Statement from Keith Brooks, Programs Director Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – Despite the announcement from the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) that Ontario is moving ahead with contracting a new gas plant in Napanee, this represents a win for Ontarians. The IESO has come up short of its stated goal of procuring 1500 Megawatts (MW) of new polluting gas plants in the midst of a climate crisis because Ontario’s communities said “no.” This is a win for electricity ratepayers, for communitie ..read more

Statement by Aliénor Rougeot, Program Manager, Climate and Energy Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – Alberta’s newly announced Oil Sands Mine Water Steering Committee is just another attempt to delay action and distract from the daily harm caused by toxic tailings in the tar sands. The Alberta government has allowed 1.4 trillion litres of toxic industrial waste to accumulate for over five decades, but now wants us to believe a steering committee with no decision-making power can resolve the issue. This is ..read more

For Canada’s major oil and gas producers, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a get-out-of-jail-free card, which allows them to keep on polluting while appearing as though they are taking the threat of climate change seriously. CCS is a multi-billion dollar boondoggle that doesn’t come close to the hype, has significant safety risks, and is a substantial distraction from real climate solutions, such as building more renewable energy, increasing electricity transmission infrastructure, and developing and using storage technology. Want proof? Last week, Capital Power, a major energy company wit ..read more

If people in Ontario don’t speak up, the government might push through two new laws that could see a lot of the province’s farmland, forests, wetlands and habitats marked for destructive suburban sprawl development. While this might seem like solely an environmental issue, it’s not. That’s because the biggest threat to our environment here in Ontario is also the biggest threat to fixing the housing shortage: sprawl development.  With its permanent protections, the Greenbelt acts as the inner line of defence against destructive sprawl. But only a small portion of Ontario’s essential agric ..read more

Ontario’s current recycling system only collects 43 per cent of beverage containers, but a deposit system could capture 90 per cent, keeping billions of containers out of the environment. Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – A recent poll commissioned by Environmental Defence found that 81 per cent of Ontarians want a deposit-return system for non-alcoholic beverage containers. The poll, conducted by Abacus Data, shows overwhelming public support for a better system to manage empties for drinks lik ..read more

Statement from Keith Brooks, Programs Director Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Huron-Wendat – New data released today by the Government of Canada shows that Canada is finally starting to bend the curve when it comes to climate pollution. GHG emissions in 2022 were the lowest they have been in 25 years, with the exception of the pandemic years. However, more action is needed to get the country on track to avoid catastrophic and irreversible climate damages. Critically, Canada must quickly reduce its dependen ..read more

We’ve been closely following all the controversy surrounding Enbridge’s greenwashing and price gouging in Ontario, so we knew we had to make some additions to the Climate Villains roster. Welcome Gregory L. Ebel, the CEO of Enbridge, to our list of infamous Climate Villains – powerful people with fossil fuel interests holding Canada back from effective climate action. If you haven’t heard of Mr. Ebel before, don’t worry; you’re not alone. The executives behind the fossil fuel industry often avoid public scrutiny, which is why we’re shining the spotlight on their activities. We’ve sourced publ ..read more

Statement from Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate Ottawa | Traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People – Today Capital Power announced that they would not be pursuing carbon capture at the Genesee Generating Station, east of Edmonton Alberta, given the high costs and complexity of implementing the technology. The project was first proposed in 2021, and has already received government subsidies.  This decision is just the latest failure in carbon capture’s terrible track record. It should serve as a lesson for governments on how reckless it is to be ..read more

Statement from Phil Pothen, Land Use and Land Development program manager Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – In November 2022, Ontario Premier Doug Ford claimed that sprawl construction would be in progress on the Greenbelt by the end of 2023. Developers tried to evict tenants to make way for construction and survey trucks were on the ground in the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve. Ontarians all know how that turned out. Amid multiple investigations, federal intervention and public outrage at the attack ..read more

This Earth Month, Environmental Defence celebrated its 40th Anniversary. Our Executive Director, Tim Gray, marked the occasion with a speech underscored with a message of hope—a message we’d like to share with all of you now. Four decades of creating meaningful change is no small feat and perseverance often requires hope. But, as you’ll read in Tim’s message below, there’s a certain type of hope that promises a better future, and it’s one rooted in grit, not blind optimism. Hope is a gift that all of us share. We can tap into it to make our lives richer and more productive. So how does the sc ..read more