2024 BEA Year-end Review

It was difficult to write this year-end review for the Brampton Environmental Alliance. Not because we didn’t work very hard to make a difference but because several things conspired to make this a very challenging year, environmentally speaking.

Among the issues we faced: the Province prioritizing building Highway 413, and the efforts of the Emerald Energy From Waste company to expand its garbage burning operations in Brampton without appropriate environmental controls being in place. Of greater concern is the general apathy of the public towards environmental issues and the vitriolic response to public policies aimed at climate change mitigation, notably carbon pricing and rebates. The fact that we seemingly cannot have an adult conversation related to these important topics is deeply troubling.

Perhaps the biggest blow to our progress was in the area of active transportation, i.e. using human power to get around. After a decade of advocating, planning and, public consultation, a safe cycling network was beginning to emerge in the City of Brampton, one that would truly encourage more people to leave their cars at home for short-distance trips. And the data showed it was working. In previous posts we’ve described how the installation of bike lanes in the city increased the amount of cycling and improved road safety by slowing down the average road speeds. Counter-intuitively even though speed was reduced, actual travel time was shortened, meaning the roads were being used more efficiently. The reduction of carbon emissions was becoming significant.

Unfortunately, as the cycling network became more “obvious” to the public, city staff and Councillors received increasing levels of complaints. The situation worsened during the summer and fall of 2024 after Council responded to cyclists’ concerns resulting from continued bike lane parking violations and irresponsible driver actions that put cyclists’ lives at risk. Council voted to increase parking fines, and hired more by-law officers to enforce the rules. Protection barriers were installed at several intersections to prevent conflict situations.

These actions, while effective at changing driver behaviour for the better, also fueled a volley of anger and protest that threatened to create a cultural chasm between those wanting to perpetuate suburban car-centric planning and those who support a city transformation that includes safe, convenient, economically available and environmentally sustainable transportation choices. The former group’s objections were so vehement that they won the day and Council chose to back down. The Active Transportation Master Plan (ATMP) was suspended, pending review later this year.

This past fall another figurative nail was driven in the ATMP coffin as the Provincial Government enacted Bill 212. This poorly crafted, politically driven piece of legislation overrides local transportation policy planning. New bike lane installations now require Ministerial approval and the Province can force municipalities to remove bike lanes in certain situations. More egregiously, the legislation also absolves the province of legal liability for cyclists safety, despite a Provincial staff report indicating that bike lane removal would compromise road safety.

These policy decisions are heading us in the wrong direction despite a year of heightened climate risk, rising carbon emissions from transportation and roads that continue to be more dangerous by the day, especially for pedestrians and cyclists. Despite these setbacks BEA members continue to advocate, working with City Council and staff to make the best of the situation across all these fronts. I especially thank the members of our Board for their continued support and tireless contributions. Their efforts have led to several, more than modest wins. So, let me touch on a few of our efforts from 2024.

Advocacy

  • Worked with Environmental Defence to ask the Federal government to request a full environmental assessment for highway 413,
  • Met with the Mayor and Council members several times on various environmental issues related to active transportation, energy transformation and climate change,
  • Met with MPP McGregor to advocate for Alectra policy changes that would support home electrification projects including installing residential heat pumps,
  • Met with Brampton’s Government Relations department to advocate for carbon controls to be put onto Capital Power’s expansion proposal for the Goreway Gas Plant.

Events

Education

  • BEA delivered a keynote presentation at the Ecosphere Conference and Job Fair,
  • BEA delivered Rooted in Hope Training event at Gore Meadows,
  • BEA worked with Sierra Club, Toronto Environmental Alliance and Environmental Defence to host an information session on the Emerald Energy from Waste expansion proposal,
  • BEA helped promote a David Suzuki Foundation webinar on Moving Electricity to fight climate change,
  • BEA organized and helped deliver 2 bike repair workshops, 1 bicycle skills training session and three nature journaling workshops to residents in the Bramalea SNAP neighbourhood as part of Healthy and Connected Bramalea Project.

Collaboration & Networking

  • The BEA AGM offered a great networking opportunity,
  • Collaborated with BikeBrampton, Sierra Club and Brampton staff on the organizing committee helping plan for the City’s Earth Day Grow Green Celebration and Grow Green Awards Presentation,
  • Collaborated with TRCA, BikeBrampton and ACER on the delivery of the Rooted in Hope Project,
  • Collaborated with Sierra Club and BikeBrampton to keep Bike the Creek as a waste free event,
  • Collaborated with TRCA’s Bramalea SNAP team, BikeBrampton to deliver Healthy and Connected Bramalea Project,
  • Participated with the City’s Community Safety and Well-being Office on Litter Reduction Task Force and the development of the Litter Free Charter.

As 2025 kicks off, the Trump tariffs loom as a potentially catastrophic blow to the Canadian economy and the friendly interconnected relationship that has existed between Canada and the United States for over a century. I am hopeful, however, that something good will emerge from this chaos. A breakdown of inter-provincial trade barriers that have historically made it easier for Canadian businesses to sell to customers in Arizona than to neighbouring provinces. A regenerated pride in our country, A focus on self-reliance. A desire to work together as a country and leave partisanship and petty differences behind.

We live in a country of immense natural, cultural and economic wealth. Perhaps the greatest benefit will be that we recognize how precious, how tenuous these benefits are and the importance of putting in the necessary effort to protect them against existential threats, a U.S. economic takeover, or a climate induced apocalypse. We can no longer afford to take these features for granted.

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