AWARE-Ontario.ca

Green Spaces News

 

Every day Canadians are inundated with the impression that Canada is a vast pristine wilderness of endless and exploitable natural resources -- from the Hudson Bay Company history taught in public schools to the commercials shown on television; from postage stamps and coins to government ministries promoting industries, tourism and recreation.

 

Canadian culture has us believing that we are in tune with the natural environment; respecters of the planet; healthy, hardy and adaptable folk.  We run, bike, ski, climb mountains, horseback ride, swim, fish, hunt, canoe, kayak, camp -- you get the idea.   We are “outdoorsy”, which means most of our recreational pastimes take us outside.

 

In truth Canada has a poor environmental record:

-      Terrible mining reputation both abroad and at home (Imperial Canada Inc.)

-      Largest contributor to deforestation worldwide (Huffington Post 2014)(Deforestation in Canada)(Huffington Post 2019)

-      Alberta oil sands are Canada’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gases (Ottawa Citizen 2016)

-      Victoria, B.C. continues to discharge raw untreated sewage into the ocean (National Post 2016)

-      Quebec City, Quebec recently discharged raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River (CBC 2016)

-      Careless attitude re: human health – the Japanese visit Grassy Narrows in Canada to study the effects of mercury poisoning on people (CBC 2014)

-      Sarnia, Ontario’s “Chemical Valley” is recognized as being one of the most polluted places in Canada (Toronto Star 2017)

-      Canadians do not have the legal right to a healthy environment. (Ecojustice)

 

It is encouraging to see that more and more Canadians are recognizing the inconsistency between how we see ourselves as nature lovers and how we are failing to protect our natural environment from over-exploitation.

 

 

In Ontario, the provincial government is being pressed to balance support for agriculture and economic development with managed growth and natural environment protection.  To that end, the government is currently promoting these strategies and organizations:

 

Growth for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2017)

 

Greenbelt Plan (2017)     /     AO Info: Greenbelt

 

Niagara Escarpment Plan (2017)

 

Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan (2017) 

 

AO Info: Ontario’s Provincial Parks

 

Forests Ontarionon-profit charitable organization responsible for planting trees and creating/promoting educational materials on the benefits of the forestry industry.

PLT Canada – “Project Learning Tree (PLT) Canada fosters community interest in the benefits of environmental education and responsible management of Canada's natural resources.”

Canadian Institute of Forestry (CIF-IFC) – “to inspire confidence and pride in Canadian forestry – nationally and internationally” and “informing the public with balanced science-based outreach”.

 

 

 

 

Green Space News

 

Date

Source

Title

Comment

2020-10-30

CBC News

Province greenlights controversial Pickering development on protected wetland using special order

Kate McGillivray

-      Ministerial zoning order

2020-06-24

CBC News

An environmental group says toilet paper companies are fuelling deforestation. The forest industry disagrees

Karin Larsen

2020-04-23

TheNarwhal.ca (BC)

B.C. giving millions to transform rainforest into wood pellets for export, new report documents

Sarah Cox

2019-10-07

TheNarwhal.ca (BC)

‘Indicative of a truly corrupt system’: government investigation reveals BC Timber Sales violating old-growth logging rules

Judy Lavoie

{proof that the fox cannot guard the henhouse}

2019-09-09

CBC News

Doug Ford government held talks with PC donor on removing Greenbelt land

Mike Crawley

2019-08-31

Huffington Post

As Amazon Burns, Canada's Boreal Forest Also Faces Serious Threats

Samantha Beattie

2019-07-03

Environmental Defence

Why Dufferin County Needs Greenbelt Protection

Anuja Kapoor

- Carl Cosack

2019-06-05

CBC News

Ottawa throws lifeline to 50 Million Tree Program cut by Ontario government

Peter Zimonjic

2019-04-25

NationalPost.com

Ford government cancels 'expendable' program that sought to plant 50 million trees in Ontario

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press

2019-03-21

TheNarwhal.ca

Canada clearcuts one million acres of boreal forest every year. A lot of it for toilet paper.

Tzeporah Berman

2019-02-26

TheNarwhal.ca

Why Canada’s boreal forest is gaining international attention

Jimmy Thomson

- Canada’s boreal forest

2019-02-21

EcoWatch

The Issue With Tissue and Toilet Paper: How the U.S. Is Flushing Forests Away

Natural Resources Defense Council

- Canada’s boreal forest

2019-01-31

ThoughtCo.com

Deforestation in Canada

Frederic Beaudry

2019-01-05

Ring of Fire (USA)

Trump Hands California Forests To Logging Industry, Increasing Risks Of Wildfires

Farron Cousins

{Utility companies cause fires}

2018-06-27

TheGuardian.com

One football pitch of forest lost every second in 2017, data reveals

Damian Carrington, Niko Kommenda, Pablo Gutiérrez and Cath Levett

2018-06-26

TheNarwhal.ca

Wood Buffalo: Canada’s largest national park and its people in peril

Judith Lavoie

- Alberta

- UNESCO

2018-06-13

CBC News

MTO contractors mow down hundreds of saplings

Stu Mills

2018-03-19

Save the North Gwillimbury Forest / www.SaveNGForest.org

LSRCA Staff recommend that the DG Group be allowed to destroy the Paradise Beach-Island Grove Provincially Significant Wetland

Jack Gibbons

- Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA)

- DG Group/Metrus  development

2017-06-14

UNESCO

23 new sites added to UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves

- USA pulls 17 sites from UNESCO

2017-05-18

Government of Ontario / Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Co-ordinated Land Use Planning Review

- includes links to the four plans

2017-03-10

Brandon Sun

Resolute loses bid to include ‘vexatious’ allegations in Greenpeace suit

Colin Perkel

2017-03-06

Nation Talk

Statement – Greenpeace Stands by its Claims Against Resolute Forest Products

 

2017-02-10

CBC News

Ministry recognized for Polar Bear Provincial Park radar site cleanup

Kris Ketonen

2016-07-28

CBC

Developers who cut down mature trees should receive 'very stiff fine,' Tory says

- Toronto

2016-06-08

EcoWatch / Katie Pohlman

Norway Becomes World’s First Country to Ban Deforestation

Katie Pohlman

2016-02-26

TheObserver.ca

Difficult to calculate a tree’s actual value, but there is a method

John DeGroot

2016-01-06

MillstoneNews.com

Just what are we spraying on our roadsides?

Theresa Peluso

- wild parsnips

- ClearView

2015-12-07

Niagara Escarpment Views

The Crombie Report: Planning for Health, Prosperity and Growth in the Greater Golden Horseshoe: 2015-2041

[note comment by John Bacher]

Crombie Report .pdf

2015-09-08

Globe and Mail

Conservationist Lyn MacMillan led effort to save Niagara Escarpment

Susan Ferrier MacKay

2015-03-30

EcoWatch / Earthjustice (USA)

6,000 Acres of Old Growth Forests Slated for Logging, the Largest Sale in Decades

Earthjustice

- Tongass National Forest, Alaska

2014-09-05

Huffington Post

Canada Largest Contributor to Deforestation Worldwide: Study

 

2014-05-20

Toronto Star

Resolute forestry audit sealed by court dispute

John Spears

 

 

Other Specific Issues:

 

Save Farabout Peninsula, Eagle Lake

 

Save the North Gwillimbury Forest, Lake Simcoe

 

Save Strawberry Island, Lake Simcoe

 

Thundering Waters Forest, Niagara Falls

 

Beeton Woods

 

 

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List of Ontario’s Issues

 

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Disclaimer: This information has been compiled through private amateur research for the purpose of allowing the reader to make an informed and educated decision.  However, while the information is believed to be reliable, completeness and accuracy cannot be guaranteed.

 


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