TCAN Letter on 2023 City Budget

To: Mayor Tory, Deputy Mayor McKelvie, and City Councillors

From: Toronto Climate Action Network

The Toronto Climate Action Network (TCAN) call on Mayor Tory, Deputy Mayor McKelvie and City Councillors to make changes to the City budget to better reflect community priorities and the urgent need for moving the TransformTO program forward with adequate funding.

At local budget town halls and at the Budget Committee consultations, TCAN members have called for a budget that invests in the services our communities urgently need and funds the city’s climate action plan, the TransformTO Net-Zero Strategy.

Toronto’s Net-Zero strategy is an ambitious and detailed plan with the goal of reaching Net-Zero by 2040 and building a more equitable, liveable, and sustainable city for all. As the climate crisis accelerates and as we enter another year in the critical decade for climate action, it is more important than ever that we fund our plan, protect the most vulnerable, and invest in the services that will bring that greener, more resilient Toronto into being.

Unfortunately, the budget currently on the table does not do so; indeed, in many ways, the investment decisions in this budget threaten to exacerbate existing inequities and undermine the city's ability to implement its Net-Zero strategy.

We therefore call on Council to:

1. Develop a plan to fund the Net Zero strategy on the scale required. According to the Net Zero plan $8.5 billion a year is required, but the City is only providing $2 billion in climate-related capital projects, less than 25% of what is required. The plan over the next 17 years requires $150B funding.

2. To pursue new revenue tools including a commercial parking levy. We urge the City Council to commit to a dedicated climate fund to implement the Net Zero plan.

3. Reassess plans to rebuild the eastern end of the Gardiner Expressway and consider how the $2 billion currently scheduled to be spent on a project that will lock in more carbon pollution and more use of private cars could be better spent on climate mitigation and adaptation projects.

4. Reverse the cuts to the TTC and the decision to increase fares. These actions will decrease ridership and disproportionately impact low-wage workers. They also run counter to Net-Zero plans to improve transit and make it more affordable and eventually free.

5. Increase investments in building retrofits, particularly those that will increase the amount of safe, affordable housing. Scaling up retrofitting programs also presents an opportunity to provide thousands of good green jobs and invest in the labour force of the future.

6. Reverse the decision to provide an additional $48 million to the police and use these funds to invest in housing and social-support services including 24 hour warming centres. Such investments truly strengthen community safety and promote the resilience needed to address climate impacts.

7. Invest in community engagement on all aspects of the City’s climate plan: waste reduction, local renewable energy; active and sustainable transportation infrastructure, and building retrofitting. The success of Toronto’s Net-Zero strategy depends on the active engagement and support of the City’s residents.

   CONTACT INFORMATION
   Lyn Adamson, 416-731-6605, lyn@climatefast.ca
   Anne Keary, 647-704-6171, anne.keary@gmail.com
   For the Municipal Action Committee of Toronto Climate Action Network, www.tcan.ca
   
   The list of TCAN signatories on this letter are below:
   
   Association for Canadian Educational Resources (ACER)

   Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment - Ontario regional committee

   Canadian Climate Challenge

   Citizens' Climate Lobby -- Toronto Chapter

   Climate Action for Lifelong Learners

   Climate Change Toronto

   Climate Pledge Collective

   Climate Reality Project

   ClimateFast

   Community Resilience to Extreme Weather (CREW)

   Council of Canadians (Toronto chapter)

   DrawdownTO

   Ecologos/Water Docs

   Enviromentum

   Etobicoke Climate Action

   For Our Kids TO

   Green 13

   Green Majority

   Green Neighbours 21

   Green Thumbs Growing Kids

   Green Wave West

   Inwit

   Just Earth

   Metstrat

   MobilizeTO

   Music Declares Emergency Canada

   Naturopathic Doctors for Environmental and Social Trust (NEST)

   Noor Cultural Centre

   Parkdale-High Park 4 Climate Action

   Plant Based Treaty

   PlasticFree Toronto

   Project Neutral

   Rise to Zero

   Seniors for Climate Action Now! (SCAN!)

   StopPlastics

   Toronto East End Climate Collective

   Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA)

   Toronto350

   TTC Riders

   Youth Climate Save Canada

   Greenspiration

   Sustainability and Environmental Justice Portfolio @ Engineers Without Borders University of Toronto (SEJ EWB)

   People's Climate Movement

   Saint Aidan's Anglican Church in the Beach

   Fridays for Future Toronto