Although this is not a Green Party event, it is sure to be of interest, not just to Greens, but every Ontarian interested in the health of our environment. It’s sure to be a lively discussion you won’t want to miss.
Please REGISTER (admission is free) https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/stewards-of-our-future-protecting-what-we-love-tickets-54268453405
This event is dedicated to building a youth voice to speak up for climate action in solidarity with inspired by Greta Thunberg and other young people across the world.
Join us on Friday, January 11th from 12.30 to 2pm outside of MP Bardish Chagger’s office / Waterloo City Hall at 100 Regina Street in Uptown Waterloo.The focus will be on youth, but all are welcome.
Kitchener-Waterloo Climate Save, RISE for Climate Waterloo, Divest Waterloo, and the local chapters of Citizens’ Climate Lobby and 350.org would like to facilitate and support youth climate strikes in our region … for their future. We hope to have youth climate strikes on the 1st Friday of every month after this.
Doug Ford is coming to town for a fundraising dinner tomorrow Friday, January 11th, with local Conservative MPP’s.  Join with others from across our community to protest and let them know your thoughts about Bill 66.  Bring a banner or a sign to explain that you value protecting our water, land and air and that public consultation is core to our democracy.
Bring some friends and join the fun.
We will meet at the main entrance to Bingemans at 425 Shirley Ave around 5:30pm for about an hour while they all arrive. Â If you are driving please try to find a place to park at other businesses along Shirley Ave. Â Grand River Transit Bus #34 runs every half hour out to Bingemans leaving the Charles Street terminal and returning every 30 minutes.
Bob Jonkman’s Bill 66 delegation to Woolwich Township’s Committee of The Whole. (Tuesday Jan. 8th, 2019)
Since Premier Ford wants to quickly push Omnibus Bill 66 though the Legislative Assembly of Ontario quickly, things are moving very fast.
On Tuesday morning Bob Jonkman was among the WRGreens attending the Region of Waterloo’s tabling of the staff report on Bill 66.  GREN’s Kevin Thomason made a presentation on behalf of the ad hoc coalition of Waterloo Region groups mobilizing against Bill 66 which was very well received, and two motions were adopted by the Region then and there.
On Tuesday night, Sam Nabi (Hold The Line WR) made a presentation to Wellesley Township, while a simultaneous delegation was made to Woolwich Township’s Committee of the Whole by Bob Jonkman, representing KWPeace. Woolwich Council will be putting together a resolution to be tabled at next week’s Woolwich Township Council Meeting.
If you can come out to any of these Municipal Council Meetings (and bring your friends), it will send a string message to our local councils that this is very important to us. With the Provincial Government listening to the developers who elected them, the more seats we can fill, the better.  We need to exercise our grass roots, because that’s the only power we’ve got.
Monday, January 14th, 2019
David Weber, Shannon Purves-Smith and Mo Markham
3:00pm City of Waterloo Council Presentation 4:00pm City of Kitchener Council Presentation 7:00pm – Wilmot Township Council Presentation
Tuesday, January 15th, 2019
7:00pm  City of Cambridge Council Presentation 7:00pm Woolwich Township Council Presentation #2
Monday, Jan 21st, 2019
7:00pm – North Dumfries Township Presentation
Part of the urgency is the upcoming deadline for the Ontario Bill of Rights.
While the holidays have been a wonderful break from Bill 66, we don’t have much time to send a strong, clear message to Premier Ford about our concerns this Bill could have on our community, farmland, green space, and natural resources.
I’d like to remind you of the upcoming meeting this Thursday at the same room at CIGI as our initial community meeting. Details are as follows:
Date: Thursday, January 3, 2019 Time: 7:00pm Location: Room A142, CIGI – Centre for International Governance and Innovation – 67 Erb Street West, Waterloo Map Access: Through main West doors (facing Erb St) near Caroline St. Intersection
A tentative agenda for the meeting is as follows:
update/status of groups working to book Council delegation appearances at municipal and regional councils
update/status of groups working to book MPP meetings in local ridings
time for groups to meet in breakout sessions and figure out next steps/activities
planning/discussion of January 12th Bill 66 training event/protest in Ajax
planning/preparations for January 15th event at Kitchener City Hall with ECO Dianne Saxe and other speakers
other business
We had a tremendous turnout at our initial meeting and It will be important to have at least one delegate from each community group at this next meeting to help ensure a strong, co-ordinated response to Bill 66.
Please share any questions or ideas and I hope to see you on Thursday evening.
Cheers,
Kevin.
P.S. There is a draft Citizens Toolkit for Bill 66 that is coming together as groups across the province aggregate their materials and efforts. It is evolving daily and contains some good background and supporting material against Bill 66.
P.P.S Also attached below are some initial social media images and video that are under development provincially:
We need 2019 to be the year Canadians fill Parliament with MPs with both the political will and commitment to make effective Climate policy.  The climate change clock is ticking, and we can no longer afford to hope protests will mobilize the Canadian government against Climate Change.
We can’t keep waiting for other political parties to do what needs doing.
We don’t have the luxury of time in which we help elect other party MPs in hopes they will do the right thing, only to watch as they do what the party tells them to do instead.
We have no choice but to elect more Green MPs to send to Parliament to ensure that we have a Parliament prepared to meet Climate Change head on.
We need all the help we can get to send Greens to Ottawa to work with Elizabeth May. We all know what an amazing job Elizabeth May is doing now… just imagine how much more effective she’ll be with more MPs to help!
And with an unfair political system in which most voters aren’t engaged, the sad fact is financial donations are incredibly important. Donations allow us to reach out beyond you– and the Green community of Canadians who understand what is happening– and help reach new voters we can encourage to vote.
Donations allow us to afford information tables at local festivals and fairs, which help raise the Green profile enormously. They can help pay for our own events, like film screenings or education nights, as well as buying the materials to make buttons at our button making events, as well as paying for literature to hand out at them.Â
And, if we’ve got money in the bank, our candidates can have their election signs in in hand when the writ is drawn, so we can hit the ground running. During the election, donations can buy election signs and literature and ads in our local newspapers. Most people have no idea how much Greens manage on a shoestring budget. And every little bit helps.
We have been lucky to be able to attract and field an excellent slate of Candidates here in Waterloo Region, and we’re planning on doing it again in the New Year. (Watch this space for information about the 2019 nominations.
If you can afford to make a donation to the Green Party, now is the time. Any donation made before December 31st will count as a 2018 donation. Then, if you’re able to donate again in 2019 you’ll be donating under the 2019 donation limit.
2018 FEDERAL GREEN PARTY CONTRIBUTION LIMITS
Effective January 1, 2018
The following limits apply to the total amount of Green Party of Canada donations you will make in 2018. (If you’ve already donated, be sure you don’t exceed your allowed limit.)
Only Canadian citizens or permanent residents may make political contributions, donating up to:
$1,575 per year, to the Green Party of Canada, and another
$1,575 per year in total between your local Green Electoral District Association(s), Nomination Contestant(s) and Candidate campaigns
$3,150Â total maximum allowed contribution
(Note: anything you donated to the Green Party of Ontario does not apply here.)
TAX CREDITS
All Canadians with a taxable income will receive a generous tax credit when they donate to the Green Party.
The sum of all your political contributions determines the size of your reduction in taxes payable.
Donations
between   $   0  and  $400  75% cent refund
between   $400  and  $750  $300 plus 50 per cent of any amount over $400
more than $750   gives you  $475 plus 33 1/3 per cent of any amount over $750 up to a maximum of $650 per year
If you make a $400 donation today, you’ll get a $300 tax credit when you file your income tax next year. Â
Donate to your local Green Party of Canada Electoral District Association:
Bad news, our Post-Holiday Event for tonight needs to be cancelled.
An unfortunate combination of last-minute cancellations, car troubles, and unavailability means that expected attendance is down to a handful of people. Rather than having a few people bring potato salad for dozens and having it go to waste, it’s better to cancel now, and have another event later in the spring when more of us can meet each other.
My apologies for the late notice; these things sneak up on you and then explode.
–Bob Jonkman
Event Planning Committee Chair
Hello Waterloo Region Greens! Merry Belated Christmas and Happy Upcoming New Year!
The holidays are half over, and in the usual Christmas madness we’ve only now been able to get ourselves coordinated for our Holiday Event. Bryan Izzard has offered to host at his farmhouse in Baden on Saturday, 5 January 2019, starting at 6:00pm. I guess that makes it a Post-Holiday Event!
Join all your friends of the Waterloo Region Greens for a final celebration of the holidays and 2018’s accomplishments — and since it was an election year, there were many accomplishments!
It’s a potluck event, so bring an appetizer, sweet or savoury snacks, salad, fancy beverages, dinner entree, or dessert. And when you come, please label your dish if it contains wheat, nuts, eggs, dairy, meat, &c.
What: WR Greens Post-Holiday Event When: Saturday, 5 January 2019 at 6:00pm Where: Bryan Izzard’s house Location: 3876 Sandhills Road, Baden, Ontario Map: https://osm.org/go/ZXnSv4rx-?m=
If anyone needs a ride you can ask your fellow WR Greens on this Discussion List, or send me an e-mail to say whether you need a ride or can offer one, and I’ll sort ride-givers and ride-takers, make a list (and check it twice). Don’t forget to include your address!
And shortly after our Post-Holiday Event we’ll have another regular WR Greens meeting on Wednesday, 9 January 2019. We need to set up candidate nomination dates for the EDAs (there’s a federal election in 2019!), and start planning for the summer’s festival events and other political happenings.
What: WR Greens Regular Meeting When: Wednesday, 9 January 2018 from 6:00pm to 7:00pm, followed by Social Night Where: Innovation42 Co-Working Space (tentative) Location: 2nd Floor, 283 Duke Street West, Kitchener, Ontario Map: https://osm.org/go/ZXnwU_oa?m=
I’ll send out a reminder early that week with confirmation of the meeting location.
See you all at Bryan’s house on Saturday, 5 January!
–Bob Jonkman
Event Planning Committee Chair
—-
Bob Jonkman mailto:bob.jonkman@greenparty.ca
Green Party Member in Kitchener — Conestoga +1-226-476-4529
Web: https://bobjonkman.ca/ Twitter: @BobJonkmanGPC
Vote for the person who will best represent you in your riding!
Spend time with family and friends.  Write a poem. Share the love. Have a glass of wine. See a movie. Get some rest. Take a walk. Listen to music. Hug a friend. Read a book.
Do whatever it is you need to do to relax and have a happy holiday!
I’m writing with some urgency today as we have very little time to mobilize resistance to Bill 66, known as Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act. I have included more information about this Bill below.
GREN is planning a preliminary meeting next Tuesday December 18th at 7pm at CIGI (67 Erb Street West, Waterloo, Ontario Map) in room A-142 to discuss the environmental implications of this legislation and to plan next steps for January.
Please extend this invitation to others whom you feel would be interested and able to support our efforts.
I apologize for the short notice and appreciate the difficulty of this request coming so close to the holidays. Our next meeting in January will be on Thursday the 3rd. Consultation closes on January 28th, so we really cannot delay.
Background on Bill 66
Last week, the Doug Ford government introduced Bill 66, known as “Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act.” Among its targets is the Greenbelt Act. Bill 66 would allow municipalities to circumvent Greenbelt protections by enacting “Open for Business” bylaws under which they could approve factories and business parks within the Greenbelt. Smaller municipalities (under 250,000) would simply need to show the Ford government that their Greenbelt development would create 50 jobs. For larger cities the requirement would be 100 jobs.
Related measures in Bill 66 would empower municipalities to exempt developers rules designed to protect wildlife and municipal water supplies, including the Clean Water Act, which was enacted following the Walkerton water tragedy in 2000 when seven people died after drinking the town’s contaminated water.
Bill 66 if approved could destroy our environmental regulations, contaminate our drinking water and circumvent good planning by haphazardly opening up farmland and natural areas for development with no requirement for public meetings or communications and no opportunity for appeal to any decisions.
It is a reckless bill to enhance the profits of only a few large businesses and corporations who would bypass important rules and safely regulations at a huge cost to every Ontarian.
We have just 42 days to stop this major threat to public safety, our environment, and natural resources we all depend on before the Ford government will attempt to approve this Bill. It is been called the biggest and most significant environmental rollback in a generation and we need to act now to mobilize as a community and kill Bill 66.
Although Waterloo Region is a rich community, many members of our community are financially strained during the holiday season. (And for the rest of the year, too.)
2013 Poverty Myth Busters for Waterloo Region (page 3) Download the PDF
That’s why the Green Party supports raising the minimum wage to a living wage, and implementing a Guaranteed Livable Income (universal basic income set at 10% above LICO).  You can find out more about Basic Income from our friends at Basic Income Waterloo.
Unfortunately that’s not going to happen until we start electing more Greens. In the meantime, people are living in poverty and Christmas is coming.
The following is a list of free Waterloo Region Christmas Dinner options for people in need. If you (or anyone you know) is in need of a good dinner over the holidays, please share. (And if you’re able I imagine these organizations would welcome volunteers.)
I’m not sure who originated this list (I received as a paper handout), but most of the dinner locations listed here are for the City of Kitchener. If you know of any others in the rest of the region– Cambridge, Waterloo or the Townships, please share and I’ll add them to the list.
Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church – Regular Saturday Supper
open 5:00pm-8:00pm – Supper served 5:30-7:30pm
57 Stirling Avenue North, Kitchener
Sunday, December 16th, 2018
KCI Christmas Dinner
10:45am – 1:30pm
787 King Street W., Kitchener (enter off King Street)
Tickets available at St. John’s Kitchen or St Mark’s Church
(Limited tickets available last week of November and first week of December)
Thursday December 20th, 2018
St. John’s Kitchen – Festive Dinner 11:30am to 1:00pm
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener
Friday December 21st, 2018
St. John’s Kitchen – Regular Hours 11:30am to 1:00pm
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener
Saturday December 22nd, 2018
Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church – Regular Saturday Supper – open 5:00pm-8:00pm Supper served 5:30-7:30pm
57 Stirling Avenue North, Kitchener
Sunday December 23rd, 2018
Caper’s Sports Bar – Christmas Dinner Noon – 3:00pm
1 Queen Street North, Kitchener
*Toy and Clothing giveaway
Monday December 24th, 2018
St. John’s Kitchen – Festive Dinner 11:30am to 1:00pm
Meal by St Vincent de Paul
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener
Ray of Hope – Festive Dinner 7:00pm-8:30pm
659 King Street East, (Back Door) Kitchener
Tuesday December 25th, 2018
St. John’s Kitchen – Christmas Dinner by Friends of St John’s Kitchen 11:30am to 1:00pm
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener
Ray of Hope – Regular Dinner 7:00pm-8:30pm
659 King Street East, (Back Door) Kitchener
Wednesday, December 26th, 2018
First United Church Christmas Buffet 11:30am-1pm
16 William Street, Waterloo
Thursday, December 27th, 2018
St. John’s Kitchen – Festive Dinner 11:30am to 1:00pm
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener
Friday, December 28th, 2018
St. John’s Kitchen – Festive Dinner 11:30am to 1:00pm
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener
Saturday, December 29th, 2018
Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church – Regular Saturday Supper
open 5:00pm-8:00pm – Supper served 5:30-7:30pm
57 Stirling Avenue North, Kitchener
Sunday December 30th, 2018
Ray of Hope – Lunch Noon-1:30pm
659 King Street East, (Back Door) Kitchener
Monday, December 31, 2018
St. John’s Kitchen – Regular Hours 11:30am to 1:00pm
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener
Tuesday, January 1st, 2018
St. John’s Kitchen CLOSED
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2018
St. John’s Kitchen – Regular Hours 11:30am to 1:00pm
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener
Ontario’s new “Climate Policy” is passing the buck to us. As with the previous government, ordinary people are encouraged to renovate our homes and buy more fuel efficient cars. But now, the program subsidies that would help us do these things are gone. Even worse, our tax dollars will go into a fund to reward industries who pollute now.
So. People get no help to do our part. Instead, our tax dollars will go to fuel big businesses.
“We were promised a climate strategy, but were given a litter reduction plan.
If this is the government’s response to the dire warnings from the IPCC about the impending climate catastrophe, then they clearly were not listening.
Instead of showing leadership, the government is weakening Ontario’s previous targets and adopting an unproven carbon trust model that is unlikely to reduce emissions. The new Trudeau/Harper targets mean that we will fail to meet the goals set under Paris Climate Agreement.
More importantly we will not meet our obligations to leave a livable planet for our children and grandchildren.
Asking citizens to pay polluters and setting up burdensome new regulations will only cost more and delay action. These will do little to put Ontario on a pathway to being carbon neutral by 2050. Instead, they signal that Ontario is throwing in the towel.
And asking Ontarians to reduce litter in the face a climate crisis is like the US President asking Californians to rake leaves to prevent forest fires.
We should expect better. We must demand a real plan.
Pollution pricing is basic economics. But this government continues to ignore the consensus from scientists, experts and even conservative economists who agree on it. The Premier could embrace the $26 trillion clean economy and put money directly in people’s pockets by adopting the Green Party’s carbon fee and dividend solution.
At the end of the day, we will all pay the price for this irresponsible plan. But in the face of evidence and real solutions, this government has chosen to be on the wrong side of history.”
Bingemans 5:30pm 
Divest Waterloo
GREN
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