In partnership with Climate Change Newmarket-Aurora, NewmarketToday brings you a regular series of columns aimed at creating awareness and engaging our community to take action on climate change.
Many people have a desire to do their part in addressing the climate crisis but have trouble knowing where to start or feel discouraged by a perceived lack of impact of individual action.
Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora is hosting a town hall meeting on this very topic on May 29 at 7 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion in Newmarket on Srigley Street and we invite everyone to attend.
Much of the time, we focus on our individual environmental footprint — driving less, recycling, etc. — and this is always valuable. But to get at the bigger impact issues, we have to look at public policy or, in other words, what governments (federal, provincial, municipal) are doing or not doing to address the climate crisis. We as citizens should be informing our respective governments of our expectations about how they create actions that will prevent global warming.
At the federal level, there have been a number of initiatives such as the carbon emissions cap, clean fuel legislation and the carbon levy. While some of these initiatives can be unpopular, this is often attributed to a lack of understanding. In future columns, we will be exploring some of these policies in the hope they become better understood.
Navigating the legislative output of governments can be challenging. There are organizations in Ontario (and Newmarket) that attempt to analyze and make legislation comprehensible. I encourage you to seek them out.
At the risk of having your eyes glaze over, I will pick the latest piece of Ontario provincial legislation that will have a significant impact on the environment and global warming — Bill 185, the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024. Nothing could sound more important than building more homes given the affordability crisis. However, within Bill 185 are many measures that are of concern. Similar to the recent attempt to build more homes on the protected Greenbelt, this act will see development in green spaces and agricultural land and take away many current provincial laws that protect these areas.
It appears what the provincial government was attempting to do with the Greenbelt changes, and had to backtrack on, it is now attempting to do outside the Greenbelt using Bill 185. There are some good elements in the bill, but they are overwhelmed by the significant elimination of checks and balances being proposed. Some might say this is just NIMBYism (not in my backyard) and that environmentalism is stopping us from addressing the housing crisis. There are many ways the housing crisis can be addressed without sacrificing environmental values.
What is a citizen to do when contemplating the dynamics of what governments do and don’t do?
Decoding Bill 185 is a difficult and onerous task. Identify trusted sources and seek them out to help explain complicated issues. Be skeptical until you understand the facts. Be open to listening. Realize it is not always a zero sum game — a winner and a loser (though sometimes it is), but combinations of ideas that create a win-win.
More information on Bill 185 is available at the Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora website (www.climateactionna.org) under the Take Action tab and from the website of the Alliance for a Liveable Ontario (www.liveableontario.ca) under the heading ‘Heading the Wrong Way.’
Citizen action can make a difference. Letting politicians know about the world we want is a primary tool for addressing the climate crisis. We hope to see you at the Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora town hall on May 29.
Inspired by the international organization Project Drawdown, Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora seeks to engage citizens, institutions, and policymakers in actionable and measurable solutions to stop catastrophic climate change as quickly, safely and equitably as possible. You can contact them at [email protected], and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
