Your future matters to us.
We understand Ontario’s environment, economy and your quality of life are all connected.
This year, with your help, I have pushed the politicians at Queen’s Park to act on issues like protecting our water, saving our farmland and combating climate change.
The recent federal election showed us that Canadians are tired of polarizing fear tactics. Your support will help us continue to be an outspoken and relevant voice in provincial politics.
We need your help to deliver our message through media, online and at the door.
Right now in Ontario, the government is giving our natural resources away and making it easier for corporations to exploit our environment.
But none of the parties at Queen’s Park are talking about it.
In 2013, behind closed doors, the Liberal government made it easier for companies to kill, harm or harass endangered species, like the woodland caribou, the barn swallow, snapping turtle and Jefferson salamander.
To make matters worse – government funding to protect land, water, and wildlife is lower than it’s been since 1992. That’s right. Despite increasing demands and threats to our environment and natural resources, there is less money available to protect them than there was 25 years ago.
Programs that protect your drinking water, help endangered species, preserve food and farmland, monitor our air quality, regulate industrial developments like pits, quarries and garbage dumps are deteriorating fast.
To add insult to injury, while protections for the places we love are being dismantled, corporations in Ontario profiting from our shared natural resources have the lowest resource royalty rates in Canada. That means we’re basically giving our natural resources away for free.
For example, a CBC report revealed that Ontario had received $226.00 to date in diamond royalties. You read that right. Two hundred twenty six dollars in diamond royalties. Not thousands. Not millions.
Two hundred dollars.
We’re also being short changed when it comes to water taking. Some industries are exempt entirely from paying for the water they use. The ones that do pay, pay too little. So little that it’s less than $10 to fill an Olympic size swimming pool.
Companies like De Beers and Nestle are profiting off of Ontario natural resources and paying a pittance. At the same time the government is de-funding ministries that are responsible for protecting our environment and managing our natural resources.
Once we deplete our natural resources, they’re gone forever. So why is the government letting companies drain them?
It’s time to reverse this. We must strengthen protections for our environment in Ontario.
This is why your support is so critical. To produce meaningful change at Queen’s Park, we need to engage Ontarians and build our networks.
With the help of supporters like you, the GPO has seen success when we mobilize. Together, we pushed the provincial government to provide funding of the Experimental Lakes Area and retain the scientific research taking place there. This year, we’ve seen action on protecting bees, liberalizing local beer and putting a price on carbon – all issues first championed by the GPO.
Help us keep up the pressure so that real change takes place.
The danger is that buzzwords and platitudes replace action.
For example, in the recent Simcoe North by-election, we challenged all the parties to permanently protect prime farmland. All the major parties agreed (yes, all of them!) that protecting farmland is important. But while they all say the right thing, our candidate Valerie Powell was the only one to sign the Food and Water First Pledge to protect prime farmland and source water regions. I’m the first and to date only party leader in Ontario to sign the pledge.
We can’t let the other parties get away with talking the talk but not walking the walk.
Help us urge the government to take action now to protect our environment and combat climate change.
Thank you for your continued support of the GPO. Together we’ve made positive change in Ontario, and will continue to push on the issues that matter to you. Please make a donation today and help us continue to advocate and create the change you want to see in Ontario.
Sincerely,
Mike Schreiner
Leader of the Green Party of Ontario