We are concerned with protecting our natural areas and wetlands. We monitor the activities of the Conservation Areas in the region, attending and reporting on their meetings. We have also created a series of webinars covering attacks on the climate and the environment and advocating for natural solutions to both damaging the climate and adapting to the changes.
Prompted by the Ford government’s decision to limit the power of Conservation Authorities and to move forward with destructive developments on protected lands, this action group aims to create a new vision for a democratic, participatory, and community-oriented system where regular citizens can have a say in what happens in their local environments.
It works with and supports a variety of local organizations across the province who are resisting this destruction and follows local and provincial news.
Current issues
Fight the sprawl
In the wake of the provincial government’s forced urban boundary expansions, the City has begun a public process on how to deal with rural lands that are being forcibly urbanized.
Hamilton 350 urges you to participate in this process and submit your comments to ensure the results are “equitable, climate resilient, and focused on creating great communities for people to live, work and play”.
We should treat this as a continuation of our efforts to minimize urban expansion, minimize destruction of farmland and natural features, and minimize climate change and urban sprawl, as well as maximizing resilience to climatic impacts. All of these objectives and more can be advanced within this process. And city council needs as much support and encouragement as possible to achieve them.
The value of and danger to wetlands
Wetlands—ranging from ponds and swamps to marshes, bogs and fens—take thousands of years to develop naturally. Their value to society includes their ability to remove pollutants and pathogens from water, their ability to absorb and store carbon, their sponge-like ability to soak up flood water, and their provision of a habitat for a vast diversity of species.
This value of wetlands was recognized by the Ontario and Federal governments in the 1980s as they jointly established the Ontario Wetland Evaluation System (OWES), presided over by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) in conjunction with the various conservation authorities.
Yet in its mind-boggling lack of wisdom and its short-sightedness, the Ford administration in Ontario started the process of gutting OWES and decimating Ontario’s wetlands the day after being re-elected in October 2022.