Common Ground | Terrain commun Strong Sustainable Communities

Ontario should have tough air pollution standards for the province.

Focusing on the cumulative effects of air pollution in a geographical region, rather than just focusing on an individual facility’s emissions is a good start but more needs to be done.

The provincial proposal is solely focused on benzene emissions in the Sarnia area and benzene and benzo[a]pyrene in areas around Hamilton. Benzene is known to cause... more »

As a person with a disability I applaud any initiatives that move towards the respect of and inclusion of people with disabilities into a diverse society. Research consistently shows, however, that many people with disabilities find community attitudes and prejudices to be unwelcoming, uninviting and often violent. I fear using the bus, or subway, for example because, though the accessible symbol tells me I'm welcome,... more »

GO Transit should implement a frequent, all-day, rail-based service that connects Kitchener GO in Waterloo Region to Guelph GO. This idea would enable connectivity between two rapidly growing regions, supporting job growth, sustainable development, and the movement of people.

This idea could be feasible based on the following:
- Metrolinx already owns the tracks between Kitchener and Guelph
- Stations already exist... more »

Give all of the revenue from the carbon fee back to households. 100% of the revenue from the carbon fee is held in a Carbon Fees Trust fund and returned directly to households as a monthly dividend. The vast majority of households will receive more than they will pay for increased energy costs. This feature will inject billions into the economy, protect family budgets, free households to make independent choices about... more »

The Ontario Liberals should commit to building at least 350,000 rental, social,
co-op, and owner-purchase homes "through partnerships" over 10 years to
deal with Ontario's growing housing crisis which is seeing even those individuals who are gainfully employed full time - unable to afford to rent - much less own a home in many parts of the province.

Increasing the supply of housing is the best way to make housing more... more »

Build Reliable, Viable and Durable Rapid Subway Transit System which connect all cities and important places within the GTA. The building project will start and complete within a specified period of time.
There is no doubt that this project brings number of positive things
1. Reduce the commute time (minimize wasting human productivite hours on the road traffic)
2. Reduce the Carbon emissions(exhaust gas)
3. Reduce... more »

The practice of collecting garbage and trucking it to land fill sites, shipping to other countries, dumping in the ocean, etc needs to be stopped. Incinerator’s are used in Europe for garbage and the energy collected is used. This works well and would work well in Canada. We have to start taking care of the earth, our children deserve this.

The goal of building strong sustainable communities applies strongly to our ultimate community anchor: our hospitals. Healthcare institutions are major employers. As patients, we use them when we are at our most vulnerable, so their location is a critical part of the planning process. We cannot afford to approve greenfield hospital infrastructure beyond established neighbourhoods.

Our communities are aging, and outside... more »

Climate Change is a real threat to the globe, in the present and progressively worsening unless we act. However, the popular approach, low-carbon based economy, proposed by the Paris Treaty is quite failing and falling short of the task at hand. An alternative approach based on Research and Development is far more effective with no side effects, to the contrary this approach is stimulating to the economy as it opens doors... more »

In 2010, Canada endorsed the United Nations target to protect at least 17 percent of the planet’s land and inland waters by 2020. This national commitment was then adopted in the Ontario Biodiversity Strategy (target 13).
Our governments have recently renewed their commitments to dramatically increase our protected areas network as part of the Pathway to Canada Target 1 initiative. We need to work together to make sure... more »

All-day, two-way GO service on the Milton Corridor is critical to the growth of Mississauga. Outside of the Lakeshore West GO corridor, the Milton Corridor is the busiest. Over 77,000 jobs are located along the corridor and a significant amount of Mississauga's residential population. The line has 6 stops in Mississauga, connecting downtown Toronto to Mississauga and beyond to Milton, one of the fastest growing communities... more »

The Ontario Energy Board’s off-peak (7pm-7am) time-of-use rate is currently 6.5 cents per kWh. However, it is well known that during overnight hours (11pm-7am), Ontario’s electricity supply is usually higher than its electricity demand. This results in shutting down or exporting our electricity at a financial loss, and this reduced revenue must be replaced by increased costs to taxpayers or ratepayers.

Therefore, the... more »

Toronto does not have enough parkland Downtown for a city of its size - unlike New York with Central Park, Vancouver with Stanley Park, Brooklyn with Prospect Park, San Francisco with Golden Gate Park, Montreal with Mount Royal, London with the royal parks or particularly Chicago with its incredible waterfront parks.

Toronto is talking about a 1.66 billion park over the railways - about $80 million per acre, and while... more »

Eliminating sources of emissions is the most effective way to mitigate and ultimately overcome global warming phenomenon. Mandating a zero-emission threshold for the province will help mobilize resources and focus attention of automakers and citizens on the importance of this step in our environmental pursuit. After all, we cannot a target that we can not see. Ten year window is a reasonable window of time to make the... more »

Thank you for taking the time to read about an economic model we refer to as “Community Economics”.

Community Enterprise Network Inc. proposes passage of a "Community Economy Act". This act supports a specific economic model or system whereby certain public sector production, resource extraction and regulated businesses are developed and owned by “communities” for the purpose of producing goods and services that benefit... more »