Dianne Saxe may be out of a job soon, but Ontario's environmental watchdog still has some bite left in her.
The non-partisan Environmental Commissioner of Ontario was in Guelph Tuesday night, joining the city's three levels of political leadership - MP Lloyd Longfield, MPP MIke Schreiner and mayor Cam Guthrie - for a local action on climate change event.
Saxe will soon be out of a job, as Doug Ford has eliminated her position.
One of the world's leading envrironmental lawyes, she had some strong words for the 250 people in the Summerlee Science Complex atrium listened to the speakers and asked questions.
"If the province won't act on climate, does that mean the rest of us should sit home and do nothing?" Saxe asked rhetorically.
Her role as Environment Commissioner involves doing three reports a year on energy, environment and climate.
"If you don't remember anything else tonight, I hope you remember this," Saxe said.
"I've was an environmental energy lawyer for 40 years before I became commissioner and I thought I had a pretty good sense as to how bad things are, and I've been completely blown away since I've become commissioner how much more serious climate change is.
"Is it as bad as we thought? It's worse. Its getting worse really quick," she said, adding that we are walking "a knife edge of hope and despair" when it comes to climate change.
She said climate change isn't just about polar bears, coral reefs or people living far away, "it's here, right now."
Saxe said Ontario is warming at a much faster rate than the rest of the world and that "normal is gone and it cannot come back."
To make a difference means a change in policies and a change in culture, she said."We don't have any more time to waste," Saxe said.
Pollution shouldn't be free, she said, adding that "carbon pricing really works." She described several countries that have carbon pricing and are still thriving economically.
We need to make polluters pay and we need to regulate them and make sure we are investing in solutions, Saxe said.
"There's nobody that's going to rescue us if we don't do this ourselves."
Tuesday's event was put on by the University of Guelph, the City of Guelph, Our Energy Guelph and My World, My Choice!
Guthrie outlined some of the many environmental initiatives the city has undertaken in recent years, from its Community Energy Plan and goal of being zero net carbon by 2050 to its entry in a federal competition to win $10 million for joint food safety initiative with the county.
Schreiner reiterated that Guelph is at the forefront of communities in Canada when it comes to being green.
The provincial Green Party lead backed up Saxe's statement that carbon pricing works.
"It is patently untrue that carbon pricing costs jobs and kills the economy," the MPP said in a shot at the provincial government.
Longfield stressed that protest and raising voices to raise awareness are important, "but at the end of the day we need to have conversations that are productive, that we can work together to solve some problems.
"We have to take these loud voices into a room where change happens," Longfield said.
