{"id":765,"date":"2023-01-08T03:57:40","date_gmt":"2023-01-08T03:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.nvecoboosters.com\/?page_id=765"},"modified":"2025-08-02T03:18:46","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T03:18:46","slug":"climate-corner","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nvecoboosters.com\/index.php\/climate-corner\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Corner"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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CLIMATE CORNER
by Ashley Ropp<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Ashley\u2019s latest article is featured below. Links to all of their previous articles in the Wilmot-Tavistock Gazette can be found by scrolling down below this article.<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Our Future Is Not Symbolic<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>

On June 23rd, a Township of Wilmot Council Meeting included a vote on a motion put forward by\u00a0Councilor Martin opposing the recently passed Bill 5, also known as the\u00a0\u2018Protecting Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act\u2019. If you somehow haven\u2019t heard about Bill 5 yet,\u00a0Councilor Martin describes it well – \u201cBill 5 includes substantial changes to environmental planning\u00a0policies, including replacing the Endangered Species Act with a new framework that reduces\u00a0protections for at risk species, and enabling the creation of \u2018special economic zones\u2019 that may\u00a0override local planning authority and environmental oversight.\u201d In these \u2018special economic zones\u2019,\u00a0\u2018designated projects\u2019 are exempt from municipal and provincial laws. This is intended to speed up\u00a0the process of industrial projects in order to have the means to grow our provincial economy as\u00a0quickly as possible. This raises concerns when we look at the vagueness that Bill 5 is wrapped in.\u00a0As a report to Oxford County Council from May puts it, \u201cThe lack of detail and clarity raises
significant concerns with respect to the potential for […] side-stepping of important\u00a0environmental requirements”.\u00a0 There are few details given regarding crucial factors, such as, how it is decided to\u00a0designate an area as a \u2018special economic zone\u2019, or what projects and proposals will be granted this\u00a0exemption. This bill appears to have the ability to bend, and even break, existing laws as the
province pleases, at the great cost of the environment.<\/p>

To quickly sum up this meeting, Councilor Martin and Councilor Cressman voted in favour. Councilor\u00a0<\/span>Sidhu, Councilor Dunstall, and Mayor Salonen voted against. Sidhu voted against on the grounds that\u00a0<\/span>\u201cpassing this motion […] largely seems symbolic to me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Sidhu also stated, \u201c[…] there are different channels that we can go through to express our\u00a0frustrations and express their views.\u201d and this sentiment seemed to be echoed by Mayor Salonen when\u00a0<\/span>she explained these different channels, such as AMO.<\/span><\/p>

I am deeply disappointed in the Wilmot Council\u2019s response to this motion. The Council demonstrated\u00a0that they do not appreciate the extreme harm Bill 5 will cause, and why it is so crucial to push\u00a0back against it. I am also disappointed by the view that openly speaking out against injustice is\u00a0just a symbolic gesture and therefore is not worth it. Whether or not it truly is symbolic is
frankly irrelevant; that\u2019s simply a matter of language. What matters is that speaking out against\u00a0injustice has always been the first step to change. Looking throughout history, we can see that\u00a0change has always started with someone saying, \u2018This\u00a0is not okay, and I won\u2019t stand for it.\u2019 So, I would like to ask the Council members who voted in opposition: if this is just a symbolic gesture, what action will you instead take to ensure\u00a0the wellbeing of the communities you are responsible for?<\/p>

Now, why is Bill 5 so bad?\u00a0The biggest concerns regard the environmental impacts. Bill 5 aims to streamline the\u00a0approval process for major infrastructural projects- but aren\u2019t these processes in place for\u00a0a reason? Current environmental regulations \u2013 meager regulations that are already\u00a0inadequate in the face of the climate crisis \u2013 will mean nothing if they can be bypassed in\u00a0the name of \u2018economic growth\u2019. This means ecosystems and species that are currently\u00a0protected (however weak that protection may be) are now at even higher risk. While the\u00a0extinction of a couple of at-risk species may not seem like the end of the world, an\u00a0ecosystem depends on every species in it. The extinction of just one species will throw an\u00a0entire ecosystem off balance.<\/p>

Not only are there environmental implications going without address, this bill also goes\u00a0against our governments claims of commitment to Indigenous rights and reconciliation.\u00a0Article 19 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) claims that\u00a0States are required to \u201cobtain [Indigenous peoples] free, prior and informed consent\u00a0before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect\u00a0them.\u201d. Canada officially endorsed this Declaration in 2010. Bill 5 allows major
infrastructure and extraction projects to begin without the free, prior, and informed\u00a0consent that is required. Bill 5\u2019s exemptions from assessments, environmental and\u00a0otherwise, pose extreme threats to Indigenous food sources and livelihoods, as well as
burial grounds. Bill 5 endangers Indigenous safety and cultural wellbeing.\u00a0In addition to the disregard of Indigenous peoples and environmental wellness, Bill 5\u00a0\u2018erodes our democratic processes\u2019 and weakens our local autonomy. This is pointed out\u00a0by Nith Valley EcoBoosters member Julie Jutzi during her delegation at the previously\u00a0mentioned Wilmot Council Meeting, in which she spoke in favour of Councilor Martin\u2019s\u00a0motion. Does a community not know themselves best? Do we need someone who does\u00a0not know our local land, someone who does not know our neighbors, to have the power to\u00a0do whatever they want with said land?<\/p>

What I consider to be the most important opposition to Bill 5, is that prioritizing economi needs\u00a0over the environment will leave our economy worse than we started. Saying that we must address the\u00a0economy at any cost, even at the cost of the environment, does not recognize the ways that\u00a0environmental destruction and the climate crisis crumbles ou economic wellness. For example, food
scarcity has a negative impact on the economy and is also a major impact of climate change. Another example is how the increase in\u00a0climate disasters, such as wildfires, require an increased budget for emergency\u00a0<\/span>responses. Climate disasters also warrant additional budget for adjusting infrastructure to prepare\u00a0<\/span>for these disasters, or rebuilding the infrastructure altogether when it\u2019s destroyed. \u2018Fixing\u2019 the\u00a0<\/span>economy at the cost of the environment will just lead to more environmental destruction, which will\u00a0<\/span>lead to worsening the climate crisis, which will worsen our economy. Then what?<\/span><\/p>

And, honestly, what does the economy matter if we cannot eat? What does the job market matter if we\u00a0cannot survive the heat of the summer? What does more housing matter if it\u2019s all bound to get\u00a0destroyed in a climate disaster? This may sound melodramatic, but many climate experts have made it\u00a0clear that this is the course we are currently on. Stepping outside and seeing the smokey haze that\u00a0blankets our towns shows that this disaster is not as far away as we\u2019d like to think.\u00a0All of these implications and impacts come together to make a bill that will erode biodiversity,\u00a0put at-risk species at further risk, take away local autonomy, disregard Indigenous rights and\u00a0lives, and worsen our economy in the long run. So I ask, what pros remain? What good does this bill\u00a0bring, when it not only makes everything else worse, but also cannot even be assured to fulfill\u00a0it\u2019s one purpose? And how is opposing this
dangerous law simply a \u2018symbolic gesture\u2019?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

To ask a question or suggest an article topic, email me at ashleyropp7@proton.me. As always, thanks for reading!<\/span><\/p>

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PREVIOUS CLIMATE CORNER ARTICLES\n (most recent article listed first)<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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