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The Ontario Green Priorities coalition has created a set of principles that we believe are necessary for a successful and sustainable green energy transition in Ontario. This includes principles for transportation, the power sector, mining, and environmental justice. You can read the details here, Principles for a Green Transition.

Sixty-two Ontario groups, including the CEA wrote to the provincial government to reconsider their plan to eliminate the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS). The PPS has provided, at least, a modicum of balanced direction on land use planning in Ontario. Some of the proposed changes include: eliminating mandatory intensification and greenfield density targets designed to rein in urban sprawl. The provincial government is also planning to replace the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Read our submission.

In three postings to the Environmental Registry, the provincial government has proposed fundamentally flawed changes to the Environmental Assessment Act (EAA). The proposed changes lack supportive evidence and would undermine the public interest provisions of the Act. In response to these proposals the CEA along with other environmental organizations and First Nations collaborated through a submission coordinated by the Canadian Environmental Law Association. The submission also proposed fifteen improvements to the EAA. See the submission.

In a disappointing turn of events, City of Windsor administration has supported a new, dirty, gas-fired power plant proposed for east Windsor. City administration is proposing to, essentially, undermine previous municipal government commitments to climate action and support for a province-wide phaseout of gas-fired power. CEA has submitted comments to City Council objecting to this potential assault on climate action and municipal climate accountability. Read comments

Ontario's Bill 23 included a suite of changes to legislation, regulations and policies. One issue of significant importance are the changes to Ontario's Wetland Evaluation System (OWES). The proposed changes to OWES are misguided, despite the claim by the government that the changes are to support the construction of 1.5 million housing units over the next ten years. The CEA in conjunction with Ontario Nature and dozens of other Ontario groups wrote to the Ontario Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry to express our objections to the government's plans for the OWES. Read the letter.

Friends of Ojibway Prairie, Citizens Environment Alliance and other groups have cited four issues to implement and enhance proposed legislation to establish the Ojibway National Urban Park in Windsor. The groups provided a written submission to the parliament committee reviewing the proposed legislation.

Read the submission and media release.

2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) between Canada and the United States. In late 2021, individuals and groups, including the CEA, formed the Great Lakes Ecoregion Network (GLEN) to celebrate 50 years of GLWQA achievements, critique its limitations, and consider actions to safeguard the Great Lakes in the next 50 years. With this in mind, GLEN recently published the report The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement At Fifty.

Read the report Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Turns Fifty.

The CEA has a few recommendations about how to improve and sustain Ontario's ecosystems. In collaboration with other environmental groups, we forwarded a detailed survey, based on our recommendations, to the provincial parties. Find out how they responded, http://www.greenprosperity.ca/election/.

Each year, more than 4 million tonnes of plastic is produced in Canada, but less than 10% of it actually gets recycled. About 8,000 tonnes of plastic waste ends up in landfills, incinerators or the natural environment EVERY SINGLE DAY. Citizens Environment Alliance along with 48 other groups, are demanding that the federal government do more, faster, to achieve its commitment of Zero Plastic Waste by 2030. Read the call to action.

Given that the impetus to organize the Citizens Environment Alliance (CEA) was the result of hazardous spills into the Great Lakes in 1985, the CEA accepted an invitation to participate in a hazardous spills audit of the Ontario government performed by the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario this year. The report cites inadequate regulation of spills (thousands of spills occur on average per year in Ontario), a failure to provide the public with sufficient information in a timely manner and a failure to penalize polluters or even recoup costs of spill remediation. Ontario may not have learned much from the 1985 toxic blob spill into the St. Clair River. Read the report.

The CEA is concerned about the lack of a coordinated response by Canada and the U.S. to the contamination of the Great Lakes by per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) - the forever chemicals. In collaboration with 22 other groups, the CEA wrote to the Canadian and U.S. governments urging them to work together in developing a joint binational strategy to address these chemicals in the Great Lakes region. Read more...

The CEA joined with 28 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across Canada to request that the Canadian government address plastic pollution in Canada without further delay. Specifically, the NGOs asked that “plastic manufactured items” be listed in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act as toxic substances by the end of February 2021. Read the letter.