Long Blog 4 — Toronto’s failed environmental policies and what needs to be done
Toronto’s mayoral by-election is coming up in June and candidates have promised big changes for the city. Most candidates have promised changes to popular issues such as housing affordability, homelessness, and safety on the TTC. Although these issues are important, environmental issues are a persistent and significant problem that not many candidates have included in their platforms. John Matlow, a city councilor and mayoral candidate, is one of the only leading candidates who included environmental issues on his platform. Matlow promises to implement commercial parking lot taxes to fund $200 million in order to reach net zero emissions by 2040. Despite climate change being a significant global problem, not many mayoral candidates have declared it as a main focus on their platforms (Harrison, 2023). This suggests that the environment may not be a top concern for Torontonians and therefore policymakers, which is alarming as climate change will not pause for people to start demanding action.
Over the past few decades, Toronto’s weather has become increasingly extreme. Hotter summers and milder winters have resulted in record breaking temperatures that only continue to break records. Heavy rain and snowfall results in flooding and poor drinking water which greatly affects people living in Toronto. Toronto’s infrastructure is vulnerable to climate change, specifically the public transportation and housing sectors, and the healthcare system. With these sectors being endangered, this threatens the health and safety of citizens (Ligeti et al., 2011).
Environmental problems are intersectional issues, as they affect people differently. Low-income individuals have fewer resources to protect themselves from extreme weather conditions. Also, recovering from damages to property as a result of harsh weather is much more challenging for low-income people who often do not have insurance. Therefore, it is important to recognize how environmental issues in Toronto do not affect everyone equally (Ligeti et al., 2011).
Due to this issue lacking public engagement and political attention like other issues that may seem more urgent, it is important for us as citizens to educate one another and elect politicians who will prioritize the wellbeing of the environment.
Currently, the City of Toronto has a carbon credit policy and it plans to transition to electric vehicles in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality. It has also implemented a plan known as the Resilience Strategy, which will mitigate the effects of climate change on those living in poverty (City of Toronto). Additionally, the City of Toronto proposed a strategy known as TransformTO, which promises to achieve net zero emissions by 2040 (City of Toronto). Although these plans seem to be promising, Toronto is not on track to meeting its 2030 greenhouse gas emission target of a 30% reduction below 1990 levels (Slater et al., 2022).
This is due to many factors, including provincial and federal government jurisdictional limitations. The imposal of jurisdictional limitations on the municipal government limits its ability to reduce city emissions. For example, vehicle registrations and clean electricity standards are mandated by the provincial government, which limits the city’s control over the transportation and energy sectors. The provincial government also funds these sectors and controls how much funding it will grant. Additionally, Toronto’s climate plan depends on an alignment between municipal, provincial, and federal climate agendas. If these agendas are not consistently aligned, which they are often not, this results in failed action (Slater et al., 2022).
On a personal level, I have always cared deeply for the environment as it was a value that my father taught me at a young age. In 2019, I protested alongside 15,000 people in downtown Toronto to demand action on climate change. Although I was in high school and was not aware of the difficult political components involved, this same frustration lives on in me today. Currently, I support politicians who share the same care for the environment that I do as well as the same frustration towards all levels of government in their lack of concrete action. This is why I plan to advocate for increased climate attention during the upcoming municipal by-election.
Because climate change is an issue that waits for no one and requires collective action to solve, all Torontonians should pay attention to issues regarding the environment and use their voices to advocate for policy changes regarding these issues.
References
City of Toronto. Environmental Plans & Reports. https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/environmentally-friendly-city-initiatives/reports-plans-policies-research/
City of Toronto. TransformTO Net Zero Strategy. https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/environmentally-friendly-city-initiatives/transformto/
Harrison, L. (2023). What some of Toronto’s mayoral candidates announced and criticized Friday. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-mayoral-roundup-friday-1.6818067
Legiti, E., Wieditz, I., & Penney, J. (2011). A scan of climate change impacts on Toronto. Clean Air Partnership. https://books-scholarsportal-info.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/en/read?id=/ebooks/ebooks0/gibson_cppc/2011-08-18/1/10465254#page=21
Slater, et al. (2022). Assessing climate action progress of the City of Toronto. Ubiquity Press. https://journal-buildingscities.org/articles/10.5334/bc.248
