The Year That Was, and the Year To Be (Maybe?)

This month we have Claire Malcolmson, of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, joining us.

We talk about health of Lake Simcoe, the strange silence from this government on reviewing the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan (now several years overdue), among other things.

Oh, and it's RLSC's 20th birthday! Tickets for their November 23rd celebration are available here.

Show links:

Lake Simcoe Protection Plan
Bloom and doom in river (Duckweed)
CELA: Two Decades After Walkerton are New Provincial Laws Risking Another Drinking Water Crisis?
An Interdisciplinary Water Risk Assessment Framework for Sustainable Water Management in Ontario, Canada

Our October episode focuses on the scandal that was the Greenbelt land take-outs, the public backlash, and the fall out.

There is the immediate problems around how land was given to developers, and there are more pervasive problems around democratic accountability, around how our governments make decisions, and about the attitudes of those entrusted with making decisions on all of our behalf.

All of this and more is discussed by Margaret and Adam.

Episode links:
Doug Ford reverses Greenbelt decision
Who is Ryan Amato, the political staffer at the centre of Ontario’s Greenbelt scandal?
How to Rate and Review a Podcast – Major Platforms Covered

This is a recording of the public forum we held, addressing the assault by this government on the Greenbelt.

Featuring:
Jeff Monague, former Chief of the Beausoleil First Nation on Christian Island, former Director of Treaty Research with the Anishnabek (Union of Ontario Indians) and a Canadian Forces Veteran;
David Crombie, former mayor of Toronto and former chair of Greenbelt Council;
Tim Gray, ED of Environmental Defence Canada;
Margaret Prophet, SCGC;
and Franz Hartman, Alliance for a Liveable Ontario.

Margaret and Adam talk about Ontario's controversial Bill 23, which drastically changes how communities are planned, about the Ford government's attack on the Greenbelt, which is a reversal from their often repeated promise to not touch it, as well as many more topics.

Adam swears once, hence the explicit tag. (We're talking about the Ford government here, so it's difficult to not be explicit.)

Show links:

Give a Christmas gift and support the show and SCGC with a donation.
SCGC's Store (Hands off the Greenbelt stickers and tees.)
Resources to join opposition to the Greenbelt land-grabs.
The Narwhal: Everything you need to know about Doug Ford’s plan to cut into Ontario’s Greenbelt
The Narwhal: Six developers bought Greenbelt land after Ford came to power. Now, they stand to profit
The Start: They recently bought Greenbelt land that was undevelopable. Now the Ford government is poised to remove protections — and these developers stand to profit
Auditor General: Value-for-Money Audit:
Highway Planning and Management

Municipal elections are just around the corner in Ontario, and the choice you make can have a big impact on the environment, the quality of our communities, and, believe it or not, on climate change.

This episode Margaret and Adam talk about why municipal action on the environment can have such a big impact, and how you can make an informed choice on which candidate to support.

Orillia, a small city on the north shore of Lake Simcoe in central Ontario, is considering annexing nearby land in anticipation of population growth.

Stop Sprawl Orillia, a citizen group, has organized to advocate for retaining current boundaries and placing an emphasis on intensification, rather than enabling sprawl outward by allowing continued building of single detached homes around the current built-up area.

We speak with Madeleine Fournier, of Stop Sprawl Orillia, about what this fight means for the future of Orillia.

Links:
Lead Exposure in Last Century Shrank IQ Scores of Half of Americans
Stop Sprawl Orillia Instagram
Stop Sprawl Orillia Facebook Group
Stop Sprawl Orillia Petition
Send an Email to Orillia Council (online tool)
Donate to Stop Sprawl Orillia
Green Orillia Newsletter
SCGC's Sprawl deep dive into vertical and horizontal sprawl.

This month we talk tall sprawl, also known as vertical sprawl.

Most of us think of the typical suburban development when we think of sprawl, and the answer to this, we are told, is to increase density within the urban boundary. (If you're familiar with our work at all you'll have heard us talk about the need for this.)

Building high rises accomplishes this but putting far more people on a much smaller portion of land, but there are costs associated with this form of development that aren't readily apparent, and that come at the expense of the environment, the community, and the economy. (Not to put those into separate boxes as they are closely interrelated.)

Support us on Patreon.

Links:
Vertical Sprawl
A City that Runs on Itself
Challenging the Vertical Sprawl
Urban sprawl isn’t to blame: unsustainable cities are the product of growth fetish
Barrie Intensification Area Urban Design Guidelines
Barrie Community Energy and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction Plan
Creating power from organic waste can be a lot to digest
Proposed Developments in Barrie (3D rendering)

This episode we are looking back at the year that was, and looking ahead at the year that might be. Oh, and we do a film review of Don't Look Up!

Topics covered include the amazing summer students we were so lucky to have, and the very positive impact that they had on youth engagement in Simcoe County; how private profit is often made in our economy at the expense of the public, which also means at the expense of the public's most valuable resource, namely the environment and natural world; and the need for ENGOs to start preparing for the known knowns of climate change.

Links:

• Parliamentary petition for a federal impact assessment of the Bradford Bypass
• Support us on Patreon! Just $1.50 an episode helps!
• The Orbit
• Lake Simcoe Under Pressure Report

Hey, and did you know that you can also support us by purchasing merchandise in our Red Bubble Store? Check it out!

This episode we speak with two citizens, Tricia Leuchter and Irene Ford, who are fighting the Bradford Bypass and Highway 413, respectively, which are proposed for their communities. 

Doug Ford and other proponents of the highways have claimed that opponents are "downtown elites" and "radical activists." But, these characterizations are far from the truth, which is more in line with citizens who are concerned that politicians are shutting down due process and ignoring evidence in order to ram through costly and unnecessary mega projects.

This episode we talk about greenwashing, the practice of presenting a product in a way that makes it seem to consumers as if it is environmentally friendly, when in fact it is not.

Greenwashing is most often thought of in terms of marketing a product. In a time when political discourse is increasingly branded and marketed, however, and when the action required to address environmental problems is increasingly at odds with what politicians seem willing or able to do, greenwashing is becoming a concern in the political sphere, too.

From the never-ending string of promises to address climate change (almost all broken) to  climate emergency declarations made and then nothing done, politicians, it seems, are telling  people what they want to hear in order to get support, but delivering a very different product.

So, why aren't they following through and why do we keep voting for them? We discuss that are more.

As always, you can support us, and the show, at simcoecountygreenbelt.ca. Click through to the episode page for links and resources, including a photo essay of our field trip with Master Naturalist Bob Bowles.