Upcoming Events

Season of Creation and Other Upcoming Events in Toronto:

International Climate Strike

Where: Queen's Park

When: 11 am to 2 pm

Global climate strike on May 24^th in Toronto 

September 27, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: International Climate Strike at Queen’s Park. Development & Peace will gather at Lime Ridge Monument at 10:45 a.m. See more information here.

Faith & the Common Good will be shutting down operations and striking for the climate on September 27^th and is encouraging people of faith to Raise your Faithful Voices to Protect a Life Supporting Climate. 

For more information and ways of supporting the Climate Strike on September 27th see this new backgrounder by the Jesuit Forum.

Looking for more on the Season of Creation, check out the blog to read a powerful message from Pope Francis marking its beginning. https://www.faithcommongood.org/care_for_our_common_home_season_of_creation_2019

Season of Creation and Other Upcoming Events in Toronto

Check out these upcoming Season of Creation Activities in the Archdiocese of Toronto—find the following events listed on their website here.

• September 28, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.: Ecumenical Season of Creation Celebration at St. Joan of Arc Parish, 1701 Bloor St. W., Toronto. Pray, learn and gather for Taize prayer, Indigenous teaching (by Native Peoples' Mission) and fellowship to reflect on the web of life and the part we play in it. 

Looking for more on the Season of Creation, check out the blog to read a powerful message from Pope Francis marking its beginning. https://www.faithcommongood.org/care_for_our_common_home_season_of_creation_2019

Join us for the launch of the Canadian Chapter of the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM Canada)!

Learn more about how Canadian Catholics can act in support and solidarity with Indigenous environmental concerns.

Time/Date: Oct 2, 2019 1pm (Toronto Time)

Location: On-line webinar

Purpose: To introduce GCCM Canada, its mission, and the many ways Canadian Catholics can get involved in caring for our common home. We will also be discussing the disproportionate impact that climate change and unsustainable resource extraction have on Indigenous Communities both in the Amazon and Canada.

Keynotes:

Anne Catherine Kennedy, program officer at Development & Peace responsible for the Brazil and Colombia programs, with nearly 20 years of experience working with social movements and social pastorals in Latin America, will join us to discuss the connections between the October 2019 Synod on the Amazon, what is happening in the Amazonian region and why Pope Francis considers this a global concern, and the importance of an effective Canadian ombudsman on mining.

Peter Kulchyski, author, community activist, and University of Manitoba Professor of Native Studies, will bring the discussion of climate justice and the protection of Indigenous rights back home by examining environmental racism in our own country, treatment of Indigenous communities when extractive industries are prioritized, and the need to protect Canada's Boreal forest.

GCCM Canada Background:

As Pope Francis teaches in Laudato Si’, unprecedented ecological devaluing, pollution, and waste is endangering the flourishing of future generations. Moreover, the cost is being born disproportionately by vulnerable communities around the world.  Catholics have been called upon by our last three popes and the Canadian bishops to respond to these social and ecological, moral and spiritual crises.  We need to care for our common home in order to heal our relationships with our human family, the rest of creation, and God.

The Global Catholic Climate Movement Canada (GCCM Canada) will offer support for paths of dialogue and action to activate such multidimensional healing

The GCCM is a gobal coalition of 650+ Catholic member organizations, with over 75 trained Laudato Si’ Animators, dedicated to turning Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si’ into action for climate justice. GCCM Canada is hosted by Canadian, interfaith, environmental charity Faith & the Common Good.

GCCM Canada will work with the global GCCM movement to:

• Bring Laudato Si’ to life by growing a community of Canadians willing to act courageously to care for our common home.
• Build an online forum to foster connections and sharing between and among the GCCM movement, Canadian Catholic organizations, Indigenous and Allied land and water defenders, and Canadian Catholic laity who are called to be creation care leaders
• Encourage Canadian Catholics to raise our voices in the public sphere to call for bold climate policies, and amplify the Laudato Si’ message in the media.
• Work to understand and seek transformative action on the disproportionate impact that climate change and unsustainable resource extraction have on Indigenous Communities

Season of Creation and Other Upcoming Events in Toronto

Check out these upcoming Season of Creation Activities in the Archdiocese of Toronto—find the following events listed on their website here.

Also on October 3, 7:00 - 9:30 p.m., Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ) will host a pre-election townhall gathering Shaping a Just Canada:   Based on CPJ’s recently published  2019 Election Bulletin, this non-partisan event will explore key issues leading up to Canada's federal election, such as poverty in Canada and ecological justice.

Location: Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON

Shaping a Just Canada

The public is invited to attend CPJ’s fall pre-election tour.

CPJ is a faithful voice for social justice in Canadian public policy focused primarily on poverty in Canada, ecological justice, and refugee rights. CPJ’s fall tour will provide a non-partisan look at major issues leading up the fall federal election.

As citizens prepare to cast their votes, CPJ will equip the electorate to engage in the political process in a meaningful way, with information to better understand policy positions, proposed questions to ask federal candidates, and resources that direct voters to additional helpful tools.

For more information and registration to attend this free event, go here.

Looking for more on the Season of Creation, check out the blog to read a powerful message from Pope Francis marking its beginning. https://www.faithcommongood.org/care_for_our_common_home_season_of_creation_2019

Season of Creation and Other Upcoming Events in Toronto

Check out these upcoming Season of Creation Activities in the Archdiocese of Toronto—find the following events listed on their website here.

The Archdiocese of Toronto will also host a federal election debate on October 3, 7:30 - 9:15 p.m., at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre:  TV journalist Don Newman will moderate the debate where candidates from the major political parties discuss issues of concern to Catholics, including the environment. For more information and registration to attend this free event, go here.

The Archdiocese of Toronto wants every eligible Catholic to vote in the federal election on October 21, 2019.

One of the five core directions of the Archdiocese of Toronto's Pastoral Plan (Evangelization of Society) calls on us to be engaged in the public square. Gaudium et Spes, which is a product of the Second Vatican Council, tells us that citizens "should be mindful of the right and also the duty to use their free vote to further the common good."

As a charity, the Archdiocese of Toronto must remain non-partisan and cannot direct the Catholic community to vote for a particular candidate or party. What we can do is educate voters and to ensure they are informed to make a responsible decision on election day. We can also share information on issues from a Catholic perspective.

Looking for more on the Season of Creation, check out the blog to read a powerful message from Pope Francis marking its beginning. https://www.faithcommongood.org/care_for_our_common_home_season_of_creation_2019

Season of Creation and Other Upcoming Events in Toronto

Check out these upcoming Season of Creation Activities in the Archdiocese of Toronto—find the following events listed on their website here.

October 4, 6:30 to 8 p.m.: Feast of Creation St. Basil’s Parish, 50 St. Joseph St., Toronto. An ecumenical prayer service organized by Archdiocese of Toronto, Native People’s Mission, Mary Ward Centre and Global Catholic Climate Movement. Download the poster.

Looking for more on the Season of Creation, check out the blog to read a powerful message from Pope Francis marking its beginning. https://www.faithcommongood.org/care_for_our_common_home_season_of_creation_2019

Property and finance committees often struggle to figure out how much an energy retrofit costs and how long they will take to pay back that cost. You have told us that it is difficult and time consuming to calculate a financial payback that can help your team make the right business decision.

Our webinar presenter is highly knowledgeable about project costs and savings. He will talk about how quickly your investment may be paid back by reducing hydro bills and CO2 emissions in several lighting conservation scenarios including: upgrading overhead fluorescent fixtures, replacing incandescent bulbs, using motions sensors to save electricity, and upgrading outdoor floodlights.

3 Things you will learn:

• How should I decide which lighting projects to choose?
• Which types of projects likely pay for themselves in a few years and which never pay off?
• How big are greenhouse gas emission reductions from these lighting projects?

Don N. Dewees, BSEE, LLB, PhD, Economics

Presenter Bio:

Donald Dewees is a Professor Emeritus of Economics and of Law at the University of Toronto.  He holds an engineering degree from Swarthmore College, an LLB from Harvard and a PhD in Economics from Harvard.  He retired from the University of Toronto in 2011 after 40 years of teaching but he continues to be active in research and teaching.  He served as Director of Research for the Ontario Royal Commission on Asbestos, has held many administrative positions at the University and during 1998 he served as the Vice-Chair of the Ontario Market Design Committee, which advised on the design of the competitive electricity market.  He is currently a member of the Market Surveillance Panel of the Ontario Energy Board.  His research is in environmental economics and energy economics.  Recent papers include ‘The Price Isn’t Right’ published by the CD Howe Institute in 2010, and ‘The Impact of Sub-Metering on Condominium Electricity Demand,’ with Trevor Tombe published by Canadian Public Policy in 2012.