Fate of city’s environmental quality at stake in monday’s council vote on new taxes, Next week: toxics trespass at planet in focus environmental film festival.

Fate of city’s environmental quality at stake in monday’s council vote on new taxes.

We need a majority of Councillors to vote YES on Monday. We need CouncilWatch readers to ACT.

The fate of the city’s environmental programs designed to build a green Toronto will be decided at Monday’s City Council meeting.

If Council votes yes to the new revenue tools, the money will be available for the City to turn its new smog and climate change plan into reality and to move forward with other environmental initiatives such as the Community Right to Know Bylaw.

If Council votes no to the new revenue tools, attention will turn away from building a green city towards cutting existing costs and programs. The Smog and Climate Change plan will be dead. Current programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants will be in jeopardy. The TTC will likely cost even more while service is cut. Put simply, Toronto’s already smoggy air will get dirtier and dirtier and our city’s environment will degrade even faster.

Here’s what you can do:

• Join us for a rally at City Hall - 8:30 am on Monday, October 22. Make it clear to City Councillors and the media that Torontonians who support building a green Toronto support new revenues.

• Call or email your City Councillor and urge them to vote YES for the new Revenue Tools. If you know your Councillor already is supporting the new Revenue Tools, talk to your friends who live in other parts of Toronto and let them know how important it is for them to convince their Councillor to vote yes.

• Come to the City Hall Council chambers anytime from 8:30 am to 7:00pm on Monday. We want supporters of a green Toronto to fill the seats and show City Councillors a YES vote is crucial to building a green Toronto.

Toxics Trespass at Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival

Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival (Oct 24-28) is premiering a new film, Toxic Trespass, that highlights the issues raised by TEA’s Community Right to Know (CRTK) campaign. The film investigates the effects of the chemical soup around us, starting with filmmaker Barri Cohen’s ten year old daughter, whose blood carries carcinogens like benzene and the long-banned DDT. The film reveals the links between industrial chemicals, environmental degradation and childhood illness - and asks why our governments are doing so shockingly little about the problem. Screening is on Friday, October 26, 2007 at the Royal Cinema, 608 College Street.

For more information on the Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival go to www.planetinfocus.org.