Car Free Day 2004 Update (not good)


Dear All,

As you may have heard by now, at the urging of
Councillor David Socknacki , Chair of the Toronto
Atmospheric Fund (TAF), TAF has decided to not fund
CAR FREE DAY in Toronto this year. This is appalling,
to say the very least.

I've heard that the reason
these earthpigjunkies gave for the vote was that "it
did not fit with the mandate of TAF," which is quite
simply a load of manure. Below is an email from Sierra
Club on the issue, and a bit of additional information
on how Car Free Day will be going forward without TAF.
This is a sad situation indeed but hopefully this
setback will merely serve to galvanize even greater
grassroots support. And as a side, if TAF is not
willing to recognize that an event which seeks to
address the cause of 50% of greenhouse gas emissions
in the city (trasnportation and the combustion engine)
is in fact part of their mandate, then the city should
withhold all funding from that highjacked organization
and use it for something that does address the car
problem.

Hope you have a good day and long weekend.

All the best, Michael Pastore


-----Original Message-----
From: Sierra Club of Canada - Ontario Campaigns
[mailto:dylanp@sierraclub.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2004 7:27 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Car Free Day Update


Hi Folks,

Thanks to everyone who came out to the meeting of the
Toronto Atmospheric Fund (TAF) on Monday. Your
presence was a great help and demonstrated very
effectively the public support for Car Free Day in
Toronto. 16 people came to show support at 9:30am on a
Monday morning, as the polls were opening for a
federal election. A great turnout under the
circumstances. And thanks to everyone who wrote
letters to and phoned their councillors and/or the
councillors on the TAF board. You made a huge
difference.

For those not in attendance, despite the amazing show
of support from all of you, and Councillor Paula
Fletcher the Toronto Atmospheric Fund at the strong
urging of Councillor David Socknacki (the chair)
decided not to support Car Free Day this Year. Despite
the fact that transportation accounts for 50% of
personal greenhouse gas emissions, Car Free Day has
yet to register with the City of Toronto or its
agencies this year as important.  There will be more
details on this soon to come, but we need all of your
help now more than ever for Car Free Day this year.

Please join us for the next Car Free Day meeting on
July 10th, where we'll be talking aobut the next steps
for the campaign.
Saturday, July 10/2004
11am - 2:00pm
Sierra Club office.  24 Mercer Street (just south of
King and John), unit 1.

We also need volunteer help with the item below:

P . S .   K E N S I N G T O N

P E D E S T R I A N    S U N D A Y S

J U L Y   4 T H    TO   A U G U S T   1 5 T H

Come and be part of this historic summer!

For seven consecutive Sundays the streets of
Kensington Market will be given back to those who
bring them life -- pedestrians! And that means all of
us! There'll be food from all corners of the earth,
the best of local talent, dancing, and all kinds of
homemade fun that you didn't know could be had in the
street.

To volunteer with the festivities, contact the
volunteer coordinator, Janet McGillan at (416)338-2856
or jmcgill2@toronto.ca.   Help is especially needed
for the first Pedestrian Sunday, July 4th in the
afternoon. And please Sierra Club know when you can
commit to as well, so we can keep track of how many
hours of volunteer time we still have to fill for the
project.

Musicians and entertainers interested in
participating, please contact Shamez (416)929-4900 or
Kelsey (416)934-1818.

See you in the Streets!

--
Dylan Penner
Campaign Coordinator
Sierra Club of Canada, Ontario Chapter
www.ontario.sierraclub.ca
www.carfreeday.ca
dylanp@sierraclub.ca
[Phone] 416-960-9606 [Fax] 416-960-0020
24 Mercer Street, Unit 1. Toronto ON M5V 1H3

Posted: Wed - July 14, 2004 at 01:49 AM          

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