Archive for News

Salmon in the Don again

Yesterday, I went to the Port Lands Action Committee (PLAC) meeting at the Ralph Thornton CentreEd Chin was there, too.  It’s a bit of a misnomer, as no actions are ever taken, as far as I know.  In order to encourage the participation and input of industry and builders, organizer Dennis Findlay treats these meetings as information sessions.  It’s a great place to go to find out what’s being built and planned for the Portlands.     Read more »

First Green MP?

Yesterday, Garth Turner was kicked off the Conservative caucus the day before Prime Minister Harper revealed his plan for thinking about smog and global warming over the next 5 decades.  It is widely believed that Mr. Turner’s outspoken criticism of his own government’s lack of action on climate change had something to do with this.

Mr. Turner has been called “outspoken”, a “maverick” and “reactionary”.  He maintains a blog.

So, do we want this reactionary as a Green?  As far as I’m concerned, we can’t afford to be turning away any politicians who prioritize global warming.  As Elizabeth May points out in her blog, he states:

…climate change is a defining issue, and this is a landmark time for a generational government. Either we will rise to the challenge, or we will not.

Elizabeth May has said she’s ready to welcome him into the Green Party, and he says he’s ready to talk about it.  The story is widely reported:

So if anyone out there would like to see Mr. Turner become the first Green MP, contact him at garth@garth.ca and tell him so.

Jim Harris and Green Party of Canada blogs

If you’re interested in starting a blog, but don’t know how to start, the Green Party of Canada has just made it a little easier.  They have a new blogging resource for members at:

http://greenparty.ca/blog

Jim HarrisJim Harris, former GPC leader and one of our Toronto-Danforth members, just wrote to me earlier today (well, actually yesterday now, as the site was down so long it’s now the morning after) to announce the appearance of his blog there, which you can see at:

http://www.greenparty.ca/en/blog/358

Count on Jim to write well. I think his blog should be one to watch for, and I’ve linked our EDA blog to his.

I’ve looked the blog area of the GPC site over and there is room for improvement.  For one thing, there’s no link from the main site.  For another the “new members” listing isn’t a link, and it should be.  But it’s a start and will surely improve.  I’m looking forward to watching it grow.

Portlands Energy Centre deal signed

On Monday, the Portlands Energy Centre announced that they had signed a deal with the Province to begin construction of the 550 MW power plant.  Transcanada issued its own press release as well.  This was widely reported in the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Sun, the National Post and others.     Read more »

Flow batteries sold to firm Irish windfarm

I’d like to thank Steve Downie, Susan Crofts and Dave Toderick for alerting me to the Toronto Star article about the sale of Canadian flow batteries to an Irish wind-power developer to even out the variations in wind electricity generation.  This is exciting news, and supports what the Realistic Energy Plan for Toronto, which I coauthored, proposed.     Read more »