Brampton Environmental Alliance
BEA current advocacy and action campaigns
Fourteen people including 5 seniors, joined members of People Against Littering, (PAL), for a Park Clean Up at Lillie Roberts Park this past Sunday September 17th. Lillie Roberts is located just north of Countryside Drive and just west of Goreway Drive.
The group started with a tai chi warm up exercise which was welcomed by the participants.
by Milan Bhutta
July 23rd was another successful P.A.L. event with, Brampton South MP Sonia Sidhu visiting and presenting an award for organizing the event to BEA and to PAL. On the award she said, “Cleanliness and respect for our environment is important, and I commend you for reminding us about it.”
Continue reading “P.A.L.S. Sweep Eldorado Park!”
The Brampton Environmental Alliance (BEA) is pleased to officially announce, the “Rooted in Hope” project now being delivered by members of the BEA with financial support through the Ontario Seniors Community Grant Program.
Continue reading “BEA Unveils “Rooted in Hope” Project”
Three more Graceful Aging Through Connecting with Nature events are now in the history books as the project bids farewell to May. The last five events have experienced spectacular dry sunny weather which helps draw the crowds.
Continue reading “Three more events completed as the Graceful Aging Through Connecting with Nature Project bids adieu to May”The Friends and Stewards of Dorchester Park, this past week, hosted two events as part of the Graceful Aging Through Connecting with Nature, GATCWN, Project supported by the Government of Canada and coordinated by the Brampton Environmental Alliance.
“Spring Birding in the Park” was this past Saturday May 20th. Cold and rain, discouraged picture taking but the event was still attended by 7 hardy souls, 5 of whom were seniors. With the aid of “Birding Kits” courtesy of the Brampton Library and Bird Studies Canada. the group learned some useful tips for using binoculars, and learned about the importance of growing native species and removing invasives to support bird habitat. They also learned tips for birding success and where to find additional resources to be even more successful bird-watchers. And, of course they saw a number of bird species including: Downey Woodpecker, American Robin, American Goldfinch, Song Sparrow, Red Eyed Vireo, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackles, Red Winged Blackbird, Blue Jay, Mallard Duck and even a Swanson Thrush. Good spotting!
Participants received prizes to build their own birding kits for future outings.
Did you know that outdoor household cats are responsible for killing an estimated 2.5 Billion birds every year? They are one of the leading causes of bird mortality, according researchers at the University of Guelph. Keep your cats indoors to protect birds from predation!
“Discovering Dorchester Park through Plein Air Painting”, the second GATCWN event of the week, was held on Tuesday evening May 23rd.
Stephanie Schirm, a local artist and art educator, led the class in landscape painting on a beautiful spring evening.
The group had a wonderful time and did a fine job of capturing the beauty of the local park landscape!
Two more GATCWN events are scheduled for this weekend. Discover Native Flowers in Dorchester Park tomorrow from 10-11:30am. Click here to register. On Sunday attend a Park Cleanup event hosted by People Against Littering. Register here. Meet at Creditview Park 10-11:30am
I admit that I didn’t know where Peelton Hills Park was when I started out this past Saturday morning for the Sierra Club/CVC tree-planting event. It’s not a park I’ve frequented before. It was a beautiful spring day and Google Maps said it would take me less than 40 minutes to travel the 11.5km by bike.
Continue reading “Planting trees at Peelton Hills”
Ah April! With longer days, the cloak of winter darkness rests lighter on our shoulders. The warmer sun thaws our blood and makes our spirits rise. April is a month of rebirth and awakening; a time to give thanks for the joy of seasons, the laughter of children playing outside, the birds singing and the plants greening, April is also Earth Month, a time to celebrate nature’s bounty and to give thanks for the ecosystem services provided to us by the plants, animals, water and air that surrounds us and supports us. Earth Day on April 22nd, is a time to honour the achievements of the environmental movement and raise awareness of the need to protect the Earth’s natural resources for future generations.
Some would argue the environmental movement merely slows down progress and adds costs to development projects. History shows, however, that unbridled progress often leads to unintended environmental consequences and the potential for human catastrophe. Let me offer a few examples.
Continue reading “It’s April 2023, How Should You Recognize Earth Month, Day, Hour”
The Brampton Environmental Alliance is pleased to announce that it has received grant funding from Employment and Social Development Canada to implement a “New Horizons for Seniors” project called, “Graceful Aging Through Connecting With Nature”.
Continue reading “Graceful Aging Through Connecting With Nature”
Ontario’s Greenbelt is an aggregation of farmland, wetlands, woodlands and river valleys that surrounds the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area from Niagara-on-the-Lake to just west of Port Hope. The Greenbelt was established in 2005 and was supposed to be protected from development forever. Both the Premier and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing have long promised that the Greenbelt would remain intact under their leadership.
Despite this, the provincial government recently announced the removal of 7,400 acres of protected Greenbelt land. They did so without any public process, transparent criteria for land selection or opportunities for input from landowners, municipalities or the public. While the Ford government maintains it has replaced the lost acres with more land parcels in other areas, critics say the added land is not as ecologically valuable as what is being removed.
Perhaps more troubling than the broken promise is the fact that multiple media outlets have reported that some of the Greenbelt land identified for removal was purchased by developers a mere weeks or months before the changes were made public. Why would a profit oriented developer purchase un-developable land for tens of millions of dollars? The change of status of these lands will result in huge windfall profits for these developers, many of whom have made significant contributions to the Ontario PC party.
If you are unhappy about the Ontario government’s decision to remove greenbelt lands, here is your opportunity to let your MPP know how you feel. Tell them to share any information they have about the removal of land from the greenbelt with the O.P.P. in order to restore public trust in how important environmental decisions are made. Your letter will be sent to your MPP based on your postal code.
The public has a right to know if any of these developers had advance knowledge of the government’s plans. Environmental Defence and Democracy Watch are calling for an investigation. Politicians, and public servants who provide confidential information to a third-party, who stands to gain financially from that information, may be in breach of trust under section 122 of the Criminal Code.
The members of the BEA Board want to take this opportunity to wish you, your family and loved ones, all the very best this holiday season. We look forward with optimism and excitement to 2023 despite the economic, social, and environmental challenges we face.
This year the BEA advocated at all government levels for legislation and actions to bring harmony and balance to social, environmental and economic issues. We partnered with conservation authorities and other agencies to sponsor events that highlight environmental problems and bring specific actions to our neighbourhoods. And we’ve supported our members in their work, restoring and protecting habitat, cleaning our neighbourhoods, planting trees and riding bicycles.
This coming year we will maintain our prime objective to have Brampton grow as a sustainable community. We will stay focused and strive for the future. We look forward to working with you as we continue building momentum for a caring and balanced Brampton community that is healthy and resilient, economically, environmentally and socially. Think of the planet as you complete your seasonal shopping.
Merry Christmas!!
