Success stories
A brief history of Climate Action Newmarket/Aurora
Climate-Action Newmarket-Aurora is a thriving environmental group that began under the name Drawdown Newmarket-Aurora. Our aim: to educate the public and support the solutions-based actions presented in the books Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming edited by Paul Hawken (2017). We changed our group’s name from Drawdown Newmarket-Aurora to Climate-Action Newmarket-Aurora (CANA) in November 2022, so that our name more clearly stated our purpose.
Currently we are inspired by the book Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation by Paul Hawken (2021).
We began as a tiny grassroots movement by hosting an open event at Newmarket Public Library on March 12, 2019 where we invited people to discuss how we can act on Climate Change, the result of Global Warming. Those interested subsequently continued to meet as a small group and we called ourselves Drawdown Newmarket-Aurora.
We were supported in our initial efforts by Drawdown Richmond Hill, and we continue to work cooperatively with other Drawdown groups (Toronto, B.C.) and a variety of similarly-focused environmental organizations.
At monthly meetings, our members share information and decide on actions we will pursue. These actions include non-partisan political activism by writing to, and meeting with, our government representatives, Letters to the Ed to various publications such as The Toronto Star, NewmarketToday, and The Era, making deputations to our municipal councils, creating and distributing lawn signs calling for public action on Climate Change, hosting "Tent Events" that offer information to the public, etc.
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Some of our main success stories are:
Celebrate and Protect the Greenbelt Town Hall
A town hall that celebrated the protection of Ontario’s Greenbelt
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A host of dynamic speakers came together to discuss how the permanent protection of Ontario's Greenbelt is essential for climate resilient communities and a thriving local economy.
Hosted by: Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora and KAIROS.
Climate Emergency Declarations:
3 successful deputations outlining the climate crisis
were made to municipal councils asking their council to declare a Climate Emergency. A group from Drawdown Newmarket-Aurora and presented by Debbie Fletcher-Queen, made separate deputations to each of 3 municipal councils that led to motions immediately being passed for a Climate Emergency Declaration in: King County in 2019, Aurora in 2019, Newmarket in 2020.
Green New Deal Town Hall
In cooperation with Leadnow, Drawdown Newmarket-Aurora held a Green New Deal Town Hall on May 15, 2019. Over 100 people attended and participated in brain-storming activities and information sharing. Our membership grew
All-Candidates Town Hall
All-Candidates Town Hall September 26, 2019: during the federal election cycle, we invited candidates to participate in a town hall to present their platforms, take questions and share in discussions with the public. Over 120 people attended. Our membership grew more
Meeting with politicians
Regular and ongoing in-person and zoom meetings with municipal, provincial and federal politicians: to advocate for climate action, sometimes working
in cooperation with other environmental organizations (A few examples include Environmental
Defence, Climate Action Alliance, Drawdown Toronto, Drawdown Richmond Hill and Drawdown
B.C., ECO Caledon, The Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition)
Melanie Issett: Deputations made to Newmarket council
(May 3 rd , 2021) Purpose of Deputation to Review Progress on Town of Newmarket’s Climate Emergency Declaration 2. (January 2021 and September 2021) Melanie Issett on behalf of Drawdown Newmarket-Aurora presented deputations outlining the need to protect existing intact ecosystems.
Shining Hill Deputations
(Nov 15, 2021): working in cooperation with Newmarket Town Council, Drawdown Newmarket-Aurora members Walter Bauer, Peggy Stevens and Dave Kempton presented a 3- part deputation to municipal council focused on reducing carbon emissions in the Shining Hill application for a development on environmentally protected land.
Supplied photo/Town of Newmarket
Refrigerant Inventory
(November 2021): Working in conjunction with Drawdown Toronto, BC Drawdown and EIA to join forces with the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), members of Drawdown Newmarket-Aurora played the role of “sleuths” to inspect refrigeration
labels and report to EIA on refrigerants used in supermarkets. We are currently working with
guidance from EIA to monitor refrigerants used in proposed ice rinks. (For an explanation of this project listen to CBC’s What on Earth, January 29, 2023 episode entitled “Sleuthing for greenhouse gases at grocery stores).
Embodied Carbon
(April 2022) Drawdown Newmarket-Aurora member Pamela Vega presented a report on Embodied Carbon to Newmarket Town Council (see Resource Section).
Lawn signs
(2022): 300 signs that were designed to draw attention to the climate crisis, were distributed to individuals throughout the communities of Aurora and Newmarket.
Tent events
Drawdown Newmarket-Aurora set up visually-compelling Climate Change information tents in several public arenas to educate the public about the urgency of climate action and also to offer hope. We held information tents at Maple Leaf Public School
Community Fair, Love Local Home Show, and monthly at the Aurora Farmer's Market during the
spring, summer and fall of 2022.
Letters to the Editor
written by Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora members are regularly printed in media sites such as The Toronto Star and NewmarketToday. We have also conducted numerous interviews with reporters and our comments/concerns are often quoted on media
sites and newspapers.
Outreach and cooperative action
CANA supports various environmental groups in
their initiatives and joins them in protest activities that have an environmental focus.
Queen's Jubilee Award
presented to Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora for
environmental advocacy in the community.
