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5 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,A ugust 20,2020 theifp.ca Business Training for Creatives Tuesdays, online from 6 to 8 p.m. (Sept. 15 - Nov. 10, 2020) The Town of Halton Hills is bringing "Artrepreneur", a York Region Arts Council program, to your home with classes led by expert instructors in business planning, marketing, grant writing, financial planning and more! Artrepreneur is FREE for creative entrepreneurs in Halton Hills including artists, non-profit management, and cultural workers; a $100 deposit will be returned to participants upon completion of the program. For full details and to apply by Aug. 23 visit: artrepreneurprogram.com/haltonhills is already planning how to continue its activism ef- forts throughout these try- ing times. "It's a challenge to advo- cate for climate action dur- ing the pandemic, but it's increasingly obvious that the pandemic conditions are not going to simply dis- appear in a few months as we may have thought back in March when the lock- down started," said Halton Hills Councillor Jane Fo- gal, a founding member of the team. "At the same time, it's very clear that climate change is the bigger chal- lenge over the long term. There will be no vaccine for the climate crisis. It will take action at all levels of government to address it in order to have any success at avoiding complete catas- trophe." The local team is joining forces with other environ- mental groups across Hal- ton to take part in what's known as a global shoe strike on September 25 (fur- ther details to be an- nounced). To maintain so- cial distancing, the event will see dozens, hundreds or thousands of shoes lined up together in a large group to represent people at a ral- ly, signifying a message of unity calling for climate ac- tion. "This gives us an oppor- tunity to engage with the community once again and put the issue back on the front burner," noted Fogal. During the pandemic, supporters of the Halton Hills Climate Action Team have been writing letters to the provincial and federal governments, calling for economic recovery stimu- lus funding to be directed to green projects. Fogal said this will not only boost the economy, but also help transition away from fossil fuels. "We deluged Doug Ford and Justin Trudeau with letters," said local resident Janet Duval, who heads up the Climate Action Team alongside Fogal. "It's an op- portune time to rethink economic recovery and bring in a green recovery, which can be quite exciting and is worth doing." Fogal stressed that pri- ority should be given to electrifying the transporta- tion system -- something she said would be "an enor- mous win for the environ- ment." "We saw during the lock- down the difference dra- matically fewer cars on the road had on the air quality," she said. "We can achieve the same results by electri- fying the system and this can happen over a very short time, if properly in- centivized." She said the local team also believes the upper lev- els of government should use their power to enact regulations that will bring down greenhouse gas emis- sions, such as enhance- ments to the building code to make all structures more green. At the local level, Fogal said the Town of Halton Hills is working on a pro- gram where residents could borrow money for en- ergy-efficient retrofits for their homes, then pay the loan back over several years through property taxes. The initiative is ex- pected to launch via a pilot project in 2021. The Town is also looking at energy retrofits for mu- nicipal facilities, increasing its tree canopy and enhanc- ing natural lands that can act as carbon 'sinks,' mean- ing they absorb carbon di- oxide from the atmosphere. Globally, Duval said she would love to see leaders give climate change the same amount of attention as the pandemic. "Greta Thunberg said look at what the world was able to do in one month (when the pandemic began) in March. The whole world woke up and the leaders in- stantly produced great plans and threw money at everything," said Duval. "Climate change is an equal emergency." STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With a climate emergency being declared in Halton Hills and across the region last year, local residents are raising their voices to keep the issue front and centre during the pandemic. NEWS Continued from page 1 MORE REGULATIONS NEEDED, SAYS FOGAL Jane Fogal is a regional councillor for Wards 3 and 4 in the town of Halton Hills. She is passionate about recreation, sustainable development and environmentalism, as well as serving the town. Alexandra Heck/Metroland sleep dentistry available New Patients Welcome Family and Cosmetic Dentistry Marketplace dental Centre Georgetown Marketplace Mall 905-877-CARE (2273) • www.georgetowndental.com HOURS: Monday & Wednesday 8:00am - 8:00pm • Tuesday & Thursday 8:00am - 6:00pm • Saturday 8:00am - 3:00pm Proudly Serving Georgetown Since 1994.