Ontario Chapter

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At Sierra Club Ontario, our work mainly focuses on protecting the Great Lakes ecosystem, increasing awareness about air pollution, and promoting Green Energy adoption in Ontario. Sierra Club Ontario also works on very local issues, in coordination with smaller communities in Ontario.

What's happening at the Ontario Chapter?

MISSISSAUGA MOVES TO JOIN THE GREENBELT

Posted on January 29, 2014

By Dan McDermott, Ontario Chapter Director

At its December meeting the City of Mississauga’s Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) passed on to Mississauga Council a recommendation to apply to add the City’s publicly owned Credit River and Etobicoke Creek valley lands to the Greenbelt. The Greenbelt resolution is on the Council agenda for its February 12th meeting. If successful, the Mississauga initiative will be the first addition to the Greenbelt under Ontario’s new Urban River Valley (URV) designation, enacted early last year. It will also mark the expansion of the Greenbelt into Ontario’s second most populous municipality.

Goodbye to Nanticoke, and all that coal

Kristina Jackson's picture
Posted on January 16, 2014

Sierra Club Canada's Ontario Chapter was instrumental in the decision by our provincial government to shut down all coal plants. The day has come! Toronto environmental lawyer Dianne Saxe has a nice piece on her website about it: 

Goodbye to Nanticoke, and all that coal

by DIANNE SAXE on JANUARY 15, 2014

January 8 marked the last day of operation of the Nanticoke Generating Station, the last operating coal-fired electrical generating facility in southern Ontario. This latest shut down will help mark 2014 as the year Ontario will become a coal-free jurisdiction.

We must close the Chicago waterways connections to keep Asian carp from taking over our Great Lakes and beyond before it is too late!

Posted on January 8, 2014

The long awaited report from the US Army Corps of Engineers on how to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes has finally been released. The report evaluates the many waterways connecting the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan –all potential avenues to allow several species of Asian carp into the Great Lakes. The 5 year report costing $20M is titled Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS).

Silver and bighead carp already make up about 95% of the biomass in rivers downstream of the Chicago River. Over a century ago Chicago built a canal to reverse the flow of the Chicago River to divert their sewage and stormwater south into the Mississippi rather than their waterfront beaches. The “reversed” Chicago River flow has been supported by two US Supreme Court decisions.

Michigan lawmakers sound alarm over Canada's proposal to store nuclear waste near Lake Huron

Posted on September 30, 2013
Author: 
Jonathan Oosting
Source: 
http://www.mlive.com/
Date published: 
Mon, 09/30/2013

LANSING, MI -- Two Michigan lawmakers are speaking out against a Canadian proposal to store nuclear waste underground less than a mile from the shores of Lake Huron.

State Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D-Taylor) and Rep. Sarah Roberts (D-St. Clair Shores) are expected to testify Monday afternoon in Canada before a joint review panel assessing the environmental impact and safety risks of a proposed nuclear dumping ground in Kincardine, Ontario.

Mississauga's Natural Capital: The Foundation of Our Health and Well Being

Kristina Jackson's picture
Posted on March 27, 2013

Natural capital refers to stock of natural resources and environmental assets and how they contribute to building healthy communities. The Natural Capital perspective tries to quantify the wide range of benefits that are provided by these natural resources and environmental assets for free.

PDF icon natural_capital_full_booklet_mississauga_color.pdf

Pickering Nuclear: A Cracking Bad Idea

Posted on February 20, 2013
Extending the operations of the Pickering Nuclear plant for up to an additional 10 years beyond its designed life of 2014-2016 is a Cracking Bad Idea. This is the position of Sierra Club Canada’s Ontario Chapter as it participates in the current Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s public hearing into the Ontario Power Generation’s application for a renewal of Pickering A and B licenses. Public hearings begin May 29, 2013 in Pickering, Ontario.

SCC Supplemental Submissions on Darlington

Posted on January 15, 2013

At the request of Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Sierra Club Canada sent in extra submissions on Darlington Nuclear Generating Station (Clarington, Ontario) on Jan 14.  This paper goes into greater detail on the issue of the binational Air Quality Agreement and lack of notice given to the US related to pollutants released at Darlington.  The Sierra Club's Atlantic Chapter (New York) has submitted a letter of concern as well.

PDF icon scc_supplemental_submissions_on_darlington.pdf

Information on Georgian bay water levels

Posted on November 20, 2012

For those seeking information on Georgian Bay water levels, there are 3 slideshow presentations attached below.  

There are also a series of videos you can watch on the CTV News Barrie website:

http://www.ctvbarrie.ca/georgian-bay-series/

 

PDF icon dr_chow-frasers_slides_nov_10_2012.pdf
PDF icon bialkowski_2012-11-10-kelk-presentation-final_shortened.pdf
PDF icon november_10_2012__sierra_club_slides_to_be_posted_1.pdf

Progress Rpt on Wetlands Research (McMaster University)

Kristina Jackson's picture
Posted on January 24, 2012
Publication Date: 
October 15, 2011

This report is a progress report on the research funded by Sierra Club carried out from May to October in 2011. The three main projects share an overarching theme that examines threats to coastal biodiversity because of changes in the hydrologic regime of Lakes Huron and Erie.

The first project provides an initial glimpse of how northern pike utilize wetland and nearshore habitat in Tadenac Bay and the surrounding region.

Is multi lake regulation a feasible or even a good idea?

Posted on December 7, 2011
Publication Date: 
November 25, 2011

Bill Bialkowski, an engineer with extensive professional expertise dealing with flow dynamics, reviews the International Joint Commission's summary of multi-lake management for the Great Lakes and poses some interesting questions.

(To see the report & graphs you must click on the Attachment link below)

Summary of content here: