January 30^th, 2018

ACTION ALERT:

***Greenbelt Campaign*: Help us Grow Ontario's Greenbelt to Protect Precious Water Resources**

Action Alert!

We are rapidly nearing the finish line for our shared task of growing Ontario’s Greenbelt! So many environmental groups and individuals have given their suggestions and support over the years since the legislation opened for revision in 2015, so many government consultations have been held, so many submissions, petitions and revisions have circulated. Indeed, so many of us have raised our voices that our message has resounded -- it is vital that we protect and grow our Greenbelt, our precious water sources, and the environmental health of Southern Ontario. It has indeed been a marathon effort. Now, one last step and this race has been well run!

A quick review of our December 12 write-up and map reminds us that the provincial government has been considering growing the Greenbelt by up to one third. The focus is largely on parts of the Outer Ring that surrounds the existing belt and on the adjoining key water resource areas that feed into it. A more detailed map has just been completed. See Figure 1 below…

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

Please welcome our new 2018 Executive Committee members!

In September 2017, we had a call-out to recruit new candidates for our Chapter’s 2018-2020 Executive Committee. In November 2017, we held a nomination to select 6 new committee members to join Ontario Chapter’s leadership. Welcome to our new Executive Committee members!

John Bacher – Chapter Chair

John has been an active environmentalist since the early 1970 's, working primarily on issues involving the protection of the landscape of Southern Ontario. This has led to some quite varied forms of environmental activism. One is transportation expansion, which most successfully, contributed to the defeat of the proposed mid-peninsula (Niagara) expressway. Another is waste management, which contributed to the defeat of numerous proposals to establish garbage incinerators in the Hamilton-Niagara region. He also played an important role in the defeat of Dump Site 41 in Simcoe County and the proposed Dufferin County mega quarry, while working closely with his friend Danny Beaton (of the Mohawk Six Nations).

John was recruited into Sierra Club Ontario through his extensive involvement in Greenbelt issues. This was important in the defeat of proposals which had they been adopted, would have greatly weakened the Greenbelt as a land use planning tool.

Caroline John

Caroline has a solid background in outreach, organizing, campaigning and fundraising in the NGO sector, with excellent comprehension on how to build capacity and access resources. Her work experiences include development and communications in the NGO Sector for the Broadbent Institute, Environmental Defence, Climate Action Network Canada, Upasana Dance Company, One World Arts, Torchlight Shakespeare Festival and Ecology Ottawa. She has also championed many environmental, community organizing, social justice and arts mediums as well as started her own projects like Urban Shades, a communal community garden in the city in Ottawa. Caroline has a Bachelor of Science from the University of New Brunswick and a Certificate of Environmental Practise from the Royal Roads University with a concentration in communications and public relations.

Joseph Duncan

Joseph is a 3rd year Outdoor Recreation student at Lakehead University. He previously graduated from the Justice Institution of British Columbia, and Ontario Police College. Being Indigenous provides him with the natural link to natural and environmental issues, he believes that Indigenous people should maintain and strengthen the distinctive spiritual relationship with the traditional territories and land. Joseph is interested in creating a dialogue among both First Nations and Non-First Nations Communities. After hiking through John Muir Park and completing a 6-month journey, it has opened his eyes towards environmental issues, and the importance of preserving, promoting and protecting land resources.

Leslie Adams

Leslie has been involved with the environmental community for more than 35 years. Originally from Montreal, the GTA is now her home. With a background in psychology and land use planning, she believes that we have a responsibility to the planet and all life. She is involved with several environmental organizations, including Ontario Environment Network and the Reseau Canadian Environmental Network, and sits on a United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) advisory committee. Leslie is engaged in mainstreaming the Sustainable Development Goals, and, Biodiversity, as understood through the CBD. She is interested in taking action now for life on Earth and strives to enable collective understanding and connection so that we can work together towards a more peaceful planet for all.

Mihaela Ceausu

Mihaela's passion for environmental issues started out at a young age. In pursuit of this, she studied environmental chemistry to focus on pollution chemistry and climate change. She also completed a Master’s in public policy so that she could better understand the political and economic challenges of environmental issues. Since then, she has learned about flood mitigation while working for Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and water resources engineering firm Civica Infrastructure. Currently, she is most interested in green energy, since the energy sector is drastically changing - being driven by economic and technological forces alongside environmental ones. She feels that by working with Sierra Club Ontario as part of the Executive Committee, this would be a great opportunity and platform to raise funds and awareness, and take action.

Wendy Thomson

Wendy graduated in 1993 with a Masters in Natural Resource Management from the University of Leicester, England. She subsequently worked for 2 years as conservation assistant with Kenfig SAC before taking a role in habitat biodiversity surveying with the Countryside Council for Wales. In 1997 She emigrated to Canada and since then have been active in a number of groups including Ontario Director of the Canadian Society for Environmental Biologists, and Founder of the Women’s Environmental Alliance. Since 2000, she has managed ElectricGreen Canadian Environmental News and is member of the Reseau Canadian Environmental Network (RCEN) biodiversity caucus Steering Committee. Wendy has also been active on the Ontario Environmental Network (OEN) Steering Committee since 2011, taking on roles such as communications and volunteer recruitment coordination, before being promoted to Co-Chair in 2014.

…Learn more about our Executive Committee members on Sierra Club Ontario's website.

Please save the date for Ontario Chapter's upcoming Executive Committee meeting dates, and email us if you would like to attend any or all of them (all our meetings are held via conference calls):

Time: 7.00 - 8.30pm

Dates:

March 13th, 2018

May 8th, 2018

Sept 11th, 2018

Nov 13th, 2018