Toronto Climate Emergency Action Plan

We’ve been working with MobilizeTO to build a plan to get a climate emergency motion passed in Toronto (similar to the one in Vancouver). We have a plan, but we have no money, so we need people power — and that means you.

The first phase of the plan is to find one councillor willing to write and champion a climate emergency motion. The second phase is querying every councillor to find out if they support that motion and recording their responses. The third phase is getting out in the streets in the Wards of councillors who won’t commit to build support and get people to pressure them to act.

Right now, we’re on Phase One. I know a lot of people have already contacted their councillors, but so far, no councillor has stepped up and drafted a motion. So we need you to contact your councillor and keep contacting them until they give you an answer.

Find your councillor here: https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/council/members-of-council/.

Going in person is best.
Phone calls are second best.
Emails are useful, but the easiest to ignore.

If you call we have talking points here. If you email, you can use the template below. But please personalize it with your own feelings about climate change and your voting history or intentions in the next municipal election.

Let us (or MobilizeTO) know by email (contact[AT]climatepledgecollective.org) or in this Facebook group if you get a response.

___________________________________

Dear [COUNCILLOR’S NAME],

I am writing regarding the Climate Emergency motion that passed recently in both Halifax and Vancouver.

A climate emergency has also been declared in London England and dozens of cities in the US, the UK and Australia. These motions typically connect a public declaration of emergency with new oversight and ambition in existing climate plans. In our case, it would be an excellent opportunity to put TransformTO back on the agenda, get it the funding it deserves and increase its ambition by having city staff research a path to make Toronto net-zero by 2025.

I am a Ward [YOUR WARD NUMBER] resident and I am hoping to see a similar motion in Toronto. [INCLUDE PERSONAL COMMENTS ABOUT VOTING OR CLIMATE CHANGE HERE]

Please let me know as soon as possible if this is a motion you would be interested in submitting or supporting. There is a lot of energy building around this issue and many of us are trying to get a sense of where our councillors stand on this issue. I will follow up if I don’t hear from you within a week.

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]

______

Once we have a champion, we will post more about where individual councillors stand on the motion and our plans to get out and sign-up more supporters.