Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created even more instability around energy supply. Nuclear power has been hotly debated for decades.
Some see it as the only feasible way to shift from carbon; a goal linked directly to climate change mitigation, and the need to break the global dependence on bad actors like Russia. But the risks associated with nuclear power still loom like the radioactive clouds of past disasters.
The City of Toronto has adopted protocols to prevent conflicts between humans and foxes. These increasingly common interactions are the result of increased habitat loss, driving more and more animals out of the natural spaces where they thrive. Thanks to rescue operations many species threatened by human activity have been rehabilitated which helps maintain their population, but because of constant threats like habitat loss due to urban development, a multitude of species – at risk or not – are still in rapid decline.
Conservation experts and environmental advocates are manufacturing mini miracles across Ontario using small doses of funding doled out by the provincial government.
These projects create a bulwark against a biodiversity crisis that is threatening the vast majority of the world’s species with extinction. If elected officials decided to dedicate just a minuscule amount of increased annual funding to conservation efforts the outcomes could be remarkable.
The critically sensitive ecosystem we are all a part of has countless features that are all interdependent; if even one is affected, the entire system has the potential to collapse. Scientists have warned of what happens when one species goes extinct – human factors being the most prominent recent cause – and what this means for life as we know it. Thanks to rescue operations many species have been rehabilitated which helps maintain their population, but because of constant threats like habitat loss due to urban development, a multitude of species – at risk or not – are still in rapid decline.
An analysis by The Pointer of chloride concentrations in Peel waterways has uncovered a troubling reality. Many of the creeks, streams and rivers that flow through the region are starting to have more in common with a salt water ocean than a freshwater ecosystem.
This poses a serious threat to aquatic life in Peel, and with a new study showing these harms can be triggered at levels lower than what governments have deemed safe, it demands increased urgency from municipalities and provincial officials to find new solutions for winter safety.
Younger generations are spending more time indoors and many are plagued with worry about a future where the natural world has turned aggressive, morphed by the impacts of climate change.
The creation of new outdoor learning standards could be the antidote for this anxiety, and spark a passion for nature in countless young minds. It’s a mindset that will be incredibly valuable in future decision-makers as the world stares down our changing climate.
Data released by Statistics Canada has provided one of the most comprehensive looks to date of the incessant increase of online child exploitation in the country.
It sheds new light on who is being impacted the most, how police are handling the problem—and how so much more needs to be done to stop it.
The Region of Peel has purchased a rail corridor connecting Brampton and Orangeville with plans to convert it into a system of hiking trails.
While additional opportunities for residents to enjoy the outdoors are crucial for a growing population, the plan has created questions for transit advocates who claim the railway would be better utilized as a future transportation corridor.
Population numbers for the monarch butterfly have been dwindling for decades. A recent endangered designation by a global conservation union is the latest signal of the dire position this incredible butterfly finds itself in.
Many hope the decision will signal increased protection, but in Ontario, where the provincial government has been hostile to species at risk, there may be little help for this critical pollinator.
In car-dependent Peel, eliminating reliance on the personal automobile is a tough sell for those who get behind the wheel on a daily basis. But transitioning to a zero emission vehicle, one that still affords the freedoms of a gas-powered car without the climate-harming emissions, could be an option—if crucial barriers are removed.
A new Peel strategy looks to do just that, but with the constant flip-flopping from the PC government on its stance towards electric vehicles, Peel is left with little help to reach its goals.
Two youth climate activist groups in Peel are providing knowledge and community engagement on issues central to the environment.
Their collective action aims to inspire a stronger young adult voice in government, as too many veteran politicians continue to ignore the climate crisis.
Patrick Brown’s hiring of David Barrick as Brampton’s CAO was the first sign that things were not right at City Hall under the new mayor. Jason Tamming had already been recruited by Brown to head strategic communications. The former Niagara staffer had been investigated by Ontario’s Ombudsman, who found he behaved corruptly in a hiring scandal that Barrick was also implicated in. They were both fired from their roles there, before Brown brought them to Brampton. The moves sent up glaring red flags around the new mayor, as he unleashed his disturbing style of leadership, which places Brown’s political ambition, not the public he’s supposed to serve, at the centre of all decision making.
Between now and the fall municipal election, The Pointer is republishing articles that revealed Patrick Brown’s startling behaviour.
Peel will expand its urban boundary into 11,000 acres of prime farmland and greenspace, putting local food security at risk.
The loss of this valuable land comes at a time when food prices are at unprecedented levels while the demand for local-grown food is on the rise. More and more residents are looking for sustainable options to combat the climate crisis.
For years Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) has been marketed as the best practice for families with an autistic child, described as something “essential” to parents.
Against the well-connected establishment is a community of autistic individuals pushing back on the practice which has been dubbed “autistic conversion therapy.”
Two more senior staffers at the City of Brampton are no longer employed by the municipality, following sweeping changes promised by a majority group of councillors.
Tamming was the City’s director of corporate communications, culture and events. He had direct ties to recently fired CAO David Barrick and Mayor Brown. Both former employees were linked through the Ontario Ombudsman’s explosive Inside Job investigation into corrupt hiring practices at Niagara Region. Their involvement didn’t stop Brown from bringing them to City Hall.
The pace of growth and depletion of resources is unsustainable, destroying our environment in the process. Yet development has continued unabated and despite pledges to combat climate change from world leaders, carbon emissions continue to rise.
In the second of a 10-part series on the United Nations Decade of Restoration, The Pointer analyzes how we can invest in restoration efforts on the ground, and how preserving nature is a key solution in the fight to save our planet.
In a new series, The Pointer breaks down the 10 themes of the global movement launched by the United Nations—the Decade of Restoration—which hopes to reverse the trend of wide-scale degradation of our planet.
Part 1 looks at what is at stake over the next 10 years. How can a global movement that looks to preserve oceans, rainforests and coral reefs be relevant in Peel?
The man who runs City Hall’s public relations department, which is supposed to provide citizens with accurate and transparent information about operations that use their money, has instead tried to manipulate The Pointer, attempting to have false claims published about his involvement in a high-profile scandal that rocked Niagara Region.
The City of Brampton insists it utilized Feldman Daxon’s services since 2016, prior to Mayor Patrick Brown’s election. But the search firm responsible for recommending David Barrick for the City’s CAO role was first used for that type of hiring in 2019, after the mayor’s office contacted the company.
Top City of Brampton staff are following their playbook in Niagara, after they tried to whitewash a corruption investigation there that eventually blew up in their face.
After they were fired, Mayor Patrick Brown had them hired in Brampton and they are now doing the same around an investigation into sweeping allegations of corruption inside City Hall, painting a rosy picture and telling residents there is nothing to see.
The Pointer has obtained documents through a freedom of information investigation that show the City quietly awarded $218,000 worth of contracts, without council approval, to a man named Tony Quirk who worked closely with Brampton’s CAO, David Barrick, when they were part of a cabal of Conservative Niagara Region politicians embroiled in a series of controversies.
Mayor Patrick Brown, who oversaw the hiring of Barrick, has political ties to both men.
The hiring of the City’s chief administrative officer and director of strategic communications, two high-level positions filled after Patrick Brown became mayor in 2018, remains shrouded in secrecy.
The Ontario ombudsman found the winning candidates, prior to their arrival at Brampton City Hall, had been complicit in the fraudulent Niagara “Inside Job” scandal, meanwhile key questions around their hiring in Brampton shortly after remain unanswered.
A short-sighted and outdated pandemic recovery plan under Doug Ford could cause environmental damage for decades to come. A new report by Environmental Defence highlights Ontario’s broken climate promises, noting emissions rose in 2018 for the first time in years.
