If you are a resident of Saanich, please sign the petition to make Saanich Withdraw its membership from the UDICR Development Lobby. This is of key importance in placing the interests of residents above that of industry in determining our future.
Your grocery bills are skyrocketing. Your favourite restaurant put up a sign warning of increased menu prices. You’re dipping into your savings to make ends meet. This is the reality of the cost of living crisis facing Canadians. But not so for fossil fuel executives... Read more
With the municipal elections just around the corner – October 15th – those of you on Southern Vancouver Island that may not as yet have completed your selection of Mayoral or Council candidates (let alone those for school and park boards) may find the following... Read more
With so many candidates running and so many vacancies on Council, I’ve been asked many times over the last month for “my list” – who will I be supporting in the upcoming election. Having completed our final Council meeting last night, I now feel free to make my... Read more
I wish there were simple answers to some of the big issues Victoria is facing re: affordable housing, density, as well as crises like drug overdoses and doctor shortages. Here are some deeper dives into housing affordability, as that’s my main focus this... Read more
This article, written by Community Trees Matter Network co-founder Grace Golightly, was recently published in Focus and speaks to what’s at stake with Victoria’s urban trees and livability.... Read more
2022 Local Government Elections – Climate Champions Registration Are you a climate champion who is running for council, school board or regional government? We are here to support you, and connect you with a climate group in your municipality. Use this form to... Read more
On October 15th, candidates from all across BC will be elected to local councils, school districts, and regional districts. The urgency of the climate crisis is such that we need to elect a majority of climate champions on every council, in every regional district,... Read more
On Thursday, September 15th the Union of BC Municipalities will vote on whether to ask the Province of BC to enact a GHG emissions cap for natural gas utilities, and support the objectives of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. A strong YES vote would be a... Read more
There is a concept in health promotion called victim-blaming — blaming smokers for their habit, for example, when in reality they are the victims of a sophisticated marketing campaign. The same concept applies to the tendency by many to blame the City of Victoria for problems such as homelessness, mental health and addictions problems, park camping and crime and violence.
Even the human species is probably not at risk, although we should remember that, over time, pretty much all species become extinct. But we are a highly adaptable and tough species, able to survive and indeed usually thrive in habitats as diverse as the Arctic, equatorial jungles, deserts and high altitudes.
In North America, we spend on average 90 per cent of our time indoors. So the design and operation of the immediate built environment where we spend the vast majority of our time is of great importance for our wellbeing.
I’m a bit concerned about the recent missing middle article posted on Creatively United. It frames the proposed missing middle policy as an attack on trees and there are several reasons this is factually untrue. The missing middle policy has a max 40% site... Read more
Dear friends of the urban forest, This Thursday, August 4th, Victoria city council is holding a public hearing about the proposed “Missing Middle” zoning change. This unprecedented change could mean a massive loss of city trees — yet with no... Read more
This week, I will begin to explore our “Five Big Ideas” in more detail, from the perspective of human wellbeing and its achievement within the Earth’s ecological boundaries. These ideas are intended to provide a balanced and holistic perspective and be implemented together. We want to create a city-region that…
In November 2021, the City of Ottawa completed the process of revising its official plan. My attention was drawn to Ottawa’s plan through a recent news posting by the Canadian Public Health Association, which focused on the role of public health in the development of the new plan.
I have had it with letters to the editor that seem to be trying harder and harder to be nastier and nastier about people who are, for whatever reason, down on their luck and living on the street. Too often, recently, I have seen references to such people as “bums,” or worse, “undesirables.”
This excellent video answers a lot of questions when it comes to choosing battery powered vehicles. Please watch and share widely. Watch on Vimeo here Shareable link: https://vimeo.com/519585463 Read more
We have missed other important environmental goals. An independent scientific report prepared for the recent Stockholm+50 conference examined progress across a range of environmental goals agreed since 1972, and found that “typically only one-tenth of targets show significant progress or can be considered achieved.”
Rising concern about the impact of humanity on the environment led to the first UN conference on the environment in 1972. However, the issue of sustainability itself was barely touched on at the conference, with only one mention in the 80-page conference report. Nonetheless, publications prepared for the conference, such as Only One Earth and The Limits to Growth, as well as the conference itself, led to a much-heightened awareness of the challenges we faced.
We’re All in This Together… Now What?, the final webinar of Creatively United’s Climate and Artists fourth season, explores how we can collectively reduce our carbon footprint by 40% by 2030 and transformatively shift to healthier…
Please write to LandlordBC to voice your concerns about them promoting Fortis and RNG as a solution for new and existing homes at their virtual event on June 15th. LandlordBC has a good reputation and we would not like to see it have its name sullied by promoting this... Read more
Victoria Mayor, Lisa Helps, wants to force a vote (May 12th.) on an initiative that will seriously impact housing for homeowners and renters in Victoria long into the future. Crucially, it will involve upzoning residential areas of Victoria to allow development of up... Read more
MPs from across most of the political parties have come together to organize a National Day of Action to End Fossil Fuel Subsidies on Tuesday, May 3rd. For context, MP Laurel Collins introduced a study on fossil fuel subsidies at the Environment Committee and wants to... Read more
B.C. likes to claim it has a wonderful, world-leading climate action plan. So it is perhaps surprising that the Sierra Club B.C. announced in February that it is taking the B.C. government to court “for failing to present plans to achieve several key climate targets, as required by its own climate change legislation.”
The 10 year anniversary of Creatively United for the Planet’s first Earth Day event was celebrated with an incredible panel of youth voices that featured five young Canadian changemakers working in creative ways to help amplify youth voices…
Housing is fundamental to health. That should not be a surprise, especially in a country with Canada’s climate. The health impacts of being homeless or living in poor-quality housing are well understood, and must be obvious to anyone. But it is not just homelessness that is a concern — there is a much larger problem of affordability. Lack of affordable housing can markedly affect people’s physical, mental and social wellbeing.
Iron & Earth hosted a community conversation in Hinton, Alberta, in January 2022, as part of the Green Resilience Project on the topic of climate change, income security, and community. Participants discussed how the climate increasingly affects their community,... Read more
Housing That Heals the Future features nine inspiring interviews on a wide range of projects that are charting the future towards healthier, happier communities. This information rich webinar also includes the incredible new six-minute film, The Animal Forest Campaign... Read more
There needs to be a strong counter-argument against the lobby of the oil and gas industry to increase Canada’s production of fossil fuels in response to the Ukrainian crisis. Biden has already promised that the U.S. will send more oil and gas to Europe. Trudeau needs... Read more
The “build it and they will come” approach is in line with conventional economic thinking: that more tax income will fund affordable housing and the homeless crisis. It’s overlooked that the current approach to development results in related infrastructure and services consuming the increased property tax revenue.
Many fossil fuel companies are championing carbon capture technology as a way to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 in order to continue producing fossil fuels for the market. The federal government has committed to placing a cap on carbon emissions from the oil and... Read more
The negative effects of fossil fuel extraction and use seriously impact human health and the environment. The Canadian Association of Physicians (CAPE) invites the public to sign an open letter calling on the BC Government to ban fossil-fuel promotion in schools. CAPE... Read more
Learn how communities around the world are developing new solutions to mitigate risks by working with nature. Water is the essence of life. Rivers are the arteries of life. Coasts are the gateway to the oceans. All three ecosystems are threatened by the climate crisis — more severe droughts…
Season 4 of Climate and Artists free webinar series premiered with positively uplifting and inspiring stories from eight fabulous guests committed to regenerating and transforming communities creatively. Learn how…
Courtesy of the Times Colonist Photo: A flare stack lights the sky from a refinery in Edmonton. The pathway to net zero is tough, but doable, argues Trevor Hancock, and brings many social, economic, ecological and health co-benefits, as reports from the... Read more
Courtesy of the Times Colonist Photo: Garden suites like this one under construction in Victoria in 2014 are considered “gentle infill,” along with row houses, townhouses, duplexes and secondary suites in homes, writes Trevor Hancock. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES... Read more
The Saltspring Trust will be voting on the Rogers 5G-enabled cell tower proposed for Channel Ridge, Tuesday, July 27. So far, the Trust has received 227 letters opposed to this tower, 72 in favour. We have one last opportunity to ask them to make a decision that truly... Read more
From time to time, fierce debates erupt over proposals to introduce more dense housing into residential neighbourhoods. I suspect that part of the problem is a failure to distinguish between housing that is affordable, social housing and supportive housing, as well as a related concern about loss of property values.
I’m pleased to announce that we have just published a new article in Global Environmental Change, entitled “Socio-economic conditions for satisfying human needs at low energy use: An international analysis of social provisioning”. In the article, which was led by my... Read more
Make the Switch is a research initiative to better understand homeowners’ motivations and experiences when switching from natural gas to a heat pump. The study will collect information on your costs, your reasons for making the switch, and your experience using a heat... Read more
The list of unworthy corporate recipients of government (read tax-paying citizens) support is long, but surely right at the top must be the fossil-fuel industry, followed by industries such as mining, forestry, agriculture and fisheries (of which more next week).
The CRD’s revised Solid Waste Management Plan, modified after consultation with the public, including the Mount Work Coalition, was adopted by the CRD Board on May 12. Among the changes to the original Plan were the following (taken from the CRD document “Proposed... Read more
We can end chronic homelessness in Victoria. It’s going to take the same focused effort that so many have put in over the past year. If close to 600 people can move inside in one year, in the middle of a global health pandemic when everyone is already stretched and stressed, surely we can focus on the people remaining outside and set our sights as a community on what’s known as “functional zero”.
Campaigners sense turning point as shareholders, boards and The Hague act to force Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell to cut pollution. The world’s patience with the fossil fuel industry is wearing thin. This was the stark message delivered to major international oil companies this week in an unprecedented day of reckoning for their role in the climate crisis.
The more I follow the good things which are being done by various highly focused and well intended groups and individuals in BC and all of Canada, including – but not limited to the Creatively United, it is obvious that there is NO FOCUS ON OVERALL TARGETS for our... Read more
A Nova Scotia MP has unveiled an online tool that helps municipalities across the country cut emissions. The system uses a database to gather information about localized energy use and helps users identify their emissions and set targets to reduce them. Creating such... Read more
In 1948, the World Health Organization defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being.” I find it a good and simple definition. One of its strengths is that it fully recognises both mental and social well-being, with the latter inevitably bringing in our relationships with others — our families, communities and society as a whole.
The Township of Esquimalt is proposing to take out a loan for $35 million in order to construct a new Public Safety Building. In these challenging times, when funding is required for better access to public services and the need for climate education, mitigation and... Read more
