Ontario Chapter
At Sierra Club Ontario, our work mainly focuses on protecting the Great Lakes ecosystem, growing and protecting the Greenbelt, and promoting Green Energy adoption in Ontario. Sierra Club Ontario also works on very local issues, in coordination with smaller communities in Ontario.
Endangered Species Act Review - New Assault on Thin Green Line of Environmental Protections In Ontario
Posted on March 8, 2019Written by Dr. John Bacher, Ph.D.
Originally posted here.
Support SCCF at the Feb 13th Brampton council meeting
Posted on February 12, 2019Radioactive Waste: Unacceptable Burdens on Future Generations
Posted on February 12, 2019Strange Monster Set to Attack Water Protections of Provincial Land Use Planning
Posted on January 6, 2019Written by John Bacher, image by Danny Molneck
The name Bill 66 seems like a science fiction monster akin to Godzilla, which emerged out of the debris of nuclear contaminated post-war Japan. A similar scary beast has come forth today out of the fiendish populism of Ontario Premier, Doug Ford.
Retired Provincial Planner Victor Doyle Wins Victory at Crucial Time
Jerry Dong — November 19, 2018In a crucial time, when the land use planning policies he, himself, helped forge under three different parties, over 25 years, are under attack by the newly elected government of Premier Doug Ford, veteran land use planner, Victor Doyle, won a major victory.
Ominous Meeting Begins Growth Plan Consultations
Jerry Dong — November 13, 2018On November 8, 2108, the newly elected Ontario government began a procedure to revise land use planning processes in Ontario. The setting was the “Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Stakeholders Forum” which was held at the Ontario Room of the MacDonald Block at 900 Bay Street in Toronto on November 8, 2018. Also in attendance was Sierra Club Ontario Chapter’s own Dr. John Bacher. (Photo shows Thundering Waters wetlands where offsetting scheme was tried in past.
Green Energy: Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility - UPDATE
Jerry Dong — October 24, 2018(Photo by Charissa Val Straalen) Two years ago, over 49 non-governmental organizations across Canada and the USA signed on to a letter asking both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Barack Obama to address issues pertaining to a series of shipments of liquid radioactive waste from Chalk River in Ontario to the US Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. These shipments were along public roads and over bridges crossing the Great Lakes.
Dan McDermott Legacy Fund and Memorial Unveiling on September 15th
RuiLin Guo — August 30, 2018Urban Sustainability Blog #5: Conserving the Nectar of Life - Water
Posted on August 24, 2018In our last post in this urban sustainability blog series, we talked about waste reduction within and outside of the home. In this post, we’ll be talking about another way that Ontarians can reduce their environmental footprint – water reduction. (Photo: David Kovalenko)
Urban Sustainability Blog #4: Minimizing Waste In and Out of the Home
Posted on August 16, 2018Our last post in the urban sustainability series saw us giving advice on how to take advantage of alternative modes of transport to help reduce single-occupancy vehicle commutes in Ontario. Now, we are switching gears to focus on another growing problem in societies of all shapes and sizes: waste. Waste accumulation is leading to pollution on a massive scale, leading to severe consequences for wildlife and humans alike.
Greenbelt: The LPAT Appeal To Rescue Thundering Waters Forest
Jerry Dong — August 15, 2018At 9:46 AM, August 13, 2018, in the Niagara Falls Clerk’s Department, Dr. John Bacher filed a letter of appeal against Amendment 128 to the Niagara Falls Official Plan. The amendment aims to pave over 120 of the 500 acre Thundering Waters Forest. Most of the forest is considered provincially protected wetland barred from development. At the same time, much of the amended lands is known as the Riverfront Community consisting of an unusual savanna complex dominated by a native shrub species, the Dotted Hawthorn. (Photo: Martin Munoz)
Green Energy: A Letter to Ontario's New Premier Doug Ford
Christine Elwell — August 14, 2018Ontarians across the province are experiencing a summer of record-breaking heat waves, floods, forest fires and heat-related human health crises. Most recently, Toronto experienced a torrential downpour event with over 100 millimeters of rain falling in just two hours, overwhelming the City’s green space and infrastructure. Like other countries and states around the world, Ontario is experiencing first-hand the uncertainty, expense and loss that result from a changing climate.
Urban Sustainability Blog #3: How to Reduce City Carbon Footprint
Posted on August 10, 2018As we have discussed so far, human beings have a profound impact on the environment. Throughout history, in different capacities, we have affected our natural surroundings in changing ways as technology evolved. As the world continues to become more urbanized, city-specific issues are some of the hot-button topics of the moment. (Photo: Ryan Searle)
Urban Sustainability Blog #2: Human-Environment Interaction in Ontario
Posted on August 4, 2018Human activities have a profound effect on the environment. It is no secret that climate change, airborne pollution, the melting of the ice caps, plastic waste in the oceans, and various other disasters are advancing at alarming rates due to human operations in natural environments. With that said, plenty is being done to mitigate and reverse this damage; people are finding ways to embrace renewable energy, employ a circular economy model to reduce waste, and preserve wildlife all over the world, to name a few. (Photo: Berkay Gumustekin)
Guest Article: Ideas for Recycling at Home
Jerry Dong — August 1, 2018Let’s get started. Recycling is the process of converting waste items into new-usable products. There are tons of items that you can recycle such as plastic, steel, paper, and aluminum among others. When you are recycling your household items, you will be contributing to the conservation of energy and raw materials. (Photo: Lacey Williams)
Urban Sustainability Blog #1: Introduction and History of Urbanization in Ontario
Posted on July 27, 2018The words “city life” tend to paint a certain picture in people’s minds. We think of public transportation, crowded streets, touristy places, and overall concrete jungles. There’s an exciting way of life that comes with living in cities, but this excitement could come at a cost by taking a bigger toll on the environment than one would imagine. Today, approximately 80% of Canada’s population (approximately 29 million people) lives in urban areas. Some 10 million of these people live here in Ontario, and about 6.9 million live in the Greater Toronto Area alone.
Greenbelt: Niagara Regional Official Plan Threatened by Skewed Science
Jerry Dong — July 11, 2018(Niagara’s official plan policy consultant, David Heyworth. Photo: The St. Catharines Standard)
The Niagara Region has embarked on a new three-year process to develop a new Official Plan. What hinders this path, possibly to ruin, is that it is heavily influenced by a peculiar type of environmental stakeholder: consultants in the pay of developers.
Greenbelt: Reports Suppressed To Support Destruction of Thundering Waters Forest
Jerry Dong — July 9, 2018(Acadian Flycatcher. Photo: Edward Plumer)
On May 8, 2018, the Niagara Falls City Council voted to approve what is now termed the Riverfront development. This would, if approved by the Ontario Land Use Planning Tribunal (LPAT), call for the destruction of 120 acres of diverse natural habitat, some of which is now protected wetlands.