[All] Grand River Environmental Network Update

[strothjkl at sympatico.ca]

Sounds great Kevin- thanks to all who have been working away on this over the last 18-20 months since we last met.

 

Lori S>

 

From: All <all-bounces at gren.ca> On Behalf Of Kevin Thomason
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2021 11:18 PM
To: Grand River Environmental Network (GREN) <all at gren.ca>
Subject: [All] Grand River Environmental Network Update

 

Good Day GREN Members, 

 

Hopefully you have been making it through the pandemic okay.  While we haven’t been able to meet in person for well over a year and there hasn’t been as much activity on our mailing list as in the past, the GREN Executive has continued to work on a number of key issues.

 

As you may recall, just before the pandemic John Jackson announced that he was going to step down as GREN Chair after ten years though still stay involved in a Past President role on the Executive.  I have been continuing in my role as Vice-Chair, Greg Michalenko continues as Treasurer, and the two Susan’s - Susan Bryant and Susan Koswan have announced that they will share the roles of GREN Chair and Secretary in rotating positions.

 

The need for GREN is greater than ever as Premier Doug Ford continues his ongoing attacks on the environment, the climate crisis continues, and many important decisions will be made by local, regional, and provincial governments in the months ahead - in particular a new Waterloo Regional Official Plan for growth until 2051 and provincial Greenbelt expansion to the Paris-Galt Moraine.  Both of these are immediate land-use planning decisions that will set a course and have impacts for decades to come.

 

GREN had an opportunity to join with other Ontario Greenbelt Alliance member groups to apply for funding from the Greenbelt Foundation to help ensure that our community had the resources to tackle these important land-use decisions.  We were successful in obtaining some funding that will work in-conjunction with larger provincial groups providing materials and resources to regional groups such as GREN, that can then help other local groups within our area with educational materials, online media, host community events, etc.

 

While this sort of funding is new to GREN, hopefully in the months ahead GREN will be able to work with groups such as Hold The Line Waterloo Region, the Guelph Greenbelt West Coalition, Sustainable Brant, the Nith Valley Ecoboosters, and other community groups on these important land-use decisions to help with resources for the best possible outcomes.

 

Some funding will be used to update the GREN website and transition it to a more modern design and internet server architecture.  Website developer Scott Wicken hopes to have a new draft of the website available in the next few weeks.

 

There is a chance that a provincial Greenbelt expansion announcement inspired by Mike Schreiner’s Bill 74 - Paris/Galt Moraine Act - could happen in the next few weeks.  We will have to see just what is announced, how it fits with our existing local protections and respond accordingly.

 

There are also key aspects of the Waterloo Regional Official Plan that could be going to Regional Council for final decision in early November.  We will share anything that we are able to learn and hopefully Regional Staff will recommend a bold, visionary plan that will continue our environmental leadership and help ensure we meet our climate change goals for the years ahead.  Unfortunately, recent meetings with Regional Staff have not been encouraging and there could be considerable work to be done in very short timeframes to convince staff, elected officials, and the public of the need for more ambitious goals/planning.

 

Please share any questions or ideas and we’ll be in-touch soon as we learn more about these issues.

 

Cheers,

Kevin Thomason

Vice-Chair on behalf of the GREN Executive


-------------------------------------

Kevin Thomason

1115 Cedar Grove Road
Waterloo, Ontario Canada  N2J 3Z4

Phone: (519) 888-0519
Mobile Phone/WhatsApp: (519) 240-1648
Twitter: @kthomason
E-mail: <mailto:kevinthomason at mac.com>  kevinthomason at mac.com

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