museum (rom.on.ca) from the Royal Ontario Museum’s website Sept 21, 2024.

The ROM has committed to sharing knowledge and insights from research, studies, data, and other fact-based evidence to help raise awareness of the effects of climate change, and in 2021, welcomed Dr. Soren Brothers, as the first Allan and Helaine Shiff Curator of Climate Change. At this link are many items such as “how plastics are changing our planet’s geology” and “our changing Port Lands - documenting Toronto’s journey to climate resiliency.”

• The Climate Book: The Facts and the Solutions by Greta Thunberg, 2023.

The author has gathered the wisdom of more than 100 experts - geophysicists, oceanographers and meteorologists; engineers, economists and mathematicians; historians, philosophers and Indigenous leaders - to equip us all with the knowledge we need to combat climate disaster.

• The Light Eaters - How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoe Schlanger, 2024.

This book is a deep immersion into the drama of green life and the complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of agency, consciousness, and intelligence. What can we learn about life on Earth from the living things that thrive, adapt, consume, and accommodate simultaneously? More importantly, what do we owe these life forms once we come to understand their rich and varied abilities?

Excerpted from Seth Klein (Aug 27, 2024 National Observer - “The climate movement must shift gears or it’s done”)

1. As a movement, we need to move off the wonky policy debates and discussions – we are putting people to sleep with this gibberish! – and captivate the public with exciting and provocative ideas.
2. We need to stop proposing incremental solutions, as the public is rightly dubious that these measures are up to the task, and thus these modest proposals undermine our credibility.
3. We need to excite people with big ideas that are congruent with the crisis, and that simultaneously speak to people’s deep economic and employment anxieties and the cost of living crisis.
4. Recognize that the public is looking for meaning… [we need to ask them to] do something big and audacious with us.
5. We need to be more aggressive in our fight with the fossil fuel companies and their financial institution enablers.
6. Many environmental NGOs need to shake off their distaste for the messy world of politics and dive in.
7. It’s time more of us consider undertaking peaceful civil disobedience.