NDP tables bill to keep Ontarians safe from climate-fuelled disasters

QUEEN’S PARK – Official Opposition Shadow Minister for Environment, Conservation and Parks Peter Tabuns (Toronto—Danforth) has reintroduced legislation to ensure that Ontario is prepared for future extreme weather events and disasters.

“Doug Ford and his Conservative government have failed to meet the moment on climate change,” said Tabuns. “A hotter, more dangerous world means more climate-driven flooding, fires, and windstorms that will threaten Ontario homes, infrastructure, and ultimately lives.”

The Ford government’s own climate impact and adaptation report detailed the risk to Ontario as the climate crisis worsens. In the wake of October’s Auditor General report showing that the province would fail to meet their 2030 emissions reduction target, it is clear that the worst is yet to come.

Currently, the climate crisis causes billions of dollars in damage, and takes numerous lives annually. As the impacts worsen, the Ford government still has yet to come forth with a robust plan to prepare for climate-related disasters.

“Our bill gives the government the powers, the funding bodies, and the plans it needs to keep Ontarians safe. It’s drawn from reports that they themselves commissioned and have chosen to ignore. Acting today will save lives and prevent costly damage in the future.

“When a storm is coming, you don’t ignore it — you prepare for it. Ford continuing to ignore the climate crisis will only put lives at risk. The time to act is now, not when the floodwaters are crashing through the front door.”

ADDITIONAL QUOTES:

“People in my riding are already pressed hard to cover the cost of groceries. They can’t afford the rising food prices that the climate crisis causes now, and will be making worse. We need action now to protect food production so that people won’t have to deal with even higher grocery bills.”

— MPP Doly Begum (Scarborough Southwest)

“We’ve already seen major power outages from extreme weather. We need to act now, to protect people by making sure that power, water and communications systems can continue to operate as conditions become even more volatile."

— MPP Jessica Bell (University—Rosedale)

“In my riding, tens of thousands of people, even now, are already facing overheating in their apartment units that were built without air conditioning. Ontario is going to get a lot hotter and this poses huge health risks to people at home and at work.”

— MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam (Toronto Centre)

"A primary responsibility of government is to safeguard its citizens and its communities. And that includes the urgent task of protecting us from the impacts of climate change and extreme weather. Seniors, children, Indigenous people, farmers, low-income tenants and workers are the most vulnerable to the increasingly harsh impacts of extreme weather. If this bill is passed, it will go a long way to reducing these risks. It will build resilience. It will build community.”

— Dr. Jennifer Penney, Chair, Adaptation Working Group, Seniors for Climate Action Now!

“Right now, Ontario is planning to fail on climate change because it is failing to plan. Ignoring climate change won’t make the wildfires, floods or extreme weather go away, so we need legislation like this that forces the government to face up to its responsibilities to protect Ontarians. Greenpeace also believes that polluters should be paying their fair share of the costs of dealing with the climate crisis they have played such a large role in creating.”

— Keith Stewart, Senior Energy Strategist, Greenpeace Canada

“RNAO fully endorses the Ontario Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Act. Nurses see daily how extreme heat, wildfire smoke, floods, and other climate impacts are harming health and hitting seniors, children, people with chronic illness, and low-income communities hardest. A science-aligned, whole-of-government adaptation plan will protect Ontarians, strengthen community resilience, and safeguard our natural environment. Climate change is a health emergency – and acting now is a public health imperative.”

— Dr. Doris Grinspun, RN, BScN, MSN, PhD, LLD(hon), Dr(hc), DHC, DHC, FAAN, FCAN, O.ONT
CEO Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO)