Laurel L. Russwurm – Page 2 – Russwurm Family Blogs

13 November 2018

#WRGreens: Inspiring Climate Action #ONpoli

Brainstorming participants at the Federal Climate Consultation

If you’re not exactly sure what you want to tell the Ontario government’s Climate Consultation, resources follow. (We will update this page with any additional submissions people share with us.

DEMAND the Ontario Government keeps the independent Environmental watchdog, Ontario Environmental Commissioner Dianne Saxe, who has just released “her 2018 Environmental Protection Report, Back to Basics, to the Ontario Legislature.

Delivered as four individual volumes, the report calls on the provincial government to limit water pollution, commit funding towards programs that protect municipal drinking water sources, as well as increase the protection of wetlands, woodlands, and wildlife across the province.

This report includes:

Water pollution and drinking water
Wildlife disease and monitoring
The loss of forests and wetlands in southern Ontario

Ministry report cards on compliance with the Environmental Bill of Rights

“The environmental commissioner has a mandate to monitor the government’s compliance with provincial environmental laws, including Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights, and to report annually on the government’s progress toward its greenhouse gas reduction targets. The current commissioner is Dianne Saxe, a former environmental lawyer, appointed in 2015.”
— CBC Ontario Finance Minister Vic Fedeli delivers the fall economic statement

Ontario needs the independent office of Ontario Environmental Commissioner for our own protection.

Rise For Climate Waterloo Region submission
I offer the following balanced solution to hold polluters accountable to ensure that GHG are reduced and to unlock the power of Ontario’s businesses to finance and drive innovative climate solutions.

Polluters are held accountable by putting a price on carbon pollution. In order to protect Ontarian families from the associated price increase, monies collected from the pollution price can be returned to citizens on a per-capita basis, through a dividend or “climate action incentive”. Canadians for Clean Prosperity has shown that 80% of Ontario’s households will actually get more in climate action incentives than they pay in carbon pollution fees. By having the Ontario Government cancel cap-and-trade, it has opened the door to a transparent price on carbon pollution, with climate action incentives to protect Ontario’s families from price increases.

Rather than entering a expensive court battle over putting a price on carbon (which increases both Federal and Provincial expenditures and therefore, taxes), the Ontario government could drop the lawsuit. Experts indicate that the Federal government will win the lawsuit, as it is critical for Canadian governments to take action on climate change.

In order for the price on carbon pollution to work effectively to reduce emissions, the price needs to be substantially higher than the $50 per tonne that it is scheduled to reach in 2022. Ontario should work with the Federal government to ramp-up of the price for the five years after 2022 to reach the emission reductions needed to meet Canada’s fair-share contribution to our international commitments under the United Nations Conference of the Parties.

As the carbon price increases, it impacts behaviour. In the short term, it will reduce consumption of carbon-intensive energy. In the medium term, it will affect purchasing decisions, as people will want to make purchases that create less carbon pollution. Over the long term, businesses will innovate and offer customers more choice and newer products to help them avoid creating and paying for carbon pollution.

To help Ontarians to assist in this transition, we call on the Provincial government to partner with Municipalities to implement a broad-based education program to educate regarding the causes, effects, and solutions on climate change. This will not only create the political will for bold changes that are necessary, but it will also prepare and strengthen our collective resiliency.

The Green Party of Ontario has an excellent plan of #ClimateAction
(you’re not really surprised at this, are you?)

Science-based commitments: Ontario should do its part to limit global average temperature increase to no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels, aiming for 1.5C
Legislated emission targets: Ontario should adopt binding emission targets that respect our share of Canada’s obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement.
- 15% reduction below 1990 levels by 2020
- 37% reduction below 1990 levels by 2030
- Net Carbon Neutral by 2050
Pollution pricing: Ontario should accept the global consensus from academics, economists, and Nobel Prize winning experts who agree that a price on pollution is the most effective and efficient way to reduce emissions. It is the foundation upon which a credible climate plan is built.
Job creation in the clean economy: Ontario should leap into the $26 trillion global clean economy, supporting jobs and investment in the fastest growing sectors in the world.
Energy efficiency and conservation: Ontario should prioritize energy efficiency and conservation as the first-step solutions for lowering our carbon footprint, while helping people and businesses to save money by saving energy.

https://gpo.ca/climate/
Download the new GPO strategy plan “Leaping into the Future” PDF for more detail!

https://www.ontario.ca/form/tell-us-your-ideas-climate-change

More low carbon public transit: electric buses, trains, bike lanes, and

reduce the amount of car infrastructure, ie: parking lots, highway extensions.

Replace gas stations with charging stations.

Subsidize retrofits for all carbon emitting housing and

making it obligatory for all new buildings to be carbon neutral or even carbon negative.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING! Dense spaces along public transit lines. Infill housing, because we want to leave as much nature for nature as possible. DENSITY IS KEY!

Agricultural reform, commiting our greenbelt to 100% agroecological farming practicing and reducing the need for nitrogen fertilizer

mandate all government buildings and operations go zero carbon

Broad-based education for everyone on climate change, impacts, and what we need to do to limit it and adapt to it.

MASSIVE TREE PLANTING INITATIVE!

Also remind Mr Ford that he famously said the best way out of poverty is “something called a job.” All of the above (again not exhaustive) will lead to a huge number of jobs.

text from tweetstorm of climate activist & mom, Meg Ruttan Walker @TricksyRaccoon on Twitter

Often when we talk about Climate Action the topic is about how to slow or stop Greenhouse Gas Emissions. But part of the problem is that we already have a ridiculous amount of carbon in our atmosphere now that needs to be dealt with. The comprehensive book “Drawdown” looks at a whole host of strategies — 100, in fact — for fighting climate change across the board. You’ll find even more ideas to include in your consultation submission on the Drawdown website’s solutions page

Suggestions from the Waterloo Region Federal Climate Change Consultation:

⇒ Ontario Climate Consultation webform

11 November 2018

Lest We Forget

[Republished from “Lest We Forget” on Whoa!Canada]

Remembrance Day is supposed to be about remembering our war dead. Although Canadians are told the red poppy sold by the Royal Canadian Legion is supposed to symbolize all war dead, in truth the red poppy symbol has become synonymous with Canadian military veterans and their families in Canada.

Whenever Remembrance Day rolls around, the focus is always on the two World Wars of the 20th Century. Yet World War I wasn’t called World War until there was a second World War. The war that inspired Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae’s famous poem was originally known as “The War to End All Wars.”

But as often happens, the haunting words of Dr McCrae’s poem, “In Flanders Fields,” were used almost from the start as a war promotion.

It is one of the most quoted poems from the war. As a result of its immediate popularity, parts of the poem were used in efforts and appeals to recruit soldiers and raise money selling war bonds. Its references to the red poppies that grew over the graves of fallen soldiers resulted in the remembrance poppy becoming one of the world’s most recognized memorial symbols for soldiers who have died in conflict. The poem and poppy are prominent Remembrance Day symbols throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, particularly in Canada, where “In Flanders Fields” is one of the nation’s best-known literary works. The poem is also widely known in the United States, where it is associated with Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

Wikipedia

Although we are admonished “lest we forget,” war is still very much with us. And perhaps the most frightening thing about it is that Canada has been at war for most of the 21st Century, but we are barely aware of this fact. Think of any WWI war movie; no matter where it’s set, everyone everywhere, whether or not they supported the war, everyone was acutely aware it was going on.

Viet Nam changed all that.

When the people at home were faced with the unromanticized horrors of war, up close and personal at their dinner tables, an anti war movement of epic proportions arose, making it near impossible to keep the war going.

Governments learned from this mistake, and so the news coverage shared with the populace in the Main Stream Media is carefully managed.

Here in Canada, those of us at home are barely aware we’re at war at all. Many still bask in the outdated notion that the Canadian military is engaged in Peacekeeping. To get a real look at what the situation actually is, we need to know the facts. Fortunately, the Internet allows us to discover what the MSM fails to tell us.

That’s why I believe this video of Tamara Lorincz‘ Keynote I recorded at the KWPeace Perspectives on Peace 2018 Symposium is so important.

Canadians need to know.

I’ve heard it said one reason the Canadian Government (whether run by Conservatives or Liberals) insists it can’t afford to adequately compensate our war veterans is because advances in medical technology means 21st Century veterans are much more likely to survive than WWI vets. It used to be that most casualties in war were sustained by the military, but these days that is no longer anywhere close to being true: civilian casualties vastly surpass those of the military.

What Colour is your Poppy?

Even though funds raised through red poppy sales are ostensibly to help our veterans, the symbol is so entwined with the mythos of war that I personally can no longer bear to wear one.

The Canadian Voice of Women For Peace champions the white poppy in Canada with its own White Poppy Campaign. The white poppy is the only one for me because it truly symbolizes all the casualties of war, winners and losers, soldiers and civilians, and just as important, it asks for peace.

—Laurel L. Russwurm
November 11th, 2018

Tamara Lorincz is a Balsillie School PhD Candidate, and a member of Canadian Voice of Women for Peace https://vowpeace.org/ and a member of Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space http://www.space4peace.org/

Tamara Lorincz’s Slides are available at http://kwpeace.ca/wp-content/uploads/…

Subscribe to the KWPeace Event Calendar https://kwpeace.ca/ to keep abreast of Waterloo Region Peace and Justice events/

28 October 2018

Save the Basic Income Pilot Project

[republished from the KitCon Blog]

Back in 2015, 122 Ontario doctors pressed then Ontario Liberal Minister of Health Eric Hoskins to adopt Basic Income because income (or lack thereof) is a serious health issue. The Wynne Government took its sweet time about it, and I have no doubt at all their Basic Income Pilot was intended to result in re-election. Still, WRGreens own Stacey Danckert pointed out the last Liberal Budget provided no funding to do anything after the pilot would have ended.

During our recent provincial election campaign, the Liberal, NDP, Green, and Doug Ford’s PC Party all indicated they they would continue the Ontario Basic Income Pilot after the election.

Universal Basic Income

The idea of Universal Basic Income is actually an old one, dating back to the Fourteen Hundreds. Far from being a left wing, socialist or communist idea, the concept spans the political spectrum, no doubt in part because poverty does too. There are left (human dignity) and right (stop theft) arguments for such a system, particularly in capitalist nations like Canada that are already investing vast sums in a piecemeal social safety net that has not managed to make a dent in citizen poverty. In Canada politicians of every political stripe have agreed we need to eliminate child poverty, and yet poverty is still with us.

Even American Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman advocated for a basic income alleviation of poverty.

"Suppose one accepts, as I do, this line of reasoning as justifying 
governmental action to alleviate poverty; to set, as it were, a floor under the 
standard of life of every person in the community."

—Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom

In his role of economic adviser to Republican President Richard Nixon, Friedman supported a negative income tax as a means of creating that floor and eliminating poverty. Had Nixon’s government not fallen in scandal, such a regime may have even been implemented in the US.

The international resurgence of interest in the idea of a Universal Basic Income gathering steam in the early 21st Century is growing fast for a host of reasons, including the collapse of manufacturing due to so called “free trade” agreements combined with the rapidly approaching decimation of the job market by ever increasing loss of human jobs through automation.

All of this is why it was reasonable to take Premier Ford’s promise to continue the OLP’s Basic Income Pilot Project if his party came to power. Whether for or against the idea, it only makes sense for any government to complete a project that has already cost the taxpayers of Ontario so much to get the data at the end of the rainbow. Any decision to take the matter further or toss it out could then be made based on facts rather than partisan rhetoric.

Sadly it seems Mr Ford prefers rhetoric. Rather than forging sound public policy in order to govern “for the people,” his new Government has opted to cancel Ontario’s Basic Income Pilot.

More than 20,000 people have signed this change.org petition asking the Ford Government to Save the Ontario Basic Income Pilot Project. But the Ford Government isn’t listening to the people.

But all doesn’t need to be lost.

The Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction has appealed to the federal Liberal Government:

“We already have the infrastructure. They should adopt the program.”
Tom Cooper, Director, Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction

The mayors of the municipalities that have been piloting the Ontario Basic Income have likewise asked feds to take over Ontario’s basic income pilot

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh calls on Liberals to save Ontario’s axed basic income pilot.

It isn’t exactly such a crazy idea.

The Liberal Party of Canada has a long history with Basic Income, and in fact it was Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s Government that co-authored the 5 year Mincome Pilot in Dauphin Manitoba in the 1970’s. Unfortunately, as often happens with long term projects under short sighted FPTP voting, Mr Trudeau’s Government fell and the data from the just completed pilot project was shelved and buried, only emerging for consideration many decades later.

And lately, the Federal Liberals have been flirting with the idea of Basic Income as well.

We believe there is tremendous national value in finishing this project. Every province is grappling with how to provide a strong social safety net that allows people to lead dignified lives without creating excessive administration. We are in desperate need of preventative approaches that will reduce the burden of poverty on our health care, education, and criminal justice systems.

Elizabeth May and Mike Schreiner, Schreiner and May ask Trudeau to rescue Basic Income pilot

Instead of starting their own Basic Income project from scratch, the Justin Trudeau Liberal Government need only spend $50 million dollars to complete the Ontario Basic Income Pilot project. That would be an incredible bargain basement price for data that would prove invaluable for making federal economic policy.

What can we do to help?

We can write our own letters to the Prime Minister and our own MP (and remember– physical letters travel postage free to the federal government.) But we can also sign every petition… like the one just begun by our friends at The Council of Canadians:

Petition: Call on the federal government to take over Ontario’s basic income pilot project.

Every little bit helps.

17 October 2018

Survey Results – Candidates seeking Regional Chair position in WR

Candidates for Regional Chair, Waterloo Region

Cities and regions around the globe are taking the myriad threats of climate change VERY seriously, and many are taking active steps to ‘future proof’ their communities. We are already seeing the impacts in our own backyards – and we know that decisions will need to be made today to address tomorrow’s looming climate dangers. On behalf of Region residents and voters concerned with the devastating impacts of climate change felt right here in the Region of Waterloo and across our warming planet, we asked candidates seeking office in the Region of Waterloo to review and reply to a survey questions.

The answers from all 4 candidates seeking Regional Chair position are posted HERE.

16 October 2018

Don’t Miss “Partnering with Nature to Heal The Biosphere” Tonight!

Athough this is not a Green Party event, this event was conceived and inspired by our friend Michael Purves-Smith, so it’s a very GREEN event! Hope to see you there!

For more information:
https://wrgreens.wordpress.com/2018/09/17/17762/

11 October 2018

The UN’s 1.5°C special climate report at a glance

[Guest Post by Emil Jeyaratnam, Madeleine De Gabriele, and Michael Hopkin, originally published in The Conversation]

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a special report today on the impacts of global warming of 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels.

The report outlines the considerable challenges of meeting the Paris Agreement’s more ambitious goal of limiting warming to 1.5℃, the global effort needed to achieve the target, and the consequences of not.

The highlights of the report are presented below:

CC BY-ND

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the Australian Labor Party had a goal of reaching 50% renewable energy by 2050. But the ALP hope to achieve the 50% target via an emissions intensity scheme by 2030.

Emil Jeyaratnam, Multimedia Editor, The Conversation;
Madeleine De Gabriele, Deputy Editor: Energy + Environment, The Conversation, and
Michael Hopkin, Section Editor: Energy + Environment, The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives 4.0 License. Read the original article.

Find the ipcc (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report Global Warming of 1.5 °C ~ an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty

“Global Greenhouse Gas Emmission Trajectories” graphic by Laurel L. Russwurm based on “The UN’s 1.5°C special climate report at a glance” released under a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives 4.0 License.

7 October 2018

Have a Green Thanksgiving!

Although I have issues with the colonial origins of our “Thanksgiving” tradition, the idea of expressing public thanks for that for which we are truly thankful is a good one. It is especially easy to forget such things when so many negative things are ongoing, but to be able to continue to work for a sustainable workable future, it is important not to allow despair to prevail. We can draw strength from reminding ourselves that there is still plenty of good in the world, and by harnessing that good, we can build the future we need for our children, and generations to follow.

In 2018 Canada, I am thankful so many of us have come to understand the necessity of adopting a proportional representation voting system, in spite of Mr. Trudeaus’s attempt to shut the idea of a truly representative democracy back in the closet, as his predecessors have done throughout Canadian history.

So I am very thankful that, instead of allowing this to happen:

the Provinces of BC and PEI are holding electoral reform referenda
the Yukon Territory has undertaken a study of electoral reform
a new government has been elected in Quebec after all opposition parties made a public pact to enact Proportional Representation no matter which formed new government
Ontario struggles under an FPTP extremist government which strips its most populous city in the country of almost half its (already) inadequate municipal representation
New Brunswick again suffers an electoral outcome like that which triggered its previous electoral reform process
Alberta looks down the barrel at the prospect of right wing populism in its already toxic atmosphere of polarization
Canadian provinces are pitted against each other by the federal government
PEI political polling suggests the PEI Greens may form the first Green led government in Canada

As an Ontarian, I don’t care who’s first but we can’t afford not to change. Defenders Of The Status Quo fight so hard because once any jurisdiction in Canada adopts Proportional Representation and the sky doesn’t fall, the rest of us will be able to see with our own eyes that the myths they’ve frightened generations of Canadians with have always been pure misinformation. Once that happens, the rest of the country will fall into Proportional Representation like dominoes. We are surely at a Proportional Representation tipping point.

Even in the unlikely event PR is staved off a little longer, at least Canadians are beginning to understand that even with our existing grotesquely inequitable voting system, we need to stop being bullied into voting ‘strategically’ for lesser evils but instead vote for what we want.

I am thankful that all five Waterloo Region Greens ranked in the top 20% of Ontario Green Party candidates in the 2018 provincial election.

I am thankful that, in spite of staggering odds against, and in the face of the Broadcast Consortium’s exclusion from the Ontario Leadership debates, Mike Schreiner made history this year by winning election as our first Ontario Greens Member of Provincial Parliament.

Bravo Mike!

**WRGreens are thankful for** our estimable federal and provincial representatives:
**Mike Schreiner and Elizabeth May.**

And so I would like to wish us all a Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at WRgreens!

Regards,
Laurel Russwurm
KitConGreens

3 October 2018

NEW!! People, Politics and Planet Podcast

WRGreens Meetup: Kitchener Centre Candidate Stacey Danckert and Teresa Cornwell host GPC Deputy Leader Jo-Ann Roberts and GPO orrganizer Maureen Balsillie at our DTK Office

During the 2018 Election the WRGreens were able to host a conversation in our Downtown Kitchener Office with Green Party of Canada Deputy Leader Jo-Ann Roberts. It wasn’t just an election pep talk, it was also a terrific opportunity to discuss all manner of things Green, including the way forward.

@JoAnnRobertsYYJ’s has just unveiled her new “People Politics and the Planet” GPC Podcast!

In this era of knee-jerk partisanship and decision-based evidence making, the currency of actual ideas has become sadly devalued in Canadian politics. Veteran broadcaster (and Green Party Deputy Leader) Jo-Ann Roberts is changing all that with the new podcast *People, Politics and Planet*, a wide-ranging audio journey through some fascinating political terrain where you’ll meet some of the country’s most thought-provoking policy innovators.

Sure, they mostly lean towards Green — but, as Jo-Ann finds out, that’s where the all interesting stuff is happening.

Find it on itunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/people-politics-and-planet/id1437188430?mt=2

or download it directly from the Green Party of Canada website at
https://www.greenparty.ca/en/podcast
Don’t forget to subscribe for new episodes!

The podcast subscription feed URL is not easily found; add this link to your favourite podcatcher:

Podcast icon https://rss.simplecast.com/podcasts/7692/rss

Photo Credit
Jo-Ann Roberts meets WRGreens © by Laurel L. Russswurm and released under a Creative Commons Attribution Sharealike 2.0 Generic License

People, Politics and Planet with Jo-Ann Roberts is a Green Party of Canada podcast.

29 September 2018

GPC Convention 2018

Among an incredible lineup of Green headliners from across Canada and around the word we have the brilliant Caroline Lucas, the UK MP for Brighton Pavilion who holds the distinction of being the first Green Party candidate in the world to be elected under the odious First-Past-The-Post, proving it was possible to break the glass ceiling.

For those of us unable to attend the 2018 Green Party of Canada Convention in BC, we can watch the the high points being streamed online via the GPC Facebook Page. You can also follow the Convention on Twitter at #greenconv18

If you’ve missed them, catch the recordings here:

Friday September 28th, 2018

Friday Night’s brilliant Lineup of speakers can be seen here:
https://www.facebook.com/GreenPartyofCanada/videos/2902323799793027/

Saturday September 29th, 2018

Saturday Morning’s Program headlining the brilliant Caroline Lucas
(and many more goodies) can be seen here:
https://www.facebook.com/GreenPartyofCanada/videos/1825623187581859/

Saturday Night: Elizabeth May Delivers the Keynote Address
https://www.facebook.com/GreenPartyofCanada/videos/280310239251749/

Note: you don’t need to be logged into Facebook to watch these.
I will add links to additional videos as they become available.

Photo Credit: Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party
© by http://underclassrising.net/ and released under a Creative Commons Attribution Sharealike 2.0 Generic License

25 September 2018

And Then There Were 10: New Brunswick Grows Greener

When I think back to the 2008 Election when the Federal Greens earned nearly 1 million votes but won no seats at all, it is really pretty amazing. Elizabeth May only became the first elected Canadian Green in 2011. She was followed by Andrew Weaver, elected in the 2013 provincial election as the first Green Party MLA in British Columbia’s history. In 2014, David Coon made history with a seat for the New Brunswick Green Party. Next PEI Green Party Leader Peter Bevan Baker was tenth time lucky when he won his seat in 2015. In 2017 when BC’s Andrew Weaver was re-elected, he was accompanied by two new Green MLAs, Adam Olsen, Saanich North and the Islands MLA and Sonia Furstenau, Cowichan Valley MLA. Then, near the end of 2017, the PEI Greens Caucus was formed by Hannah Bell’s stunning by-election win. And of course this year our own awesome Green Party of Ontario leader, Mike Schreiner, won his seat in Guelph.

Meanwhile, the PEI Greens were polling ridiculously well in January, of this year, and then even better in August. Must have something to do with the way Greens do politics differently.

Last Night New Brunswick re-elected Green Party Leader David Coon, as well as two new Green Members of the Legislative Assembly. The new MLAs are Megan Mitton, who won her riding of Memramcook-Tantramar by 11 votes, and Kevin Arseneau elected in the riding of Kent North.

Congratulations @DavidCCoon, @meganmitton and @kevinarseneau.

One thing I can promise: it’s not over yet.