Ford’s latest bill collides with cities’ efforts to phase out gas in buildings New legislation — Bill 98, or the Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act — is snaking its way through the Legislature, and aims to kill green building standards for good, and i...

My thoughts: "In the midst of the current reality, in which we are acutely aware that gas prices are volatile and at a time when we want to decrease our dependence on the US, it makes no sense to continue relying on imported American gas for our home heating"
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/04/16/n...

Tell Doug Ford: Hands off local climate action! You can’t make this up 🙄 Doug Ford is trying to destroy… local green building policies. Ford has spent years decimating climate initiatives and curtailing local authority. In the midst of his anti-cl...

Our action page is up, let's make some noise: act.stand.earth/page/95881/-/1

The Ford government just introduced a new omnibus housing bill that would kill local green building policies which encourage new homes to be efficient, sustainable, and more affordable to operate.

We will be pushing back. Watch this space.

For now, some info and my perspective:

A new survey commissioned by CUPE Ontario shows broad concern about Ontario’s proposed FOI changes.

88% are concerned about removing independent oversight of access to information.

Details: abacusdata.ca/ontarians-o...

Opinion: No, despite Iran oil shock, Canada still doesn’t need more pipelines Energy security is important, yes. Here’s what Canada really needs to do to secure its future

No, despite Iran oil shock, Canada still doesn’t need more pipelines www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

Middle East War Spotlights Stability of Renewables and Efficiency Iran attacked oil and gas facilities in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, oil and gas prices rose sharply, Donald Trump said the “hardest hits” were yet to come, and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith made her fore...

Widening Middle East war risks triggering the most severe oil price shock since 1979 and could also offer a boost for the transition to clean energy. Read Mitchell Beer's full analysis at The Energy Mix. #war #middleeastwar #oilandgas #energytransition

TALK WITH OTHERS! NEW POLLING SHOWS : 58% of Canadians say transitioning away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy is more important than ever, in light of U.S. aggression. 59% believe Canada would be safer if it produced more renewable energy. 67% say reliance on oil and gas increases the risk of international conflict.

Canadians are strongly opposed to foreign aggression to secure access to natural resources. 70% say that it’s completely unacceptable for one country to use military force to take control of another nation’s resources. 72% percent say it would be unacceptable for the United States to have arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to access oil reserves. 80% say it would be unacceptable for the United States to seize Greenland for its natural resources.

New poll conducted after the U.S. actions in Venezuela and threats to seize Greenland finds that a majority of Canadians believe made-in-Canada renewable energy is MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER for strengthening Canada’s national security.

Learn more: www.sierraclub.ca/clean-energy... #CDNpoli #CDNmedia

BEPS would significantly reduce Toronto's building emissions, responsible for almost 60% of the city's pollution.

We would see the mass adoption of heat pumps which make buildings safer and healthier.

We still have a long a way to go to make this a reality but let's take the small win!

The policy had been taken out of the agenda and the Net Zero Strategy, but a motion introduced during the committee meeting put it back on the table.

Now city staff can continue working on the policy and we can keep pushing to ensure that it gets adopted.

Thank you to the thousands of people who sent emails and made phone calls in advance and the hundreds of people who submitted official letters and made deputations at City Hall.

It’s because of this collective mobilization that we were able to bring BEPS back.

On behalf of @stand.earth I spoke at Toronto’s Infrastructure and Environment Committee yesterday to urge Council Members not to let a key climate policy die.

The Building Emissions Performance Standard (BEPS) was at risk of being shelved indefinitely..

Together, we brought it back to life 🙌

Toronto blames federal funding cuts and Ford-era limits for shelving building emissions bylaw The City of Toronto has pulled back planned rules for cutting building emissions, citing new federal and provincial barriers.

Here's the backstory: www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/27/n...

Tell City Hall: We need to green Toronto’s buildings Make your voice heard

Send a quick email here: SafeCities.earth/GreenBuildingsTO

Toronto City Council has gotten cold feet on a green policy for existing buildings that's been in the works for two years..

We have just a few days to turn things around.

Please send a message to bring this key climate policy back!

Read it and weep: This pipeline agreement is a document of betrayal How to describe the laundry list of climate-killing gifts to Alberta that the MOU spells out? The depth of the betrayal goes beyond words. I felt ill as I read it. It’s not just the hard-won ground lo...

A long, ugly battle has just been set in motion.
www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/27/a...

Background photo of a person in Toronto, with the cityscape behind them. Illustration of buildings with a plant growing out of a smokestack. “Sustainable buildings protect you from extreme weather and make homes more comfortable. TELL TORONTO CITY COUNCIL: "Greener buildings for all." SEND A MESSAGE” Stand.earth logo and Toronto Environmental Alliance logo in bottom left corner.

More than 50% of climate pollution in Toronto comes from burning gas to heat buildings

The good news is, we can solve this.

Ricardo Tranjan: Think Doug Ford has walked back his war on tenants? There’s more to come. Here’s how it should be fought. Last week, the Ontario government introduced Bill 60, Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act. It includes many troubling legislative changes, but popular outcry so far has focused on the direct attack

Bill 60 is a vicious, one-sided tenancy legislation. It will cause widespread suffering and loss of life. Anyone who stays neutral is complicit. In this @thestar.com article, I focus on why mayors should fight it.

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Enbridge investors to get billions as gas giant expands into small-town Ontario Enbridge executives know Ontario ratepayers are a cash cow for its gas business, and in recent calls with investors they said they plan to milk it for all its worth.

Enbridge execs have been boasting to shareholders they plan to return $40-$45 billion to them over the next five years supported by gas expansions across the continent. Ontario in particular is a cash cow where they have an opportunity to "over earn."
www.nationalobserver.com/2025/10/09/a...

Are the TRC calls to action be answered? A not-for-profit organization that is keeping track of how governments across the country are responding to report by the TRC.

According to Indigenous Watchdog, work on 16 calls to action hasn’t started, 22 have stalled, 42 are in progress and 14 are complete.

National interest should include the rights of Indigenous women Bill C-5 is a major setback to reconciliation and the path to ending violence against Indigenous women and girls.

Opinion: National interest should include the rights of Indigenous women

www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/0...

‘Affordability and sustainability don’t need to compete’: green housing advocates urge Carney to see big picture ‘Affordability and sustainability don’t need to compete’: green housing advocates urge Carney to see big picture.

My thoughts on the new federal gov agency to build homes:

“Yes, we desperately need to build new affordable homes. We’ve also made commitments to tackle the climate crisis. Fortunately we can do both at the same time"

(more thoughts/info in the piece)

thepointer.com/article/2025...

Carney's red tape narrative doesn't hold up The perception that a bureaucratic maze is preventing Canada from building major projects, as Prime Minister Mark Carney has argued to support his deregulatory nation-building agenda, doesn’t hold up ...

The perception that red tape is preventing Canada from building major projects doesn’t hold hold up. Hundreds of projects, worth hundreds of billions of dollars are planned under existing regulations. Yet Carney blames a bureaucratic maze for stifling growth to justify his deregulatory agenda.

We knew he was a blue Liberal. But Mark Carney is alienating progressive voters The new PM's defiant tone doesn't always appear to match his actions.

After all, the reason Carney is sitting in the Prime Minister’s Office is because progressive swing voters made a strategic choice to lend him their votes — they didn’t lend Carney their vote to appease Trump, impose austerity or roll back workers’ rights.

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Draw the Line: Tell the Carney Government to Pick a Side | The Tyee For people, for peace, for the planet. An invitation to join the Sept. 20 mass day of action.

A public invite to the Sept 20 Draw the Line actions from 21 movement leaders - representing an amazing cross-section of organizations.

Find the action closest to you.

Draw the Line: Tell the Carney Government to Pick a Side via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/Opinion/2025...

Build Canada Homes must prioritize 'right' kind of housing, affordability and green energy, say advocates The Build Canada Homes initiative, which aims to double national housing output to 500,000 new homes per year, is expected to launch this fall.

I was glad to be interviewed for this piece about the federal govt's new home building agency, addressing affordability but also climate - which is important because buildings are so polluting

I said it's "a huge opportunity to build homes well from the start"💡

www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/0...

Builders, business leaders, and environmental groups demand that homes built by new government agency must be green - Stand.earth An open letter sent to the Housing Ministry offers input into the design of a new agency, which plans to build millions of new homes.

It’s fantastic that the federal gov’t will build millions of new homes. But these shouldn’t add to Canada’s emissions..

Rather than using polluting oil/gas furnaces, new homes must come with clean heating systems like electric heat pumps⚡️

Our open letter to the Feds: stand.earth/press-releas...

Canada said it would stand up to Trump. Instead, it’s taking cues from him | Shiri Pasternak and Dayna Nadine Scott Federal and provincial governments are ‘flooding the zone’ with damaging corporate giveaways under the guise of resistance

New piece: We might not have fascism in Canada, but our response to U.S. threats has been to double down on colonialism + xenophobia. Power is centralizing to expedite extraction and we must fight in broad coalitions to win. Elbows up against the oligarchy!

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Climate Action Network Canada calls on Senate to send Bill C-5 back to the drawing board - Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac) The Senate is abdicating their vital role as the chamber of sober second thought by shortening the review process. Hearings of Bill C-5 start this week.

🚫 The Senate is fast-tracking Bill C-5—shortening their review & effectively shutting people out of decisions that affect them.

Bill C-5 jeopardizes democratic process, environmental protections, and Indigenous rights. The Senate must send it back to the drawing board.

shorturl.at/nXN1u

Linda McQuaig: As climate induced hell-fires rage across the country, Canada looks to build pipelines — in the name of national unity Even as the hell-fires rage, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes, the media barely mentions climate change, presumably due to fear of being accused of destroying the new-found

On the consensus of the federal gov & most provinces to build new pipelines to strengthen the economy:

“Nobody dares to spoil this sudden feel-good vibe by even hinting at how badly we’re failing on the climate front. Such talk has effectively been banished.”

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...