Say 'no' to short-sighted development, dismantling protections, false solutions

Over 75% of Canadians are concerned about climate impacts on safety, food prices, taxes, and insurance

When we first started this column, we stated climate change is scary; extreme weather comes to mind for most people, especially this summer, with wildfire pollution and floodwater. You can’t turn on the media without the latest disaster.

What we don’t think about as much is the interconnectedness of biodiversity, water systems, and greenspaces with climate change, and we should. We’re now in a catch-22, and unless we interrupt this vicious cycle, the chaos will keep escalating.

Our oceans, lakes and waterways, meadows, wetlands, peatlands and mature forests quietly and consistently absorb Earth’s greenhouse gases. This system worked until industrialization triggered fuel-hungry growth that outpaced what nature could handle. Now, emissions accumulate faster than ecosystems can absorb them, warming oceans and land, intensifying weather patterns, and disrupting life support systems.

Sudden tropical-style downpours no longer soak into soil like they used to. The ground becomes so dry and compacted it repels water, triggering flash floods like in Toronto and Montreal last year.

At the same time, vegetation dries out faster and becomes tinder as temperatures soar. Already in 2025, Canada is experiencing its second-worst wildfire year on record. In Manitoba, over 12,000 people have been evacuated. Nova Scotia has been hit by both fire and floods. Sandy Lake First Nation in Northern Ontario had to be evacuated by air. Southern Ontario has endured multiple air quality advisories. Yet, Premier Ford continues to cut over $40 million from wildfire emergency services in 2025.

Nationwide, over 7.8 million acres have burned, equivalent to 3.5 million soccer fields or eight times the size of Toronto.

Now imagine ecosystems washed away, burned, contaminated, and further weakened as protected greenspaces are lost to development. Fire is part of natural renewal, but recovery can’t keep pace with this new frequency. Over 100 native species have already disappeared in Canada, and many others that had begun to recover in Ontario are now precariously vulnerable under Bill 5.

Why is Doug Ford willing to sell off a third of Wasaga provincial park to developers? Every ecological loss weakens our planet’s ability to store carbon. The cycle intensifies. This is scary stuff but there’s no hiding from it anymore.

According to the Stockholm Resilience Centre, we’ve now surpassed the seventh planetary boundary for Earth’s health. Driven by emissions, ocean acidification now undermines marine food webs, carbon cycles, and climate regulation. The first sign was widespread coral reef destruction. What was once a warning for future generations is happening now.

In fact, what the Paris Agreement aimed to prevent by 2100 may arrive in just five years unless emissions are rapidly curbed. That means drastically reducing both CO₂ and methane, with the most impactful step being a full phase-out of fossil fuels.

So, is this finally enough to start taking more serious action? One person it seems can trigger economic upheaval but wildfires, floods, food insecurity, and deadly heat and pollution still don’t shift political priorities? The solutions do exist. Climate action is economic stability. Climate action is cost-of-living stability.

For many, the reckoning has begun. Over 75% of Canadians are concerned about climate impacts on safety, food prices, taxes, and insurance. Insurance rates are a new climate barometer, and they’re rising. Why aren’t climate priorities aligned with national economic goals, Ontario’s infrastructure, and youth well-being?

In Ontario, we are on track to miss our climate targets. Greenspaces and ecosystems, including the Greenbelt, face weakened protections now reliant on diluted federal laws. Renewable energy is sidelined in favour of gas-fired power, while Ontario bets on unproven, U.S.-developed nuclear technology still a decade away — even as the premier pushes a fossil fuel pipeline to avoid relying on the very country we're depending on for nuclear.

Transit projects have been cut, with millions being spent to remove Toronto bike lanes while highways are fast-tracked through protected lands. Municipalities still reel from Bills 5, 17 and ​​23 , which limit their power to uphold energy saving standards, greenspace protections, and sustainable planning.

Federally, it remains to be seen. Hopes for a climate-economy approach turn to skepticism. For some, the politics of power seems to be blocking meaningful action. ‘Climate’ is a dirty word and plans, if they exist, remain vague or insufficient. The next three years are critical for meeting Canada’s climate commitments and safeguarding our health.

Do we brace for more danger and rising costs or push politicians by becoming a greater collective that drives bottom-up change through local choices? We can, through purchasing power and our voice in community planning and energy choices.

Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora advocates at local councils to phase out fossil fuel use, and to raise concerns about damaging provincial legislation. Repeal petitions are circulating on the latter, and a constitutional challenge is underway by First Nations.

Take action letters to protect ecosystems and carbon sinks like for Ontario proposals to remove ‘protected’ lands from Wasaga, French River and Grundy Lake provincial parks are on our website. Calls, emails to officials, and community conversations do matter and so will 2026 municipal elections, where residents can vote for councils that prioritize climate alongside infrastructure and housing needs. Our power is part of that politics.

That’s the power of yes: protecting youth, safer communities, clean air and water, and long-term prosperity. But “yes” also means saying “no” to short-sighted development, dismantling protections, false solutions, and silence. Sometimes, saying yes to a livable future requires a firm no right now. Just like the ‘elbows up’ against the imposed tariffs while we get our collective economic act together, we must expect the same in our existential fight on climate change.

“Wait and see” is no longer safe or acceptable. We still have a small window to act reasonably, ambitiously, and urgently even if some try to legislate denial or threaten to walk away from Confederation.

Read this article on Newmarket Today.