Posts Tagged ‘Environment’
O Lady Toronto, though green ye be, Scarborough is greener far to see
This post is dedicated to Joyce Mclean and Jack Simpson of Toronto Hydro. Their unique mix of ignorance, incompetance and dishonesty has inspired me to write over 60 000 words about their illegal application, gutter level eithics and has seen a community unite in common purpose to chase them out.
The reference in the title is, of course, the famous response that saw Snow White chased into the forest by a Queen as shallow about appearing ‘fair’ as Toronto Hydro and the city is about appearing ‘green’.
Just as the Queen in Snow White was not as ‘fair’ as her intended victim - the eco bullies behind the plan to distrupt, damage and distroy some of the most lasting and beautiful nature that can be found in Toronto – are not nearly as green as those who stand and fight on the side of environmental conservation.
Scarborough as fought to preserve more green space and parkland than any other former municipality in both real and per capita terms.
Scarborough diverts more garbage from landfill per capita than any other former municipality. In fact a former Scarborough landfill saw hundreds of thousands of dollars and thousands of volunteer hours put to work remediating the site and capturing the landfill gases which are now used to generate 26,600,000 kWh or enough power for 2300 homes annually. This happened long before green was the ‘in’ thing and back in the days long before Joyce McLean sold out and when she was an NDP staffer at Queen’s Park.
Now even while eco bullies were slamming residents who opposed Toronto Hydro’s plans to hurt the environment while trying to build a meritless $700 million project that meets literally no international standards for proper development, and fails to even meet Ontario’s barebones environmental protection – Toronto Hydro came up with the ‘Count me in’ program:
‘Created by Toronto Hydro, the Count Me In Toronto challenge offers Torontonians an innovative and unique way to encourage energy conservation in the City of Toronto. The program will see Toronto’s wards competing against one another in a friendly challenge to determine which ward is the greenest!’ - Count Me In Toronto
Which former municipalities house the top five wards?
1) Scarborough
2) Scarborough
3) Scarborough
4) North York
5) Etobicoke
The best part – George Smitherman’s Toronto Centre ranks 43rd and 44th of 44. Clearly his constituents haven’t gotten the memo he attacks Scarborough for apparently not getting.
As I’ve said before – Scarborough is by far the greenest former municipality by any measure. Unlike the eco bullies and moneyed interests who stand to make serious dough through their environmental distruction in Scarborough – we do care about the environment, we do our part and we will continue to do so by opposing the illegal application Toronto Hydro Energy Services has put forward.
My advice for those who seek to tear down my friends and I who oppose this project – walk the walk. Look to your own ways first. Change your light bulbs, turn down the AC, walk, take the TTC, recycle, compost, plant a tree – and stand up and fight for the environment. I know the good people of Scarborough will continue too, and just as we’ve shown time and time again that we are more in tune and in touch with environmental issues – we will once again prove by defeating this bizarre and illegal experiment of Joyce McLean and Jack Simpson’s, that we do have a deeper attachment and a stronger concern about the environment than the double speaking, paid lobbyists who fund those who attack us, and the politicians who’ve sold us down the creek.
While organizations, professionals and politicians may sell their principles, ethics and values for a pay cheque – residents of Scarborough see a higher purpose and will continue to reach for it over the cynicism that sees others peddle faulty logic to defend illegal and otherwise inappropriate applications for projects without merit.
Finally – I would like to thank Toronto Hydro for recognizing how truly green Scarborough is, and I would like to encourage them to do their part by dismantling Joyce McLean and Jack Simpson’s illegal application before they do any real damage to Scarborough’s environment in their attempt to chase a pay cheque.
1 Comment »Ernest Hemingway on Toronto’s Oak trees circa 1923
The Star today certainly had a variety of stories to occupy me this morning. Much of what is being reported is sobering, but one piece the Star ran was quite an interesting re-print. I did not know that Ernest Hemingway had lived in Toronto or worked for the Star for a number of years before his first book was published. A couple of days ago an oak tree fell on a playground in High Park and slightly injured a mother and her son. It was this incident that prompted the Star to re-publish one of Hemingway’s articles about the health of High Park’s oaks, so long ago, in today’s paper.
The picture below comes from www.insidetoronto.ca as part of their article on the tree falling.
The Star has a video of a massive tree falling in the Beaches in a number of backyards.
When Hemingway was writing for the Star, under the pseudonym Peter Jackson, he wrote a beautiful piece about the impacts of urbanization and increased pollution caused by city living, and in particular “motor cars”. It is not very long, reads as you might expect it would and paints a very familiar picture of the struggle to balance nature and progress. All roads in Toronto have been paved since 1923, and in that time science has also progressed enough to tell us that it is not just oily dust being kicked into the air we need to worry about. Nonetheless, I found it fascinating that there is an article from 1923 concerned about the health of Toronto’s trees and open space, worried about urban growth enchroaching on natural environments and the impact of fossil fuel burning vehicles on the environment around them. Hemingway having a Toronto connection is pretty cool too.
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Rouge Park
After leaving the Relay for Life on Saturday morning, I went to a nature walk put on in partnership with Toronto Tree Tours and Friends of the Rouge Watershed. Jim Robb, from Friends of the Rouge Watershed and one of the park’s strongest advocates, led much of the tour with an Arborist from LEAF Toronto. My primary interest in participating was to visit the Rouge Park again and hear a bit about the local history of the area. Jim did an incredible job in bringing the history alive, and sharing his knowledge of the tree species in the park itself.
The Rouge Park is a massive park. It protects 47 square kilometers of land and strives to preserve the Rouge Watershed. A massive army of volunteers work to reforest aspects of the park, build wetlands and advocate for the inclusion of additional lands for the park. Jim Robb’s group has planted 18 000 trees so far this year alone!
One thing that really surprised me is that the City of Toronto used to have a landfill in what is now the Rouge Park. The challenges a landfill presents for rehabilitation are unique. Much work has been done to contain and capture the gases let off by the waste. This gas is now used to generate enough electricity to power 2 300 homes. Friends of the Rouge Watershed have been working with partners to restore this land and have done an amazing job of trying to rehabilitate this site. Below is a couple of pictures of Beare Hill – the former landfill site that was used between 1968 and 1983.
Beare Hill
Beare Hill
It really struck me how unique and important it is to have a park like this in a city like ours. But the city landscape is often unavoidable as the needs of residents do impact on the park’s environment. There is a need to allow some roads through the park, one of which we utilized to cross the little Rouge River to double back. Due to its proximity to Durham region, and the amount of power produced in Durham, the giant transmission lines cut through the park to bring electricity to the city. The impact is very visible, but as you will see in the some of the pictures of the wires, the forest has been largely undisturbed on the ravine side.
Power lines looking East
Power lines looking West
I had a great time on my trip to the Rouge and was very happy that the rain saw fit to hold out until much later that evening when I was already in bed, catching up on much needed sleep from the weekend.
Rouge Park is one of Toronto’s hidden treasures that lives on in the former City of Scarborough. If you’re ever looking for an afternoon of exploring, the Rouge is a great place to go and wander along its paths to do so. Here are just some other pictures I took while at the Rouge on Saturday.
Little Rouge
Little Rouge with Beare Hill to left
Little Rouge
Little Rouge
Maple Leaf
Very Cool Tree (B&W)
Very Cool Tree (Colour)
Tall Pines
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