Press Releases

Climate Action Muskoka Announces Endorsement of Green Party Candidate Matt Richter

CAM

Muskoka, Mon., February 10, 2025 — The grassroots community group Climate Action Muskoka (CAM) is pleased to announce its endorsement of Matt Richter of the Green Party of Ontario as its Parry Sound-Muskoka candidate in the upcoming provincial election.

Left to right, Len Ring, Sue McKenzie, GPO leader and Guelph, ON, MPP Mike Schreiner, GPO candidate for Parry Sound-Muskoka Matt Richter, Linda Ann Jewell and Linda Mathers at a recent climate strike in Bracebridge.

This is the first time since its formation in 2019 that CAM has endorsed a candidate.* We support Matt Richter for the following reasons: 

  • Matt has a long and strong track record as a community leader and climate activist.
  • Matt’s 5-point plan fights for the citizens of Parry Sound-Muskoka as well as our climate: supporting affordability, housing, healthcare, education, rural infrastructure and of course, the environment. 
  • The Green Party of Ontario has consistently demonstrated support for everyday Ontarians over cronyism and big business; tabling bills for affordable housing, Greenbelt protection, tenants’ rights, affordable electric vehicles, and for municipalities to charge gas companies for use of municipal property. 
  • Matt can win: Many of us have met Matt at our front doors. He is a well-known and respected Green candidate who in the 2022 election received more than 40% of the vote.

Meanwhile: The Ford government has since 2018 flouted accountability to Ontario’s citizens and demonstrated outright hostility to climate action; tearing out EV chargers, wind turbines and bike lanes and weakening environmental protections. They slashed firefighting budgets and attempted to pave over the Greenbelt.

Incumbent MPP and Minister of Natural Resources Graydon Smith has let us down locally by weakening wetland protection, promoting centralized government and undermining municipal autonomy (source). In its 2024 annual report, Ontario’s Auditor General called out the Ford government — and Smith’s Ministry of Natural Resources for violating Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights, providing insufficient consultation with the general public, conservation authorities and Indigenous communities and understating negative environmental impacts of its actions.

As deputy leader of the Green Party of Ontario, Matt Richter is a strong voice empowered to vote for local solutions that support us, our communities and our climate, including affordable and carbon-neutral housing, a decarbonized transportation sector and giving Ontario municipalities the tools they need to fulfill our commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030.

Climate Action Muskoka is an inclusive, non-partisan Muskoka-based group whose purpose is to collaborate with individuals, businesses, groups and all levels of government to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis. *Like other non-partisan groups and politicians—including some local politicians—in the runup to elections we can choose to endorse candidates on an ad hoc basis, reserving the right to endorse other candidates or refrain from endorsing in future.

Signed: Sue McKenzie and Len Ring, Gravenhurst | Lesley Hastie, Huntsville | Linda Mathers, Port Carling | Tamsen Tillson, Bracebridge | Madelaine Earl, Sprucedale on behalf of  Climate Action Muskoka

Oct 1’st, 2024 – Join Climate Action Muskoka on National Seniors Day for Climate.

CAM

Join Climate Action Muskoka on National Seniors Day for Climate, Huntsville Gathering, Oct. 1

Muskoka, September 24, 2024 — Seniors from every province in Canada are on the move, holding events in 70+ communities on the first-ever National Seniors Day for Climate on Tuesday, October 1. Climate Action Muskoka (CAM) is participating with its own event, called “Later is Too Late, so Let’s Get Started Now!” at River Mill Park in Huntsville from 11am to 1pm. Everyone is welcome. Bring some lunch and a chair.

“Climate heating caused by burning fossil fuels is the defining issue of our time.” says CAM member Sue McKenzie. “But there are healthy and beneficial solutions which need to be implemented immediately so that our kids and grandkids inherit a better world. To put the future into perspective, kids born today will live to see the 22nd century.”

This is a grassroots, dialogue-based gathering in which Muskoka seniors and others concerned about the growing incidence of unnatural climate-related disasters due to pollution will come together to talk and to listen; to share hopes and concerns, find out about solutions, and look for additional ways to work together.

The Muskoka event will spotlight the fact that affordable and healthy solutions exist and are being implemented by individuals, cities, and countries around the world — but not fast enough.

Canada’s 10 million seniors are one of the biggest voting blocks in Canada and are sending a message to all levels of government and to all political parties to act now to phase out the burning of fossil fuels and to speed up the transition to renewable power and clean energy.

This national event is organized by Seniors For Climate, a group sponsored by six seniors-led climate organizations — Suzuki Elders, Climate Action for Lifelong Learners (CALL), Grandmothers Act to Save the Planet (GASP), Climate Legacy, For Our Grandchildren (4RG) and Seniors for Climate Action Now! (SCAN!). 

For more information about the Muskoka event contact climateactionmuskoka@gmail.com. Website: climateactionmuskoka.org. To find other event locations go to this map.

Affordability and the Carbon Tax/Rebate CAM Open Letter to MP Aitchison and Minister Smith

CAM

Open Letter to MP Scott Aitchison and the Hon. Minister of Natural Resources, Graydon Smith

Subject: Affordability and the Carbon Tax/Rebate

Dear MP Aitchison and Minister Smith,

Both of you have stated that eliminating the carbon tax will increase affordability or reduce the cost burden on Canadians.  So, we decided to dig into these statements, and here is what we found.

Eliminating the carbon tax will also eliminate the carbon rebate.Currently Canadian households receive a tax rebate of anywhere from $760 to $1,800 per year, depending on which province they live in A couple in rural Ontario receives $1,008/year, which includes a 20% rural supplement, and a family of 4 receives $1344. 

1) Regarding the cost-of-living impact of a carbon tax

“The Bank of Canada has estimated that the carbon tax increases inflation by 0.15 per cent. Trevor Tombe, an economist at the University of Calgary who has studied the impact of the carbon price on consumer costs, points to Statistics Canada data that suggests its impact on food prices is less than one per cent.”  CBC News · Posted: Oct 07, 2023  https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carbon-tax-food-prices-wherry-analysis-1.6989547

So, a $300 grocery bill is now up less than­ $3 due to the carbon tax – the cost of a candy bar. 

And what about that $0.176 a liter on gas, what is that costing the average Canadian?  Well, at 20,000 km per year, a vehicle that burns 15 liters/100 km will pay $528 carbon tax a year or just over half what Ontarians receive in the rebate. The remaining dollars will cover any other expenses related to the carbon tax.

So NO, the elimination of the carbon tax will not increase affordability, but will in fact decrease affordability for a majority of Canadians.

2) The carbon tax may be a burden on those who burn a LOT of carbon/fossil fuels, by idling, by purchasing larger vehicles, by driving at higher speeds, or enjoying life in their boat or RV.  i.e. a cost burden for those who can afford it. 

It is not a burden on those who, due to financial limitations, can’t afford to burn fossil fuels or on those who choose to burn fewer fossil fuels through their life choices. 

In a way, the carbon tax/rebate system is a way of redistributing wealth, from those who can afford to burn, to those who cannot afford to burn. 

3) Does a carbon tax help fight climate breakdown?

Carbon pricing is about recognizing the cost of pollution and accounting for those costs in our daily decisions by choosing less carbon-intensive options. Anything that costs more, makes us think about ways to reduce those costs.

So, if fuel costs are higher, people are more likely to consolidate their trips into town, to purchase a smaller or more efficient gas vehicle, or to buy an electric vehicle and completely eliminate the gas tax on transportation. Any of these options reduce the carbon entering the atmosphere and heating the planet.

The government of Canada estimates that carbon pollution pricing will contribute as much as one-third of Canada’s emissions reductions in 2030. So definitely, the carbon tax/rebate system reduces carbon emissions and therefore helps reduce climate breakdown.

In short, if you are successful in eliminating the carbon tax, the truth is you will make life less affordable for the majority of Canadians.

Hopefully Canadians and Ontarians will remember this at the polls in the coming elections.

Sincerely,

Paul Kuebler, Port Sydney
Sue McKenzie, Gravenhurst
Len Ring, Gravenhurst
Linda Mathers, Port Carling
Lesley Hastie, Huntsville

On behalf of Climate Action Muskoka

CAM gives the District’s new Community Energy and Emissions Reduction Plan a mixed review

CAM

Climate Action Muskoka gives the District’s new Community Energy and Emissions Reduction Plan a mixed review

Grassroots climate group calls the plan ‘a good start,’ noting that much depends on implementation.

Muskoka, April 15, 2024 — Climate Action Muskoka (CAM) commends the District of Muskoka for its recently-released Community Energy and Emissions Reduction Plan (CEERP) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Muskoka.

“This is an important, ambitious, evidence-based plan, developed with broad community input,” say Linda Mathers and Tamsen Tillson, who represented CAM on the Climate Change Mitigation Task Force.

“As a framework, this is a good start. But we need to go further, faster. We need to see this implemented right away. We are counting on our District and municipal leaders to set specific targets and timelines and to allocate staff and source the funding necessary to achieve the climate goals we have committed to here.”

Based on a 2021 audit of the source of emissions, this plan outlines a vision for reductions and key actions required across the three areas that create the most emissions: transportation, buildings, and community systems. The District of Muskoka has committed to achieving a 50% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030—less than six years away—and net zero by 2050.

CAM is concerned that projected emissions reductions in CEERP are too reliant on the adoption of EVs by private citizens and the initiative and leadership of community groups, many of which are volunteer-run. The group calls on the District and municipal governments to set an example by implementing the climate actions in all three areas of the plan: transportation, buildings and community systems.

As the plan enters its implementation phase, CAM calls on the District and municipal governments to provide leadership as follows:

1.     A dedicated climate action department and sufficient staff to carry out the implementation requirements in the plan.

2.     Policy and regulations to meet the plan’s targets that are specific, measurable, costed and funded, with timelines and deadlines.

3.     Adequate funding and investment in climate-resilient infrastructure and community incentives. Every dollar invested today saves six dollars in the future, according to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

4.     Address the need to phase out ‘natural’ gas in Muskoka, plan for this transition with rebate incentives for residential heat pump uptake, and lead the way by retrofitting all municipal buildings with air source heat pumps.

We cannot afford for this plan to gather dust. With less than six years to cut emissions by 50% CAM calls on the District and municipal governments to move forward with the utmost urgency and looks forward to working with elected representatives and staff on next steps.

Climate Action Muskoka is an inclusive, non-partisan Muskoka-based group formed in 2019 whose mission is to collaborate with individuals, businesses, groups and all levels of government to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis.

-30 –

Huntsville General Committee meeting – February 28

CAM

Climate Action Muskoka (CAM) delegated to the Huntsville councillors Wednesday to express community support for real climate action that will drive down fossil fuel pollution. Having been invited to delegate, CAM reviewed why escalating climate impacts require urgent action. 

CAM also presented results from two climate surveys – one carried out by the District of Muskoka and the other an International Gallop Poll (see above) – that show citizens are demanding that their governments act to lower climate-heating greenhouse gas emissions and, surprisingly, that they are willing to pay more taxes and even to contribute personal income to get the task done!

Thank you to the 50+ community members who came out to support our delegation.

Climate Groups Decry Move to Override Climate Positive Ontario Energy Board Decision

CAM

The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) has ended the subsidy for methane gas pipelines in new residential developments. The OEB is an arms length body that protects customers from utility price gouging. Minister of Energy Todd Smith says he will override this decision through legislation. 16 Climate groups, including Climate Action Muskoka, have responded to this threat to arbitrarily overturn a win-win-win situation for new homebuyers, for existing gas customers, and for reducing carbon pollution.  Read the detailed letter to Energy Minister Todd Smith.

Letter to Minister Smith – v2.docx (climateactionmuskoka.org)

CAM to District Council! Set up a Climate Change Reserve Fund and Hire Staff to Implement the Upcoming Community GHG Reduction Plan.

CAM

Open letter to Muskoka District Council

Good morning, Chair Lehmann, Mayors and members of Muskoka District Council,

Pursuant to the discussion that took place at the December 7, 2023 Committee of the Whole on the 2024 District Budget with respect to climate change, we would like to highlight the results of the District’s own recent GHG Public Survey (2023) on climate action and climate spending (see stats below). During the discussion, councillors made multiple comments suggesting that it is the community that needs to lead with respect to climate action. We disagree.

Results of the survey clearly indicate that the public wants and expects you, our elected leaders, to act on climate to increase our local ambition in “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner” as agreed to today by nearly 200 countries at COP28 in Dubai.

The results of last summer’s survey indicate that a significant majority of the Muskoka citizenry is not only ready to spend their own money on climate initiatives, but also wants to see local governments spend more on climate initiatives in line with holding global heating to no more than 1.5C. We need to see Muskoka District Council “Tackling the Change”. Once again Climate Action Muskoka requests that you: 

  • set up a specific Climate Change Reserve Fund in the 2024 Budget as called for in A New Leaf: Muskoka’s Climate Strategy initiative from 2020
  • fund the hiring of one, better two, full-time staff who have climate experience and training to support the Climate Initiatives Coordinator in rolling out the upcoming District community GHG reduction plan promised for early 2024

Results of Muskoka’s Public Greenhouse Gas survey Summer, 2023:

  • 368 surveys completed
  • 68% of participants are extremely concerned about climate change in Muskoka in the future.
  • 85% of participants think it is important for the Muskoka community to act on climate change
  • 85% of participants are willing to spend their money on a climate change related initiative
  • ***65% of participants think that local governments should be spending more taxpayer money on initiatives related to climate change***

Video: GHG Public Survey – The Results Are In! | Muskoka Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Initiative | Engage Muskoka

Regards,

Sue McKenzie, Gravenhurst
Len Ring, Gravenhurst
Tamsen Tillson, Bracebridge
Linda Mathers, Port Carling
Lesley Hastie, Huntsville
On behalf of Climate Action Muskoka

Dec 18, 2023 – Update


The following resolution was passed by District Council

Muskoka District Council
December 18, 2023

Moved by: P. Johnston

Seconded by: P. Koetsier

THAT a ‘Climate Change Reserve Fund’ be established;

AND THAT a one-time allocation of $1,000,000 be transferred from the ‘Environmental Reserve Fund’ to the newly established ‘Climate Change Reserve Fund’;

AND THAT staff report back regarding how to finance annual contributions to the ‘Climate Change Reserve Fund’;

AND THAT additional resources be considered to support the New Leaf Climate Action Plan, the Muskoka Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Initiatives, and other Climate related initiatives.

Global March to End Fossil Fuels — Sept. 17, 2023

CAM
Text: Join the Global March to End Fossil Fuels

Climate Action Muskoka, Climate Action Parry Sound and Almaguin Climate Action invite you to join us in Huntsville on Sunday, September 17 at 1:30 pm for a Global March to End Fossil Fuels. We will meet at Flag Park (West Rd., & Centre. St. N.) and together we will march down to River Mill Park. There will be group chants before we set out and some brief speeches at River Mill Park. Bring your End Fossil Fuels signage.

Why Now?

This is part of a global call to action involving thousands of climate action groups worldwide demanding an end to our heavy reliance on fossil fuels. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is hosting a global Climate Ambition Summit in New York City in September in which the “ticket to entry” is tangible action to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Thousands of climate groups worldwide are planning climate strikes on Sept. 15 and marches to end fossil fuels on Sept. 17, including a mass demonstration — March to End Fossil Fuels in New York.

Our Huntsville action is in solidarity with 350.0rg | Fridays for Future | Fight Fossil Fuels | David Suzuki Foundation | Climate Action Network and many more!


Update: September 19

Climate Action Muskoka, Climate Action Parry Sound, Almaguin Climate Action and more than 75 supporters met in the pouring rain at the Flag Park in Huntsville and together marched to River Mill Park on Sunday.

We chanted, we marched, we exchanged ideas, and we, voters and constituents, signed open letters to MP Scott Aitchison and MPP Graydon Smith calling for no new fossil fuel projects, a halt to continued gas expansion in Huntsville, Burk’s Falls and other Ontario communities, investment in community-owned renewables and holding polluters responsible for harms caused to communities.

Thank you to the organizers, and to all of you who came out. This is important work!

Flag Park – photo: Ian Hastie
On the March – photo Tamsen Tillson
River Mill Park – photo: Len Ring

Shame on you MP Scott Aitchison!

CAM

Muskoka – MP Scott Aitchison needs to set the record straight. Our MP has reported in some publications and on social media what is either misinformation from his staff or a deliberate misrepresentation of what occurred on June 28th.  

Constituents representing two climate groups in his riding, Climate Action Muskoka (CAM) and Almaguin Climate Action (ACA), were taking part in the nationwide call by 350.org Canada to all federal MP’s to take climate action. Aitchison reported that the climate activists threatened his staff. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Here is what actually happened in Huntsville at Aitchison’s constituency office that day. Fifteen local representatives were invited into the MP’s office by his staff and, in his absence, delivered a letter with a call to action. “We are here to call on our MP Scott Aitchison to work with MPs from all parties to call on the Federal Government to immediately end subsidies to fossil fuel companies, cap emissions from oil and gas, and lead a just transition to a clean green economy,” said spokesperson Linda Mathers.

One of Aitchison’s constituents, a grandfather of newborn twins, became emotional. He pleaded his belief that the consequences of inaction to the climate crisis will be dire for everyone on the planet. While gesturing to the room, he said that his grandchildren will die; we are all going to die; you’re going to die.

What this passionate and outspoken climate advocate was calling out was the existential threat to us all. He was not threatening anyone, let alone Aitchison’s staff. To all present, it was clear that this was a grandfather trying to find the right words to talk about an issue he cares deeply about.

Aitchison’s decision to publicly lash out at the group implying that this was a death threat to his staff and calling the group extremists is a shameful misrepresentation of the truth. It is an attempt to discredit our groups and to deflect attention from the real issue, the lack of political will to forge a pathway to real climate action.

CAM and ACA have built relationships and worked collaboratively with all levels of government to push for climate policies; we have worked with other climate groups to educate the public on climate threats and real solutions; we continue to host weekly climate strikes in several communities to raise public awareness of the need for climate action. If Scott Aitchison were more interested in collaborating to find solutions to a climate crisis that he acknowledges is real, he would visit a weekly climate strike and see that our organizations are far from extreme.

Aitchison is right on one count. We can’t let extremes win. If we let the extremes of climate heating win, the Earth becomes uninhabitable. The matter is urgent and the matter is important – in the extreme. 

For the record, the climate groups have twice requested, in writing, a meeting with Aitchison to discuss the issues, both on the day of the visit, June 28, and a week later in a second letter hand-delivered to his staff. There has been no acknowledgement from Aitchison to date. We await confirmation of a meeting with him in which we will continue our call for real, collaborative climate action.

JUNE 28 NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION – CANADA IS BURNING!

CAM

Our MP needs to hear from you! Join us this Wednesday.

HUNTSVILLE: 11 am at MP Scott Aitchison’s office, 1-15 Northland Lane, beside Alban printing and Bowman’s Fuel. (isn’t that ironic?)  contact: chrlauffer@outlook.com

PARRY SOUND: 11:30am James/Mary St. Intersection

Bring gas or face masks, signs, and friends as we push our representative to muster up the courage to combat the climate crisis. There are record-breaking wildfires burning from coast-to-coast. We know why those fires are raging and the air is unbreathable. It’s time for our federal leaders to stop fuelling the flames of climate chaos with fossil fuel subsidies. 

Almaguin Climate Action (ACA), Climate Action Parry Sound (CAPS) and Climate Action Muskoka (CAM) are demanding: 

  • An immediate end to subsidies, hard caps for oil and gas emissions, no new projects, and no more industry influence over our politics. 
  • Enact a Just Transition: Urgently shift us to 100% renewable energy while generating millions of unionized jobs, following Indigenous leadership, and rapidly decarbonizing in line with climate science.