COVID-19 response speaks volumes about those we choose to ignore By Terri Chu There’s a China-sized hole in the world’s pollution map thanks to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Flights around the world have decreased, economic activity has gone down substantially, and our air has never been cleaner. Even Venice’s famous canals are running clean, and are […]

[Read more →]

Province has no business case for reckless cuts By Terri Chu Last year, Premier Ford and friends dropped $231 million of “taxpayer” money on killing wind energy projects. It’s one thing to not build any more but spending money to cancel projects? That’s next level “respecting” taxpayer money (as he likes to say). What this […]

[Read more →]

City is caught flat-footed as alarm bells ring By Terri Chu I was mildly optimistic when Toronto City Council officially declared a “Climate Emergency”, in October, 2019. How naïve I was to think that an “emergency” meant that something might actually happen. The situation appears to me as though teenagers are dialing 911 and screaming […]

[Read more →]

TransformTO consultation held to discuss city’s climate plan By Khyrsten Mieras The City of Toronto and the Annex Residents’ Association’s (ARA) Parks, Trees and Environment Committee held the latest TransformTO community consultation at the Bata Shoe Museum on November 4. Along with local communities, the city is holding several public conversations this fall to discuss […]

[Read more →]

Silence on Hong Kong and climate crisis has parallels On November 11, Canadian leaders extolled the virtues of soldiers who lost their lives defending the ideals of democracy. On that day, we might have told the story of the nearly 2,000 Canadian soldiers who fought to defend Hong Kong against Japanese invasion in 1941. Five […]

[Read more →]

Let’s stop celebrating symbols of destruction Bling bling! Jaws dropped and the media was bedazzled by the newly unveiled Toronto Raptors championship rings on October 23. For the team’s opening game, each player was awarded a golf-ball of 10 karat gold covered in 14 carat diamonds, and the nearly 20,000 fans watching at Scotiabank Arena […]

[Read more →]

Growth in GDP is antithetical to environmental protection By Terri Chu From an environmental point of view, the most disappointing aspect of this election campaign so far is that all parties, even the Greens, are still talking about economic growth like it matters.  If we were honest with ourselves, we would admit that the end […]

[Read more →]

[Read more →]

As we take the drug of economic development, the planet burns As the Amazon burns, we are reminded of what unfettered capitalism looks like. Greed has literally blotted out the sun in Sao Paulo. Images taken in the mid afternoon appear as dark as midnight, as smoke from the burning Amazon darkens the sky.  Farmers […]

[Read more →]

No unity of purpose from arms of the city By Terri Chu Nearly a decade ago, a fire ravaged the beloved Children’s Storefront at 1079 Bathurst St. just south of Dupont. The lot has been sitting empty ever since, waiting for its next reincarnation. Now that Orchard Properties has a development proposal in the works […]

[Read more →]

Act local to address the reality of climate change By Terri Chu Here’s a question for you: What’s more depressing, the ever-worsening predictions we hear from climate scientists, or the daily news of continued denialism from the Trumps and Fords of the world? If you live on Toronto Island, you are probably too busy to […]

[Read more →]

China done with being the world’s dumping ground By Terri Chu The Ontario government has announced it is mulling a ban on single-use plastics. As environmentalists rejoice at the small bone this gas guzzling loving government throws at us, we should all take a moment to thank China for this small miracle from the “red […]

[Read more →]