{"id":528159,"date":"2022-12-16T17:16:56","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T14:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/why-im-suing-the-ontario-government-over-its-climate-change-inaction\/"},"modified":"2022-12-16T17:16:56","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T14:16:56","slug":"why-im-suing-the-ontario-government-over-its-climate-change-inaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-im-suing-the-ontario-government-over-its-climate-change-inaction\/","title":{"rendered":"#Why I\u2019m suing the Ontario government over its climate change inaction"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dd94acfab1\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dd94acfab1\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-im-suing-the-ontario-government-over-its-climate-change-inaction\/#%E2%80%9CWhy_Im_suing_the_Ontario_government_over_its_climate_change_inaction%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Why I\u2019m suing the Ontario government over its climate change inaction&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CWhy_Im_suing_the_Ontario_government_over_its_climate_change_inaction%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Why I\u2019m suing the Ontario government over its climate change inaction&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n                            I saw the effects of climate change firsthand at home in northern Ontario. Now, at 15, I\u2019m suing the government for not doing enough to stop it.\n                        <\/div>\n<div>\n                                                                        <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My family always talked about climate change at the dinner table. My mom worked as a lobbyist for the Citizens\u2019 Climate Lobby, and when I was around seven years old, I asked if I could tag along with her around Parliament. Watching her advocate for progress, I realized that climate change wasn\u2019t just a dinner table discussion. It wasn\u2019t just my mom\u2019s job. It was a real issue that is affecting me, and I saw that if we work together, we can protect our future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In northern Ontario, I live near a forest. When I was younger, I used to be able to go out and pick blueberries every summer. That\u2019s rare now, because climate change shortened our blueberry season significantly. The changing weather also affected my family a couple of years ago during the winter. With unusual fluctuations in winter temperatures, multiple layers of ice and snow built up on our roof. The weight of this build-up was so heavy, hired contractors couldn\u2019t even shovel it off. Our roof was at risk of collapsing, and the city of Sudbury gave my family one hour to evacuate our house. Our insurance company set us up at the Homewood Suites that night, where we stayed for six months. But a hotel can never feel like home. I was grateful we had somewhere to stay, but I missed the forest by my house, my friends in the neighbourhood, our home-cooked meals and dinner table discussions.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-sizes=\"auto\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1242629 lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Edge-Imaging-Digital-Download-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"766\" height=\"431\"\/><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We found out that our roof beams had sn<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ed under the weight of the snow and ice. Eventually, the roof would have completely caved into our bedrooms, and the walls of our house would have collapsed outwards. During the reconstruction process, the roof was installed by a crane, and everything on the second floor had to be redone, including the floor, the bathrooms and the stairs. It was haunting to visit my home and see a \u201ccondemned\u201d sticker on the door. But, I also know that there are so many people around the world who feel even stronger effects of climate change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As I became more involved in climate activism, I started going to rallies. My first memory of one was the 2014 People\u2019s Climate March in New York, when I was seven years old. I\u2019ve gone to more since; in 2018, I was struck by Greta Thunberg, who said, \u201cWhy should we study for a future that is being taken away from us?\u201d I started striking on Fridays and amplifying my message that we need to listen to the experts on climate change. I don\u2019t do weekly strikes anymore, but I help plan bigger events with politicians in our city to show that there are young people in Canada concerned about climate change. Recently, I also attended the COP27 meeting with my mom and dad in Egypt. I met my mom\u2019s colleagues from Africa, who told me that they have seen starvation caused by climate change. It felt important to spend time with a huge community that is focused on protecting our future.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-sizes=\"auto\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1242628 size-full lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG_5428-e1671198657517.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2742\" height=\"1658\"\/><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Ontario, we started to make advancements with the previous Wynne government. We put policies in place like the provincial cap-and-trade program that helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We want the current Ontario government to reach the 2030 goal of decreasing emissions 45 per cent below 2005 levels, but Premier Doug Ford\u2019s government isn\u2019t following Canada\u2019s target on carbon pricing, nor is it working to meet the Paris Agreement goal. Ford decided to shut down the cap-and-trade program and add a plastic pickup day, which won\u2019t get us to where we need to be.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In November of 2018, the non-profit Ecojustice asked me to participate in a lawsuit against the Ontario government. They saw my <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> account, and they wanted local activists to join their cause. It was an immediate honour. I met the other six young people who were part of the case, who are all from different places in Ontario and share concerns that our government isn\u2019t doing enough. One of them is Alex Neufeldt, who runs a small dress rental business. She lives in Ottawa, where there was bad flooding in 2019, and she noticed that her business wasn\u2019t doing as well after that. She said that the bad weather caused by climate change has economic impacts\u2014people are less likely to go out and support small businesses when they\u2019re worried about their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the lawsuit, we use the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to argue that the Ford government is not protecting our fundamental human rights because it took away the previous climate policies of the Wynne government, and it isn\u2019t following up to meet Canada\u2019s emissions target. Our provincial government\u2019s inaction will not protect future generations. This lawsuit can help set a precedent, and it\u2019s the first case in the Canadian system to reach a full hearing about how climate change may threaten our Charter-protected rights.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A day before our court hearing in September of 2022, we held a press conference. I talked about how I was the first kid in Canada to launch a school strike for the climate, and I joined this case because I felt like I could make a real impact on the climate crisis. I had seen with my own eyes the dangers of extreme weather, with rapid freezing and thawing cycles in my city, and I told the press that we had to hold politicians accountable. No matter what happens in this case, the public will be watching, and they will realize that the Ontario government is actively contributing to emissions and putting our future at risk. After our online hearing, we\u2019re still waiting for a decision, which could take months or maybe even a year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This case has affected my life in some ways. I occasionally missed school to go to a lawsuit meeting and fell behind on homework, but my teachers are very supportive of what I do.\u00a0 However, I\u2019ve also received a lot more backlash on social media given this case\u2019s public and political stance, which I\u2019m not used to. I used to read hate comments or articles about myself. Once, after I replied to a negative comment on my post about meeting with a politician, my Twitter account was hacked the next day, and I had to restart my entire platform. My mom eventually noticed the negative effect this was having on me, and she began to monitor and delete hate comments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019m hopeful that we\u2019ll win this case. Even if we lose, we\u2019re still pushing the ball further for the future. But I don\u2019t want to do this level of activism forever\u2014I\u2019m just a kid. I think a lot of people think I\u2019m doing this because the environment is a huge passion of mine. That\u2019s not true\u2014it\u2019s a concern of mine. I don\u2019t want to spend the next 50 years of my life talking about climate change, because we don\u2019t have that much time left to act.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014 As told to Russul Sahib<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/society\/environment\/why-im-suing-the-ontario-government-over-its-climate-change-inaction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Why I\u2019m suing the Ontario government over its climate change inaction&#8221; I saw the effects of climate change firsthand at home in northern Ontario. Now, at 15, I\u2019m suing the government for not doing enough to stop it. My family always talked about climate change at the dinner table. My mom worked as a lobbyist&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":528160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG_5836-766x431.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43485,10595,67863,137362],"class_list":["post-528159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-climate-change","tag-environment","tag-ontario","tag-sophia-mathur"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}