From coast to coast, Sierra Club Canada Foundation staff and volunteers in all 5 of our Chapters have worked hard for years, campaigning to protect endangered Blue Whales in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, to ban the use of bee killing neonicotinoid pesticides, to create a national climate change action plan and to expand green space in and around our cities.
Here is just a small sample of some of the big wins in which Sierra played a key role:
2017: Sierra Club Ontario, along with other Ontario Greenbelt Alliance members, campaigned for more lands added to the Greenbelt, leading to new Ontario Greenbelt Legislation with greater protections for boundaries, more attention to curbing sprawl and more rigorous environmental assessment required.
2016: As a founding member of the Green Energy Coalition, Sierra Club Ontario urged the Ontario Energy Board to require Union Gas to spend substantial funds on industrial Demand Side Management, which significantly reduced gas consumption.
2016: Sierra Club Atlantic's Wild Child program reached and educated more than 600 children (and growing!) in both Nova Scotia and PEI.
2015: Sierra Club Ontario helped convince Peel Region Council to block the proposed EFW (Energy-From-Waste incinerator facility) plans from going ahead, instead setting on a 75% waste diversion target for 2034.
2015: Sierra Club Ontario campaigned vigorously against coal-powered plants, resulting in Ontario passing legislation to permanently ban coal-fired electricity generation in the province - a first in North America.
2015: Sierra Club Canada joined several national environmental organizations in advocating for the greening of 24 Sussex Drive through integration of green technology and energy saving designs into the building.
2014: Sierra continues advocating for pollinator health via #SavetheBees campaign, resulting in Ontario restricting the use of bee killing neonicotinoid pesticides. Neonic use is expected to drop by 80% on 8 million acres of corn and soybeans.
2014: Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter pushed to establish moratoriums on "Fracking" for natural gas in Nova Scotia & New Brunswick.
2013: Sierra's #SavetheBees Program draws national attention to the dawning of new Silent Spring caused by neonicotinoid pesticides.
2012: The Endangered Woodland Caribou recovery plan presented by the federal government that relied on culling wolves was withdrawn and replaced with a plan to protect more habitat after a campaign orchestrated by Sierra.
2010: A North American vehicle energy efficient standard that will see all cars and light trucks 40% more fuel efficient by 2016. 2009: Initiated and led a process to establish a comprehensive federal & provincial regulatory regime to improve air quality standards (smog), an air zone approach to managing air quality, and a multistakeholder Air Quality Council to oversee the regime.
2008: Won Federal Court of Canada law suit requiring greenhouse gas emissions be assessed as part of the federal environment assessment for a tar sands mine, specifically the Kearl Tar Sands Project.
2007: Nova Scotia's infamous Sydney Tar Ponds will be cleaned up and the toxic waste will not be incinerated, which would have further polluted local communities.
2006: 2 million hectares of British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest protected from logging.
2005: The passage of Bill C-15, which was designed to end dumping of bilge oil from ships, resulting in the deaths of some 300,000 seabirds annually off the coast of Newfoundland alone.
2004: Nine municipalities drafted pesticide by-laws, and five adopted them. A total of 70 municipalities have by-laws restricting the use of toxic chemical pesticides for cosmetic purposes.
2003: Passage of the Federal Endangered Species Act.
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If you have any questions about membership at Sierra Club Canada Foundation, please contact us at: ontariochapter [at] sierraclub.ca.