The following was emailed to people who are signed up for special emails about local action on climate change.
- ACTION: remind your City Councillor
- Fourteen Community Associations Sign a Letter to the Mayor
- Video Posted
- Successful Events
Behind the scenes City Councillors are right now discussing the contents of their official document the Term of Council Priorities. Their talks will go on a week or so then go through committee votes in June.
The city budget had no money to fund the climate change plan that Council approved in 2014 but said if climate became a Term of Council Priority it could get some of the $37.4 million set aside for "priority initiatives."
That's why NOW is the time to remind your councillor (even if you told them already) that you want action and accountability on climate change by the City of Ottawa.
If you don't know your councillor or their contact info you can find it here.
Copying the Mayor and/or the Chair of Environment Committee will help too.
Fourteen Community Associations Sign a Letter to the Mayor
The Community Associations Forum on Environmental Sustainability (CAFES Ottawa) have sent an open letter to Jim Watson asking that climate change be a Term of Council Priority.
You can spread the word by sharing the Facebook Post or reTweeting about it.
Video Posted
Ecology Ottawa posted a 1½ minute video asking supporters to contact their councillors. The blog post includes more info on how we understand the Term of Council Priorities will move through committee approvals. [Facebook share or reTweet]
Successful Events
Ecology Ottawa supporters ran a very successful event in Ottawa-Vanier riding on April 9 with more than 100 people in attendance and at which elected officials from all three levels of government responded to the question of what that level of government's role was in fighting climate change.
Ecology Ottawa supporters again ran a very successful event in the Glebe on April 14 themed around Moving Toward 100% Renewable Energy in Ottawa. About 50 people were in attendance. This was followed April 23 by a similar event by OREC at Carleton U.
Four busloads of Ecology Ottawa supporters were in Quebec City April 11 helping swell the crowd to an estimated 25,000 people calling on Canada's provincial governments to cooperate on fighting climate change. As you're no doubt aware, Ontario announced a cap and trade approach to pricing carbon in association with that meeting of provincial premiers. Whether you favor cap and trade or fee and dividend or some other carbon pricing approach, the Ontario move is a step forward where we've seen no progress for a decade of trying. We should support this move as a step in the right direction.
Action Summary
Latest posts
Ottawa Eco Awards 2024 - Recipients Announced!
The 2024 Ottawa Eco Awards celebrate outstanding individuals in the Ottawa community who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to environmental stewardship, sustainability leadership, and climate action. We have been thrilled with the nominations that we have received from Ottawans for our second Ottawa Eco Awards, and we are heartened to learn about the local eco champions who inspire you.
Ecology Ottawa delegates to the Environment and Climate Change Committee on the Rain Ready Ottawa program.
Ecology Ottawa was at the City Council’s Environment and Climate Change Committee on April 16, 2024, to talk about the Rain Ready Program. We’ve provided our delegations below and you can also watch the recording.
Members of ECCC invited to webinar on incineration
On April 8, we invited members of City Council’s Environment and Climate Change Committee (ECCC) to attend a webinar on incineration. This webinar is timely: Council is considering incineration as an option for dealing with Ottawa’s waste, since staff has warned Council that the Trail Road Landfill—which currently receives the majority of Ottawans’ garbage—will fill up soon.