As background, the Conservation Authorities Act was created in 1946, driven by municipal government’s concern that unregulated development in one municipality would cause significant flooding and erosion damage in municipalities downstream. This concern was underlined in 1954 when Hurricane Hazel caused severe flooding in southern Ontario leading to property damage and deaths.

A watershed is the drainage area for a specific water system. It includes wetlands, creeks, streams, rivulets, lakes, and rivers that ultimately drain in the same direction. Watersheds do not conform to municipal boundaries. Accepted wisdom suggests the best way to control flooding and erosion is through autonomous agencies that will manage entire watersheds. Conservation Authorities were established, therefore, to have this holistic oversight of watershed management.

The Conservation Authorities Act allowed municipalities to work together on resource management and make land-use decisions at a watershed scale. They were also given a mandate to provide recreational and educational opportunities. The intent was to engage the public in having a sense of ownership and responsibility in preserving watersheds for the valuable ecological services that they deliver to the communities through which they flow.

The latest Provincial Government proposal, would create the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency – a provincial board-governed oversight body. The stated benefit of the OPCA would be to provide centralized leadership, efficient governance, and strategic direction. The problem is that the OPCA duplicates functions that already exist. Each conservation authority already has its own board of directors composed of appointed municipal officials. The province, through the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, oversees the Act and provides policy direction, while the local board makes decisions on programs and operations that are specific to its watershed.  The conservation authority is already accountable to its Board, to the municipalities that it serves and to the provincial government. It’s not clear, therefore, how inserting another layer of management oversight will improve efficiency. Yet it almost certainly will make the CAs less responsive to local conditions and municipal needs.

The other feature of this proposal would be to consolidate Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities into 7. The intent is to have fewer organizations with standardized policies and reduced fragmentation that would ostensibly streamline approval of development applications.  Fewer organizations covering the same geographical area, however, means that each organization would, of necessity, be larger than what exists today. It’s not clear how this would improve organizational efficiency. Let’s look at the two CAs managing watersheds in Brampton.

The Credit River has its source waters in Dufferin County around Orangeville as well as in various parts of Caledon. It runs through the western part of Brampton, then into Mississauga where it flows into Lake Ontario. This watershed has geographical elements, water quality risks and plant and animal species that are specific to it.

As its name implies, the Credit Valley Conservation Authority deals with only one watershed. It supports hundreds of kilometers of trails, dozens of educational programs, a watershed plan and several on-going science and monitoring studies. It has a staff of 228 full-time employees according to Eluta, Canada’s Top 100 Employers Registry

The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority manages 9 watersheds, 3 of which flow through Brampton, (Etobicoke Creek, Mimico Creek, West Humber River). The TRCA has close to 500 full-time staff and more than 3,000 volunteers.

Both the Credit Valley Conservation Authority and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority are large process and science driven organizations. That means they can be unwieldy to deal with at times. It turns out that managing complex watersheds takes time and resources. Like cooking a great meal, the process is better when not rushed. It’s not clear how the processes will be more efficient by consolidating their number and giving each more responsibility.

Case in point. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to have developed excellent relationships with staff at both CVC and TRCA which have led to collaborations on initiatives such as the Heart Lake Road Ecology Monitoring Project, Bike the Creek, and more recently, BEA programs such as Rooted in Hope and Graceful Aging Through Connecting with Nature. I can’t imagine how these relationships, or these projects, would have come to be if I had to deal with a Conservation Authority that is potentially 6 times larger than what exists today. The mandate would be so broad that relationships with individual citizens or local environmental organizations would all but impossible.

Also, one size does not fit all when it comes to watershed management. Rural and urban characteristics drive a very different set of needs, and watersheds with different geographies, topologies and hydrology experience different types of risks and requirements. Lumping these together will be unlikely to yield efficiencies. Local watershed requirements will be subverted to the needs of large land developers, even more so than the imbalance that exists today. And any possible standardization or economies of scale could be driven by the Ministry without the need to go through the upheaval and costs associated with a reorganization of this magnitude.

The provincial government is entertaining comments from the public on this proposal until December 22nd. If, like me, you are concerned that this proposal introduces risks to a system that has been largely working for the past 70 plus years then please, click on the button link below and let the province know how you feel. The health of our watersheds hangs in the balance.

Please see the joint letter organized by Ontario Nature and signed by 97 organizations imploring the Provincial Government not to proceed with this consolidation plan

Dr. Hartmann, who is the past Executive Director of the Toronto Environmental Alliance, and past Chair of the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance, spoke about the ALO’s “five-ways-home” strategy to address the Province’s housing affordability crisis, while protecting Greenbelt and other environmentally sensitive lands. Franz encouraged the audience to speak out about the need for affordable housing and livable communities through networks, social media and to elected leaders.

Dr. Hartmann’s presentation was followed by a 20-minute snacks and network session. After the break, BEA President, David Laing, started the formal meeting by introducing the current Board members and thanking them for their service. Rajbalinder Ghatoura, moved to accept the minutes of last year’s AGM, seconded by Steve Papagiannis. Motion carried.

David then recognized the attendance of Nikki Cedrone, who is the Case Manager in the Office of MPP Graham McGregor. MPP McGregor was recently appointed by Premier Ford to the position of Minister of Citizenship and Culture. David indicated that Minister McGregor has always been open to respectful discussion and debate, even where government policies appear to be at odds with environmental sustainability. Last year, Minister McGregor secured $2.5M in funding for the Loafer`s Lake wetland restoration project that extends up the Etobicoke Creek valley north to Mayfield. This will help mitigate flooding in downtown Brampton while creating habitat for pollinators, turtles and other animals.

David then spoke about some of the challenges the BEA and the environmental movement in general, have experienced over the past year. Despite setbacks at the local and Provincial level on environmental issues, David encouraged attendees to:

• be grateful for what we have, including a functioning democracy that conforms to the rule of law,
• have empathy for those people and animals who are suffering as a result of environmental issues like pollution, floods, fires and habitat loss,
• avoid hopelessness and complacency
• take action on those things that we can control, like who we vote for, what we buy, and who we buy from,
• donate our time and or money to organizations and causes that we are passionate about.

David then opened the floor to Board nominations. After nominations closed, Dayle Laing moved, seconded by Rajbalinder Ghatoura, to accept a slate of 12 Board members to a one-year term, two new and 10 as reappointments. Also, to accept up to three additional members from attendees who had self nominated conditional on receiving further details about board responsibilities. Motion carried. David then recognized Stacey Wilson, a founding member of the BEA, who is retiring after four years being a BEA Board member. The BEA made a $50 donation to the Nature Conservancy of Canada in Stacey’s honour.

David then presented the Treasurer’s Report on behalf of Harry Bridgemohan, who couldn’t attend due to illness. David explained that the BEA income of $8,648 came primarily from grants, particularly the Ontario Seniors’ Community Grant, with a small amount coming from donations and membership dues. Expenditures totaling $20,104 were primarily from expenses related to the Rooted in Hope Project plus a small amount for insurance premiums. Closing balance for the year is $9, 624.

The formal meeting was adjourned at 8:26pm, followed by a workshop on Environmental Citizenship run by Pauline Thornham and Stacey Wilson. A workshop summary with BEA 2025 priorities will be published soon. The meeting wrapped up at 9:10pm.

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

• 2024 03 13 Brampton Environmental Alliance Annual General Meeting
• 2024 03 21 Wetlands Enhancement Project
• 2024 03 30 Ecosphere Conference & Job Fair
• 2024 04 17 Bramalea Community Network (BCN) Co-Design Workshop and Meeting
• 2024 04 20 Earth Day Festival
• 2024 04 21 Rooted in Hope Final Training Event
• 2024 05 11 Reconnect Brampton Clothing Swap
• 2024 05 23, Dearbourne Park Pollinator Habitat Planting Activity with BEA
• 2024 05 25 Laidlaw Park Tree Planting
• 2024 05 25 Chingucousy Park Bike Fest
• 2024 05 29 Peel Council on Aging Summit
• 10th Annual Bike the Creek Event
• 2024 06 18-19 Emerald Energy from Waste proposal, community meeting and City Council delegations. This item has been referred to City staff for a report back later this summer.
• 2024 06 15 Fred Klein Park tree planting & invasive species pull hosted by CVC
• 2024 06 25 Moving Electricity to fight Climate Change – DSF webinar
• 2024 07 04 Heart Lake Turtle Troopers Family Fun Night Picnic
• 2024 09 14 Unifor GTA West Environmental Council Ecofest in support of CVC
• 2024 10 05 CVC Fletcher’s Creek SNAP 5 year celebration event Fred Klein Park
• 2024 10 09 Emerald Energy from Waste Community Information Session
• 2024 10 22 Litter Reduction Charter Signing
• 2024 11 02 BEA Completes Healthy and Connected Bramalea Project

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.

The Rooted in Hope 2023-24 project hosted its final event on Sunday April 21st. About a dozen and a half participants, one third seniors and two thirds secondary school students, enjoyed the bright sunshine yet below seasonal temperatures for the final tree monitoring training at Gore Meadows Community Centre.

Rooted in Hope was designed to create an opportunity for seniors to improve their physical and mental health as well as enhance community connectedness. They did this through participating in light outdoor physical activity while mentoring and supporting secondary school students in a tree planting and monitoring project that would also improve students’ interdisciplinary academic skills.

The project included:

• 5 seniors health workshops, where seniors learned how outdoor activity improves balance, reduces falling risk, and contributes to overall physical and mental health,
• 2 bike safety workshops where seniors were encouraged to use active transportation and promote safe biking practices within the community,
• 3 tree planting events were organized in September 2023, in collaboration with TRCA, where seniors and students worked together to learn how to plant and properly mulch over 300 trees.
• 2 tree monitoring training sessions in the fall of 2023, one at Centennial Park and one at Batsman Park.
• The third and final tree monitoring training event was originally scheduled for March 23rd, 2024 but was snowed out! The “snow” date was Sunday April 21st.

The tree monitoring educational program, delivered in collaboration with the Association of Canadian Educational Resources, (ACER), teamed students and seniors, training them to use measuring equipment, identify tree species, triage tree disease issues, create reports to be sent to the City to inform their Urban Forest Plan and participate in leadership training, so they can teach other students at their respective schools with the help of their senior mentor. All the while exposing both students and seniors to the beauty of Brampton’s forests and green spaces and the importance of protecting both for future generations.

Financial support came from an Ontario Seniors Community grant. The project met or exceeded all required outcomes. Ninety-eight percent of the senior respondents indicated the project helped them feel more engaged in their community. Eighty-eight percent indicated it helped reduce their social isolation. And 95% indicated the project met their needs and interests. Many of the students indicated they learned valuable skills from the training that could take back to their schools and that would help them in their future careers. Almost all of them said they had a lot of fun while working on the project.

Students were given a set of instruments and tools to continue their tree monitoring activities. And each student participant was given a handbook they could use as a reference guide to help students and their senior advisors expand their knowledge and impact in their respective schools. Our hope is that this guide will allow the students and seniors we have trained to work together to start their own “Eco-Clubs” in their schools where one doesn’t already exist. This will continue momentum within the schools beyond this specific project scope. We have also applied for a second Ontario Seniors Community grant with the intent to continue and expand the project in the fall of 2024 through the spring of 2025.

Environmentally we degraded into scandal surrounding the Greenbelt, and carbon pricing carve-outs, while the Supreme Court ruled against the Federal Impact Assessment Act and emboldened Provinces to become even more aggressive in their challenge against Canada’s plans for clean fuel standards and an emissions cap on the oil and gas industry. All of this in a year of unprecedented environmental disasters including floods on both coasts and raging forest fires from New Brunswick to B.C. Continuing conflicts in many parts of the world including Ukraine and, most recently, the middle east, have added significantly to our sense of angst.

In that context, your Brampton Environmental Alliance team worked to maintain positive focus on local environmental issues that matter to Brampton residents and to take actions to move Brampton closer to being a sustainable community. The actions of the BEA fall into four categories, Advocacy, Events, Education/Resources and Collaboration/Networking. Looking back on 2023, the BEA has had a successful year in each of these categories. Let’s review a few of the highlights.

Advocacy

The BEA was involved in many advocacy initiatives during the year. In January BEA members made a submission to the Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) on improving the Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights. We continue to follow up with the LCO to ensure our voices are being heard.

We met with Brampton North MPP Graham McGregor several times during the year on different topics ranging from the implementation of Green Building Standards as part of the Conservative Government’s target of building 1.5M homes, to suggestions for improving the wildlife corridor along Brampton’s Heart Lake Road. We also supported MPP McGregor’s initiative for the Ontario Government to partially fund a City and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority Shoreline Restoration Project at Loafer’s Lake.

BEA members participated in the Walk for Soil to raise awareness about regenerative farming and the importance of healthy soil and to encourage government to enact policies for the protection of soil health.

Members of the BEA supported a Lead Now initiative to encourage the Federal government to implement carbon emissions cap on the oil and gas industry. We gathered hundreds of signatures and presented a petition to Brampton North MP Ruby Sahota that she subsequently raised in the House of Commons.

The BEA also participated in many environmental committees including Peel Enviro-Hub hosted by Environmental Defence, Sierra Club Peel Chapter meetings, Caledon Climate Collaborative organized by the Town of Caledon, Best Practice webinar on Farmland and Natural Heritage Protection organized by Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, Credit Valley Trail Symposium organized by Credit Valley Conservation Authority (CVC), Brampton Climate Change Adaptation Plan and Litter Reduction Forum organized by the City of Brampton, Watershed Alliance organized by TRCA, Future Ground Network Building Power symposium organized by the David Suzuki Foundation, and the Ontario Climate Emergency Network.

Finally, the BEA delegated to both Regional and Brampton City Councils on environmental matters related to development projects and active transportation.

Events

Working with our members and partners, the BEA was involved in planning and organizing 35 environmental events in the past year. 30 of these events were delivered as part of two projects where the BEA received grant funding.

In the spring, the BEA was awarded a New Horizons for Seniors grant from the Federal Government to deliver the Graceful Aging Through Connecting with Nature, GATCWN, project. It was designed to encourage seniors to participate in outdoor physical activities with objectives to improve physical and mental health and to increase awareness of the benefits of and the threats to local natural elements including woodlots and wetlands.

BEA partnered with four of its member organizations to deliver workshops and events throughout the spring, summer and fall of 2023 in various locations throughout the City. It also partnered with Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), to deliver a workshop and an event specifically tailored to seniors living in the Bramalea SNAP area near Bramalea City Centre . This was part of the TRCA’s “Building a Healthy, Connected Bramalea Program”. You can read posts about the GATCWN events and see the GATCWN final report here.

In the summer, the BEA was awarded an Ontario Seniors Community grant by the Ontario Government. This project, Rooted in Hope (RIH), was designed to connect seniors’ groups with secondary school students to plant trees and then learn how to monitor their health and growth over the coming years. Sixteen youth from three high-schools, joined 12 seniors who, along with other community volunteers, planted 300 trees in Gore Meadows Park. The youth and seniors also participated in two tree monitoring training sessions with another session planned for this spring. See Rooted in Hope posts here.

Education

The BEA created its first-ever Youth Council to provide opportunities for environmental youth engagement and mentorship. A York University student intern helped organize YC events and activities.

Educational newsletter posts touched on many topics including, why Greenbelt lands need continued protection, how to navigate the grant process for home energy retrofits, and debunking myths about coyotes in an urban environment.

Guest speaker, Sarah Syed spoke eloquently at the BEA annual general meeting this past January on the importance for communities to take action on climate change. Sarah, an 18 year old environmental activist from Toronto, is the founder of You are the Change. She has won 2 regional science fair gold medals for her research into bioplastics made from food waste and is a Canadian Top 25 under 25 award winner.

In the fall, the BEA was invited to provide a guest panelist at the International Film Festival South Asia’s. It’s Interactions, Take Action! segment aims to leverage the power of cinema to spark discussions around issues of environment and climate change, and ignite positive change within our communities.

Collaboration and Networking

The BEA provided plenty of opportunity for collaboration this past year. Member organizations and community partners worked together to deliver the GATCWN and RIH projects as noted above.

Many thanks to individual and organizational members from, Friends and Stewards of Dorchester Park, People Against Littering, Heart Lake Turtle Troopers, Sierra Peel and BikeBrampton for their dedication and support of these projects. Thanks also to Association of Canadian Educational Resources (ACER), CVC, TRCA, Punjabi Community Health Services (PCHS) and Brampton City staff from Parks and Environmental Planning for their services that contributed to the success of these projects.

Finally, thanks to all of you for being interested in local environmental issues and for making whatever contributions you can to make a difference. It’s yet another proof point of the power of alliances within communities to address issues of a global nature. Wishing you all the best for 2024. Happy New Year!

Then they were all given the opportunity to measure the height and canopy width of mature trees using long tape measures and sextants. During this exercise, the students were able to draw upon the wealth of the seniors’ experiences, including those of a retired science teacher and an engineer. The group then learned how identify different tree species, to observe both healthy and stressed trees and to understand the impacts of poor planting, mulching and maintenance techniques on tree health and growth.

During the lunch break the students from Louise Arbour proudly showed off the gardens located on the nearby school grounds. A vegetable garden, planted and maintained by the students produces tomatoes, beans, kale and asparagus. A pollinator, (medicine wheel), garden with local herbs is also tended by the students with guidance from a local Indigenous group. The produce from both gardens provides food for students’ families and is also the source of healthy meals provided in the school cafeteria.

There was lots of excitement and enthusiasm despite the cold. The seniors enjoyed interacting with the students and being able to apply their knowledge and experience to a new set of problems. They’ve even offered to work with the teachers from Louise Arbour to mentor and tutor the students on a regular basis. And the students were enthusiastic to learn leadership skills and what it means to be advocates for Brampton’s urban tree canopy.

Rooted in Hope, funding provided by the Government of Ontario

2023 09 19 PLEIN AIR PAINTING IN DORCHESTER PARK

This was the last of the Plein Air painting sessions. The focus was on learning to paint with oil using fall colors as inspiration.

I would like to let you know how wonderful the Plein Painting in Dorchester Park was.  Dorchester Park is an absolute gem, we are so fortunate to have this beautiful park, recreational space in our midst.  It is so much more than a park, it is a hub for individuals in the area young and old to come exercise, play, relax and learn. The various events that have been going on this park, have brought members of our community together, we have learned so much through Stacey Wilson, the Friends and Stewards of Dorchester Park, and the BEA, about native plants, invasive plants, nature, and most recently this wonderful series of plein air classes for seniors. The artist/ instructor Stephanie Schirm was amazing!  As a senior this was so wonderful to enjoy the park in this way. 

Karen Miller

2023 09 20 ROOTED IN HOP TREE PLANTING

We had nearly 40 participants students and seniors alike as well as public participants dropping in. The event was well received and many students expressed interest in measuring and leadership training to take the plantings another step further.

We planted a total of 300 trees over the course of three weeks with this being the final planting.

People of all ages came together to help and engage one another, engage with one o take ownership of their community’s greenery.

The final September event was a GATCWN Seniors Workshop held on September 30th in the Knightsbridge Community Centre. A small but eager turn out received useful information about the importance of moving in the outdoors as we age to improve balance and help maintain an independent lifestyle!

Look for the final wrap up report on the GATCWN project in the week’s to come! Thanks to the Government of Canada and to the TRCA SNAP/United Way for financially supporting this project! And thanks to the Government of Ontario for its financial support of the Rooted in Hope Project which continues until March 2024.

The Brampton Environmental Alliance hosted two tree-planting events at Gore Meadows Recreation Centre this past two Wednesdays. The events were supported by the Associations of Seniors Clubs Brampton as well as students from Louise Arbor Secondary School and Castlebrook Secondary School. Members of Sierra Club Peel also attended as did employees from Hydro One along with other community members.

Thirty participants attended the September 6th event despite hot, humid weather. Thirty-eight attended on September 13th under much cooler conditions.

The trees, shovels and other equipment were provided by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, (TRCA). TRCA staff members Jake, Nick and Connor provided tree planting training and ensured proper safety protocols were followed.

Tree monitoring support was provided by Alice, Sadia and Seema from the Association of Canadian Educational Resources, ACER.

These BEA tree planting events are part of two BEA projects. Graceful Aging Through Connecting with Nature, GATCWN, is designed to encourage seniors aged 55+ to improve their balance and their appreciation for nature by exercising in the outdoors. The BEA has partnered with Sierra Club Peel, People Against Littering, Heart Lake Turtle Troopers, and Friends and Stewards of Dorchester Park to provide a range of outdoor activities during the spring, summer and fall of 2023.

The Rooted in Hope Project is designed to create community connection between seniors and youth through tree planting and monitoring activities. The youth and seniors work together to first plant the trees and then monitor their health and growth over the next 3-4 years. The seniors receive community and volunteer opportunities while providing mentorship and support to the youth. And the youth learn valuable science and math skills.

GATCWN is financially supported through the Federal New Horizons for Seniors Program. Rooted in Hope is supported through the Ontario Seniors Community grant.

The Rooted in Hope project was officially launched on August 19th in the parking lot of Gore Meadows Recreation Centre. Sonia Maset, Program Administrator for the Brampton Bike Hub trained four senior team leads on bike safety and skills training.

Sonia then took them for a short ride to familiarize them with riding on the roads in and around the recreational facility. Another training event with the “uncles” is scheduled for this Saturday August 26th.

This past Monday August 21st, another training event took place. This time it involved students from local high schools who are to be the team leads for tree planting and monitoring along with a teacher from Louise Arbour Secondary School.

The training event was led by Alice Casselman – President, Association of Canadian Educational Resources (ACER), and Dr. Sadia Butt ACER’s Project Manager who is also an ISA certified arborist with over 20 years experience as an urban forest practitioner, researcher, and environmental educator. Together, Alice and Sadia provided a full day of training to the participants about tree monitoring, tree species identification, knowledge of equipment used in tree monitoring and an introduction to online software that identifies how much carbon a tree is storing based on the data collected.

Data collection is a big part of this project and will be used to help inform the City of Brampton’s urban forest management plan.

The Rooted in Hope Project currently involves three Brampton high schools, Harold M. Brathwaite S.S., Heart Lake S.S, Castlebrooke S.S., with Louise Arbour S.S. expected to join this fall.

Hopefully we will see everyone at the tree planting events on September 6^th , September 13th, and September 20th. All events run from 3:30-5:00pm @ Gore Meadows Community Centre! These events are free and open to anyone, especially seniors and students from the community. Click here to register and receive more information.

The Rooted in Hope project is designed to engage both youth and seniors in understanding the importance of urban trees by planting young trees and then monitoring the growth and health of both new and mature trees in their neighbourhoods. It will also use cycling, a form of active transportation, as the primary means of travel to tree monitoring sites thereby keeping carbon emissions to a minimum. Rooted in Hope is funded through the Ontario Seniors Community Grant Program.

One of our volunteers has graciously put together a 13 minute video describing the benefits of urban tree canopy as well as the challenges and threats facing Brampton’s urban forest. See the video below.

The project involves seniors and high school students working together for 3 tree planting sessions in September 2023. Once the trees are planted, the groups will monitor their health, and the health of urban forests near their schools, in alignment with the objectives identified in Brampton’s Urban Forest Management Plan. Participants will learn data analysis and the practical application of biology, chemistry, and statistics. Both students and seniors will emphasize the use of sustainable transportation to get to the tree-planting and monitoring sites.

Tree monitoring training will be provided by the Association of Canadian Educational
Resources, (ACER). Bicycle skills and safety training will be provided by the Brampton Bike
Hub. The project runs from the fall of 2023 to the spring of 2024 and is designed to be self-sustaining beyond that point with student and senior trainers providing training to the next cohort of volunteers in the spring of 2024 with ACER’s help.

“We are really excited to be launching this initiative. This project is designed to create intergenerational cooperation between seniors and youth, to reduce seniors’ isolation through community connection, to encourage seniors’ entrepreneurialism and volunteerism, and to teach both seniors and youth about the importance of trees, tree planting and tree health.”

David Laing – President, Brampton Environmental Alliance

“The Rooted in Hope project is great news for the seniors of Brampton North. This program will deliver on our government’s focus of keeping seniors safe, healthy, active, and connected to families and friends in their communities while they support our beautiful local ecosystem.”

Graham McGregor, MPP for Brampton North

“This project is great news for seniors in Brampton. By connecting local organizations to seniors, you are helping seniors stay fit, active, healthy, and socially connected close to home”.

Raymond Cho, Ontario’s Minister for Seniors, and Accessibility

For more information or join the project, send email to: info@bramptonea.org.