by Dayle Laing
Ontario Bill 212 will sadly result in more road violence deaths on unsafe streets. More than 34 cyclists from Brampton and Toronto gathered on Jan 25th to rally, ride and install a ghost bike to symbolize this prediction.

by Dayle Laing
Ontario Bill 212 will sadly result in more road violence deaths on unsafe streets. More than 34 cyclists from Brampton and Toronto gathered on Jan 25th to rally, ride and install a ghost bike to symbolize this prediction.
Not to start 2025 on a downer note but, the climate crisis is upon us. 2024 will likely be the warmest year on record, the first to surpass the 1.5 degree Celsius mark set by the Paris Accord as a “safe” threshold to avoid the worst effects of a changing climate. In Canada, 2024 was a year of unprecedented climate related property damage, over $7B worth.
That said, we must realize that, even if we could reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels to zero today, the earth’s temperature would continue rising for many decades accompanied by increasing weather-related risks. While carbon emissions reduction efforts are still critical to maintaining a livable future, steps must be taken now to prepare for the increasing hazards due to anticipated weather extremes both now and in the future.
Working with community stakeholders, City of Brampton staff have prepared the “Climate Ready Brampton” plan to address anticipated climate impacts on the City’s infrastructure, economy and natural systems. This plan defines the blueprint for action that will better equip the City to manage the changes and increase resiliency to recover quickly from adverse climate impacts.
The development of the plan has gone through three phases over the past 2 years, Research, Investigation, and Development. During the Research phase, staff along with expert consultants reviewed how Brampton’s climate has changed over the past 75 years. During the investigation phase the team solicited external expertise along with stakeholder engagement to define future climate scenarios, assess climate risks, and identify prioritized climate adaptation actions. The plan also includes financial cost analysis of those actions compared to doing nothing. Finally, the plan outlines performance targets, collaborative implementation approaches, and a framework for monitoring and reporting.
The draft Plan is available online until January 15, 2025. Submit your comments to GrowGreen@brampton.ca
The plan identifies 6 Goals, 5 Themes, 15 Objectives with 55 supporting actions.
“Brampton will be a climate leader fostering resilient, low-carbon, and adaptable communities, with thriving natural systems, climate-ready infrastructure, and a robust economy that advances equity, innovation, and quality of life both now and for future generations”.
The 55 actions are assigned to each of the objectives noted above. They cover different aspects from addressing climate risk, to protection and enhancement of forests and wetlands. Here a just a few examples:
Please visit the City’s website for more information and to download the draft plan. Provide your comments to growgreen@brampton.ca by January 15th.
The Etobicoke Creek watershed is highly urbanized with large amounts of hard surfaces and low amounts of natural cover compared with other watersheds in the greater Toronto area. This contributes to issues with flooding, erosion, and negative impacts to both animal and plant habitat. The added stress of further urbanization and climate change impacts will further degrade watershed health unless immediate remediation and mitigation actions are taken.
Continue reading “The Etobicoke Creek has a new Watershed Plan”With less than two weeks left in 2024, crews at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority are working hard to complete wetlands, shoreline and habitat restoration work in Conservation Drive Park, Loafer’s Lake Park, and along the Watson Valley south of Conservation Drive.
Wetlands provide essential eco-system services including, flood and erosion control, water filtration, heat island mitigation, and habitat for a plethora of animal and plant species. Loafer’s Lake was considered a priority as its water quality was among the worst in Brampton. Flood risk management is important along this water course as the City looks to intensify development in the downtown core.
This past February the Provincial Government’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) announced $2.5 million in support of the Etobicoke Creek Wetlands Enhancement Project, designed to improve accessibility and recreational opportunities in Loafer’s Lake Park as well as build additional wetland habitat along the Etobicoke Creek valley between Sandalwood Parkway and Mayfield Road. A condition of funding is that the project be completed before the end of 2024.
Work started in March in multiple locations. A total of 8 wetland areas were created or restored including Loafer’s Lake. Three wetland areas were created south of Mayfield Rd.
The wetland just north of Conservation Drive was expanded and enhanced.
Large tree trunks were installed in the area behind Somerset Drive Public School, both for habitat and for soil stabilization.
A watercourse at the northern edge of this area known as the Snelgrove Channel received particular attention. This underground storm drain and water channel is the remnant of what used to be a surface creek that was buried when the surrounding residential subdivisions were built in the early 1980’s. The original channel washed away over the next 30 years eventually dangerously exposing sanitary sewer infrastructure.
The channel was restored in 2014 using large rocks to create a naturalized waterfall plus a series of ponds designed to dissipate the water energy.
Unfortunately nature had other plans and by 2022 further bank erosion was, once again threatening the sanitary sewer pipes.
This time a large volume of rock was brought in to stabilize the channel floor and banks. Most of the massive rocks were removed and the picturesque but impractical waterfall and pools were replaced with a gentler slope and more rocks designed to slow the water speed.
Let’s hope this restoration will last for many years. Hat’s off to the team who appear to be delivering the project on time and on budget!
Pollinators are birds, bats, bees, butterflies and other small mammals that pollinate plants. They do this by collecting pollen on their bodies as they move about in search of food. In the process of travelling around they leave some of that pollen behind on many plants allowing those plants to re-produce.
Continue reading “Pollinator Week June 17-23”The smell of clean clothes pulled from the dryer, may rival that of brewing coffee or freshly baked bread as a “comfort” aroma. Of course that excludes clothes that have been soaked in fabric softener or dried with dryer sheets for that is both a personal and an environmental turnoff subject to an article for another day. Beyond that though, we all want to wear freshly laundered clothes. Most of us wear our clothes only once before tossing them in the wash basket. And more than 60% of the clothing we wear is made from synthetic materials derived from fossil fuels. Aka, it’s made of plastic!
Continue reading “Your Washing Machine has a Dirty Secret”This past week, City and TRCA staff hosted three community engagement sessions at the Paul Palleschi Recreation Centre to provide more details about the Loafer’s Lake and environs wetlands enhancement project.
This past Thursday the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario submitted a joint application to the Federal Court to withdraw the federal environmental assessment for Highway 413. The withdrawal means that arguments about the legalities surrounding the Federal Impact Assessment Act will not be clarified by the courts. It also means there will be no opportunity for the court, (and thereby the public) to adjudicate the environmental impacts of building this highway.
“The federal government needs to urgently introduce legislation that updates the Impact Assessment Act and that re-designates the Highway 413 project under it. Revoking the designation before a new Impact Assessment Act is in place was irresponsible and unnecessary,” said Laura Bowman, Staff Lawyer, Ecojustice.
Continue reading “Federal Government withdraws 413 environmental assessment requirement”The Brampton Environmental Alliance (BEA) hosted its second annual general meeting this past Wednesday March 13th. Twenty-two individual and organizational members attended along with 9 non-members and 5 guests. Among the guests was Brampton North MPP Graham McGregor who engaged with members at the conclusion of the meeting.
Continue reading “Brampton Environmental Alliance hosts Annual General Meeting”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”