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The recent threat of tariffs on Canadian exports to the United States has many concerned. Tariffs would have significant negative effects across our economy and communities. Elected officials at all levels of government must strengthen resilience within their jurisdiction. But such efforts must also embed justice, equity, and climate change preparedness.
In this context, the Peoples Official Plan coalition, of which Ecology Ottawa is a co-lead, has written Mayor Mark Sutcliffe with three recommendations for Ottawa's own response to tariff threats. We recommend that the City strengthen local food sovereignty, energy sovereignty, and circular economy.
Please read our letter below, and contact the mayor or your councillor to share your thoughts with them!
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February 24th, 2025
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe
110 Laurier Ave W
Ottawa, ON K1P 1J1
Dear Mayor Sutcliffe,
We write concerning the City of Ottawa’s responses to US tariffs and other geopolitical threats. We are pleased that you and City Council have taken a proactive position on this.
The Peoples Official Plan Coalition (POP) recommends that the City examine actions in the following three areas:
- Strengthening Local Food Sovereignty
- Strengthening Local Energy Sovereignty
- Strengthening Local Circular Economy
Strengthening Local Food Sovereignty
Our lead partner in the POP Coalition on local food is Just Food, and we encourage you to work with them directly to benefit from their long-standing economic development expertise in support of food and farming businesses, including sharing out the Savour Ottawa Buy Local Guide.
As a coalition, we wish that the City of Ottawa adopt a comprehensive overall food strategy that will:
- Embed food sovereignty into municipal policies, urban planning, and economic development (including enabling policy for food production being prioritized in the upcoming decisions on growing food in the right-of-way, and the Community Garden Action Plan review)
- Protect against development encroachment on farmland
- Invest in local food processing and storage infrastructure
- Support community food initiatives, ensuring equitable food access for all residents
- Enable food production at all scales, including household production through to larger operations
Strengthening Local Energy Sovereignty
Energy sovereignty is control over energy issues free from external interference. Applied to municipalities, energy sovereignty is about energy security, energy resiliency and sustainable energy.
Implementing an Energy Sovereignty strategy is a critical tool for the long term success of Ottawa and the Eastern Ontario grid region. It lies at the intersection of land use planning, energy planning and economic development and requires community support and public education. Local energy security can be achieved by pursuing, enabling and investing in a clean Distributed Energy Resource (DER) system. According to Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) DERs are devices that generate, store, or use energy. They can be connected to a centralized power grid or operate independently as microgrids. Some examples are solar, battery energy storage systems (BESS), electric vehicles, heat pumps and wind turbines. The IESO lists the benefits as reduced emissions, improved grid reliability, lower energy costs, increased resilience and improved grid stability.
As demonstrated in Kanata North, European Union businesses looking to build new facilities are attracted to jurisdictions that can meet their Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 3 emissions standards. A diversity of local energy sources and energy storage also enhances resilience to extreme weather events and reduces dependence on pipelined fossil fuels that can be impacted by tariffs and geopolitical threats such as the Line 5 route through Michigan.
Strengthening Local Circular Economy
A locally focused municipal procurement strategy can help accelerate Canada’s and Ottawa’s transition from a linear to a circular economy through proactive goods, services, public works, and infrastructure investments that support the recovery, reuse and reintegration of products and materials into the supply chain rather than ending up as waste. The City can support a circular economy for all City operations and buildings by reducing waste generation and collection in house, by enhancing recycling and by developing a pro-active green procurement strategy by for example banning all single use plastics, requiring recyclable packaging in all product purchasing and pursuing green construction waste reduction strategies.
The Reuse Ottawa program which is focused on reusable food containers was initiated by the Circular Innovation Council and is supported by the City of Ottawa. It serves as a model of circular economy thinking that can be applied more broadly to local municipal procurement.
Thank you in advance for your careful consideration of this matter.
Sincerely,
The Peoples Official Plan Coalition
POP coalition members include organizations that collaboratively hold the City of Ottawa accountable to its Official Plan and urge the city to go beyond it to address equity, inclusion, and climate change. Specifically, we advocate for sustainable land use; equitable access to water, good food, housing and greenspace for all; improved active transportation and transit; protection of biodiversity and habitats; and sustainable waste reduction and management. Membership is open to organizations that share these goals and agree to actively operate under our processes and collaborative governance model.
