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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, October 15, 2015 | 6 Putting climate change on federal election agenda by Julia Le Oakville Beaver Staff Spotlight "Connected to your Community" Climate change is the most urgent issue facing human beings today, says an Oakville citizens' group. "Unless we signi cantly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that we are releasing into the atmosphere, there will be an increasing number of hurricanes, oods, droughts, winter storms, and more, causing the destruction of crops, buildings, people's livelihoods and, indeed, lives," says the Oakville Climate Change Group. Its members, Mervyn Russell and Heather Allsop, sat down with the Oakville Beaver to say there simply isn't any time to waste in tackling the issue. "Oakville's Climate Change Primer, which has been put together by the Town of Oakville, has already measured an increase in temperature of 1.3 degrees (Celsius) from 1976 and 2006 right here in Oakville," said Allsop, an Oakville resident who is involved in the environmental education group Ontariogreen. "They're projecting a further increase of 2.6 degrees Celsius by 2050." Together with the other three core members of the group, Russell and Allsop said they have been actively working to make climate change a federal election issue -- at least in their own community. "The government, over the last 10 years, has not made the environment a priority, to say the least, and there is going to be a major international conference on the environment at the end of November and beginning of December seeking to establish an international agreement of CO2 (carbon dioxide) reductions," said Russell, an Oakville resident, who is involved in a number of environmental groups, including KAIROS and Halton Green Screens. He said he wants to see a government elected that will make a "positive, signi cant and accountable contribution" to the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Paris, France Nov.30-Dec.11. Oakville Climate Change Group, a member of the Halton Environmental Network (HEN), formed last year to bring climate change to the forefront during the election campaign period -- and bring their message to residents. Oakville Climate Change Group member Mervyn Russell and Heather Allsop are pictured with some of their climate change information material and two books on the subject outside the Halton Environment Network of ce at the Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre. The new group has been working to bring the issue to the federal election campaign. | photo by Graham Paine ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) It recently hosted a Climate Change concert at Church of the Incarnation in Glen Abbey. The event featured folk musician Chantelle Mishael, accompanist Charlene Pauls, folk singer Neil MacNaughton, The Burlington Slam Project and Russell, a classical tenor. Climate change was also discussed at Oakville Town Hall in the Oakville and Trafalgar rooms on Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m. Residents were invited to hear from Toronto Star columnist Stephen Scharper, who is also an associate professor of environment with the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, and Town of Oakville Environmental Policy Co-ordinator Trisha Henderson. During the campaign, Oakville Climate Change members and volunteers are taking their campaign to the streets, handing out lea ets to encourage residents to learn more about climate change. Allsop said the group is looking for a commitment from all candidates vying for an MP seat in the federal provincial ridings of Oakville and Oakville North--Burlington to make "real changes" in reducing Canada's carbon footprint on the environment. Noting the severity of extreme weather, as residents saw in the Toronto ood in 2013 and Burlington ood in 2014, she said it's a local, and global, issue. "Our local people and the federal government have a role in this. We need to be taking action," said Allsop. "We need to reduce our carbon dioxide production and methane production. We need to change the way we do things, not in 2050, but right now." The Oakville Beaver asked each of the nine federal candidates running in Oakville and Oakville North--Burlington ridings about the issue of climate change. Here's where the candidates stand: David Clement, Oakville North-- Burlington Libertarian candidate, said a Libertarian government would respect the provinces' climate initiatives, but wouldn't create a national plan to tackle climate change, even though it believes it "affects people and their ability to live prosperous lives." Instead, if Canadians have suffered as a result of pollution, they would be able to seek remediation in the judicial system, he said. "We wouldn't be interested in creating a national climate plan that is the same from coast to coast and that's because the needs of the industries and economies of different areas of the country are signi cantly different," he added, noting provincial rules and regulations would be more tailored to the needs of each community rather than a blanket policy. Clement added a Libertarian government would "take a step back and level the playing eld" by not subsidizing one industry over another. "Let entrepreneurs be innovators... let's treat the energy market fairly," he said. David Doel, Oakville Green Party candidate, said, if elected, the Green Party would partner with the provinces to "price carbon, defend our coastal waters from risky pipelines and oil tankers, arrest the growth in oil sands expansion, rapidly phase out coalred electricity, and transition to a prosperous, decarbonized economy" -- all with an end goal of eliminating fossil fuel by 2050. Adnan Shabaz, Green Party candidate for the Oakville North--Burlington riding, said he'd work with all levels of the government and eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and invest that money, about $1 billion, into green technology grants. "We also want to bring down the small business tax rate to nine per cent so small businesses, entrepreneurs and innovators can get a headstart," he said. Terence Young, Oakville Conservative incumbent, noted the Conservative government is already working with the provinces to develop signi cant national and accountable targets to reduce CO2 emissions and will continue to do so. see Federal on p.7 NEIL OLIVER Vice ­President and Group Publisher DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager Volume 53 | Number 82 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington (905) 845-3824 Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. 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