What’s With The Weather?

A Message to Niagara At Large readers from Ontario Environment Minister and St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley

(A brief foreward from  NAL publisher Doug Draper – For people like me who have been following environmental issues for many years, this message from Jim Bradley may hardly begin to answer the need for governments at all levels, and the communities of people they represent to take the human causes of climate change seriously enough to move foreward with real action.

Ontario Environment Minister and St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley talks climate change.

But let’s give Jim Bradley credit for this. No other Ontario environment minister before him has gone this far in accepting climate change and our collective complicity in fueling the devastating weather-related events that arise from it as a fact. And we have yet to see any sincere effort to address this issue at the federal government level. 

So should Bradley and his government be doing more? Damn right they should. And it is up to the rest of us to put more pressure on Bradley and his government, and on governments across this country to do more. As Bradley says in the final line of his message, we have to tackle this – what many scientists are now saying is the most serious environmental threat we face in the 21^st century – together.)

Here in Ontario, we know that climate change is a significant issue. We vividly remember the recent flood in Toronto and watched in sympathy as our friends in Calgary suffered from a devastating flood. It’s clear that weather patterns are changing and that storms are getting stronger and more frequent.

The effects of climate change can bring incredible damage to our homes, our property, and the infrastructure we rely on, with very real costs to the people of this province. That’s why we are taking action within all ministries to prepare our province for what lies ahead.

One of the most significant ways that we have fought back against the effects of climate change is through increased support for public transportation, spending approximately $13 billion on public transit since we took office. Through investment in public transit, we are addressing the environmental challenges we face today and helping to protect our environment for the next generation.

Our investments in public transit are just one part of a government wide focus on making Ontario a safe and healthy place to raise your family. We have invested in green energy technology, increased energy conservation efforts across the province, and protected millions of acres of green space so that we can enjoy it for years to come. Last year, Ontario was even named Canada’s greenest province in the Green Provincial Report Card published by the Corporate Knights.

Together, let’s continue protecting our province now and for the future.

Jim Bradley
MPP, St. Catharines

(Niagara At Large encourages reader responses to posts on this site. Only comments that nclude the real first and last name of the commentor are posted on this site.)