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.
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
$3,150 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.
Donate to your local Green Party of Canada Electoral District Association:
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.”
Liberal MPs Marwan Tabbara, Bardish Chagger, Raj Saini, Bryan May and Conservative MP Harold Albrecht Waterloo Region Climate Change Consultation, Kitchener, 2016
When I attended the Kitchener Climate Change Consultation in 2016 it was incredible to see all 5 Waterloo Region MPs in attendance, not just the 4 new Liberal MPs, but my own Conservative MP Harold Albrecht was there too.
Facilitator David Weber
Unsurprisingly 3 of our WRGreen candidates were there helping facilitate the discussions.
I believe our Kitchener Climate Consultation was the biggest one held across Canada. It had more than a full slate of MPs, there were hundreds of engaged citizens there to participate.
There was a lot of great discussion and valuable input as citizens brainstormed ways we could come together and bring Climate Change to heel.
Facilitator Stacey Danckert
It was a heady time. Critical thinking and creativity came together as citizens from across the political spectrum contributed different pieces of the solution to Climate Change, the existential global crisis of our time.
But Waterloo Region was up for it. We were ready.
Each round table discussion yielded up a blueprint of action. And at the end of the day, each table’s facilitators presented a verbal report of the high points to the entire assembly.
Although all 5 Waterloo Region MPs were there, its pretty clear none of them actually listened.
Former Progressive Conservative Party Leader Patrick Brown had had a fully costed moderate election platform complete with carbon tax. But it seems the PC Party backroom boys weren’t ready for a carbon tax, so Mr Brown and his platform were replaced with Mr Ford and a series of off-the-cuff promises masquerading as a platform.
One of the huge costs associated with winner-take-all politics is the policy lurch that happens when a centrist party is replaced by a right wing party. Which is exactly what we’re seeing here in Ontario.
But even before winning the leadership or the election, one thing Doug Ford was *always* clear about was his intention to get rid of the Liberal’s Cap & Trade carbon mitigation system.
CARBON PRICING
With Climate Change breathing down our necks, carbon pricing is intended to disincentivise Green House Gas emissions. It does this by forcing polluters to take financial responsibility for the pollution they generate.
Cap and Trade revenue flowing into Government coffers is supposed to help government finance our necessary transition to a sustainable economy.
While it is clear that carbon pricing is imperative, personally, I am not at all unhappy to see the dismantling of the McGuinty-Wynne Cap and Trade system, although a more orderly change would have been nice.
One big problem with Ontario’s Cap and Trade was that its carbon targets simply weren’t anywhere close to being high enough.
From my perspective, the worst thing about Cap and Trade is that it creates a government revenue stream. Governments get very attached to revenue streams. And the Ontario Liberals had made good use of the Cap and Trade funds that flowed into government coffers.
What do schools have to do with Carbon Pricing?
Ontario schools have been struggling since the 1990’s when the Mike Harris Sr government diverted education tax funds from community school boards into the general government coffers. Now, instead of dispensing all the funds collected for Ontario elementary and high school education through property tax directly to the schools, in the name of “efficiency” education funding was suddenly dependent on a “funding formula” that was more about redistributing education tax than educating our kids.
Government works in mysterious ways… instead of fixing this elementary school, they built a new one.
Suddenly there wasn’t enough money in the Education budget for elementary school music class and librarians. In the rich province of Ontario, school budgets were reduced the bare minimum to function. Chronic underfunding begun by the Mike Harris Sr PC government and carried on by the McGuinty-Wynne Liberals over decades naturally meant there was never enough funding to properly maintain the infrastructure.
But when school buildings began to crumble across the province, the Liberals had to do something: and so some of the Cap and Trade revenue was earmarked to fix our schools. (Although spun in the media as needed repairs, in truth these funds were supposed to be used to retrofit schools to make them more energy efficient.) Sadly even that is gone now, and the folks at http://fixourschools.ca/ will tell you that Ontario schools still need a whole lot of fixing.
Federal Backstop Carbon Pricing
Canadians for Carbon Dividends Ontario Chart
But Ontario’s carbon pricing void will presently be filled with a different kind of carbon pricing, as the Federal Government implements a Carbon Fee and Dividend regime.
This is the carbon pricing policy advocated by both federal and Provincial Green Parties in Canada because it is a much more equitable system.
The fees collected from industry polluters don’t go to line government coffers, but are instead payed out directly to citizens to help us weather the transition.
The dividends counter the price increases industry will pass on to consumers. The way it works out is that consumers with the smallest carbon footprint actually come out ahead.
Even so, it still is not enough.
The IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made it clear that we aren’t doing nearly enough to address Climate Change. They’ve given us a timeline of 12 years, and time is running out.
While we need to get the new federal Carbon Pricing system up and running, it is only the start.
So it is a very good thing Ontario’s Doug Ford PC Government has stepped up and is conducting its own
Consultation: A made-in-Ontario climate change plan
We never know if our winner-take-all governments will listen, but when they ask us for input on important issues, it is well worth responding. Even if they ignore what we have to say, at least we will be on the record. And the record will be there for the next government.
It is very important for us to respond, to make sure our new PC Government understands Ontario expects serious climate change policy.
This consultation tells us they want our opinions, but they don’t want our names. The only way to participate is to do so anonymously on a web form.
Tips
Your submission does not need to be a scholarly work; you can write as much or as little as you’re comfortable with. When filling in any kind of web form, it’s easiest to prepare your answer offline. That way you won’t accidentally send it before you’re finished, and you can keep a copy of the submission you wrote. It is always an excellent idea to make as much noise as we can publicly online. If you have a blog, share it there and/or sharing on twitter or Facebook or whatever other social media you use. Sharing online can inspire others to participate, and the greater the response the consultation gets, the better. If you don’t have a place to share online, feel free to share your submission with us, and we’ll publish it here on the blog.
Our quality of life depends on clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, and well-protected lands and parks.
Later this fall, Ontario will release a plan that will identify specific areas of focus to help us tackle and be more resilient to climate change.
This will be the first part of a broader approach that will protect clean air and water, encourage conservation and do more to address urban litter and waste.
This made-in-Ontario solution will strike the right balance between protecting our environment and responsibly supporting a prosperous economy.
Areas of focus
The plan will include several areas of focus, such as:
Creating an understanding of the effects that climate change is having on our households, businesses, communities and public infrastructure to better prepare and strengthen our resiliency.
Ensuring polluters are held accountable and creating dedicated measures that will efficiently reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Improving Ontario’s business climate by unlocking the power of the private sector to finance and drive innovative climate solutions. This will include an emissions-reduction fund to invest in technology-based and other solutions to reduce emissions in Ontario.
Finding a balanced solution that puts people first, makes life more affordable for families, and takes Ontario’s role in fighting climate change seriously.
These areas will help ensure our investments in climate action effectively balance greenhouse gas reductions while supporting economic prosperity and Ontario families.
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.
“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.
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.
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:
Even so, it still is not enough.
