In a new blog post for the Pembina Institute, Travis and Pembina’s Ontario Policy Director Cherise Burda take a closer look at the development charge and its potential to fund transit and improve urban planning in the City of Toronto. The development charge, as currently implemented in most Ontario municipalities, is crudely designed. There is a strong chance that it ... Read More »
On March 21st, 2013 the federal government released its eighth budget. This budget includes investment in Canada’s crumbling infrastructure, but does not launch new measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or support a world-class clean tech sector. It overhauls the government’s development and trade departments, which could result in changes to Canada’s international climate change adaptation contributions. Lately the government’s ... Read More »
Ontario is making history: as part of the largest climate change initiative in North America, the province announced the early closure of its two largest Southern Ontario coal plants by the end of 2013, a year ahead of schedule. With the closure of the Nanticoke and Lambton plants, 17 of the provinces 19 coal units will be closed, keeping Ontario ... Read More »
On January 28, 2013, Travis moderated a discussion between George Smitherman and Peter Tabuns on energy policy in Ontario. The panel discussion was hosted by the Climate Change Lawyers Network on Monday evening at WeirFoulds LLP. Saba Ahmad has a great article on her website. A big thanks to WeirFoulds LLP for the generous hosting. One excerpt from Saba’s article: The ... Read More »
The global market for low carbon goods and services (LCGS) could grow from $339 billion (2010) to between $3.9 and $8.3 trillion per year by 2050, according to a new report released by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRT). Framing the Future: Embracing the Low-Carbon Economy – considers how Canada needs to position itself with ... Read More »
A memo and powerpoint presentation sent to Canadian environment minister Peter Kent from Environment Canada dated March 5, 2012 contain a very interesting summary of climate change impacts in Canada. The memo states “In external discussions and speeches regarding the government of Canada’s action on climate change, it may be useful to present concrete examples of climate-change impacts occurring in ... Read More »
On Tuesday October 16, 2012 from 8:15-10:00 a.m., SPRiNG Dialogues will be discussing public companies’ disclosure of material environmental risk in Toronto. Travis will be serving as a featured expert. Event summary: Canada’s public companies now have clear guidance that they must disclose material environmental risks and opportunities to their investors. Companies also need to be careful that statements in ... Read More »
A recent decision by Vancity Investment Managements Ltd. to remove Enbridge from two SRI funds and employee pension plans suggests a growing concern over the financial influence of environmental risks. The decision to withdraw came as a result of alarm over Enbridge’s operational management and performance after a series of incidents called into question the safety of the company’s pipelines. ... Read More »
Development charges can have an important impact on the way we build our communities, the amount of time people spend in cars and the environment. A recent article in the Hamilton Spectator by Emma Reilly looked at development charges in the City of Hamilton. Ms. Reilly interviewed Travis for the article following the release of the Live Where You Go report, written ... Read More »
Article by Jessica Vaianisi, Summer Law Student Canada’s action on climate change, both domestically and internationally, has been largely criticized. Despite its formal withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol in 2011, Canada has stated that it recognizes that “climate change is a global challenge requiring a global solution.”[1] However, Canada’s presence in recent international conferences has attempted to reiterate their ... Read More »