Hersh: Ottawa Council must take a risk and ban fossil fuel ads
Recently, Ottawa was filled with smoke due to wildfires in Western Canada. In the past couple of years our city has experienced tornadoes, massive flooding and intense storms, all of which can be attributed in part to climate change.
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Yet, despite declaring a climate emergency in 2019, city council has taken little action in respect to our climate priorities. Since approving its flagship Energy Evolution program in 2020, it has spent a paltry $2.6 million on the program, which calls for around $600 million annually.
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Today, however, councillors have a chance to take real action when it comes to tackling 'greenwashing' and climate misinformation.
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In February 2024, 15 civil society groups launched a campaign to get the City of Ottawa to ban fossil fuel ads from city property such as community centres, sports arenas and OC Transpo buses and shelters.
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In essence, the groups are asking councillors to take the same leadership the city took 20 years ago when it banned tobacco advertising despite a strong backlash from the industry. Just like Big Tobacco, oil and gas have harmful effects on public health. Continuing to allow advertising that promotes fossil fuels as 'clean energy' is not in line with the city's priorities.
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Now, city staff have come forward with a report that will be debated at committee, saying it would be too legally risky to implement a ban, as that would limit the content of ads and would therefore 'constitute a limit on the right to freedom of expression.' Instead, the report suggests Ottawa can instead follow new 'greenwashing' guidelines from the Competition Act.
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While this is arguably a step forward, this puts the onus on residents to submit individual complaints about particular ads when it is the city that should be taking leadership.
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One only needs to look to The Hague to see that it is possible to challenge the fossil fuel industry on this and win.
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The Hague voted to approve a ban on fossil fuels ads in 2024, coming into effect in January 2025. The municipal bylaw had since been challenged in court by the industry.
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On April 25, the court ruled in favour of the municipality, arguing that commercial advertising is not protected under freedom of expression and that The Hague is allowed to enact laws it deems in the public interest.
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The Hague took bold action and have since been vindicated — but it was not without legal risk, as Ottawa's city staff note.
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Ottawa Citizen
4 days ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Hersh: Ottawa Council must take a risk and ban fossil fuel ads
Recently, Ottawa was filled with smoke due to wildfires in Western Canada. In the past couple of years our city has experienced tornadoes, massive flooding and intense storms, all of which can be attributed in part to climate change. Article content Yet, despite declaring a climate emergency in 2019, city council has taken little action in respect to our climate priorities. Since approving its flagship Energy Evolution program in 2020, it has spent a paltry $2.6 million on the program, which calls for around $600 million annually. Article content Article content Article content Today, however, councillors have a chance to take real action when it comes to tackling 'greenwashing' and climate misinformation. Article content In February 2024, 15 civil society groups launched a campaign to get the City of Ottawa to ban fossil fuel ads from city property such as community centres, sports arenas and OC Transpo buses and shelters. Article content In essence, the groups are asking councillors to take the same leadership the city took 20 years ago when it banned tobacco advertising despite a strong backlash from the industry. Just like Big Tobacco, oil and gas have harmful effects on public health. Continuing to allow advertising that promotes fossil fuels as 'clean energy' is not in line with the city's priorities. Article content Now, city staff have come forward with a report that will be debated at committee, saying it would be too legally risky to implement a ban, as that would limit the content of ads and would therefore 'constitute a limit on the right to freedom of expression.' Instead, the report suggests Ottawa can instead follow new 'greenwashing' guidelines from the Competition Act. Article content Article content While this is arguably a step forward, this puts the onus on residents to submit individual complaints about particular ads when it is the city that should be taking leadership. Article content Article content One only needs to look to The Hague to see that it is possible to challenge the fossil fuel industry on this and win. Article content The Hague voted to approve a ban on fossil fuels ads in 2024, coming into effect in January 2025. The municipal bylaw had since been challenged in court by the industry. Article content On April 25, the court ruled in favour of the municipality, arguing that commercial advertising is not protected under freedom of expression and that The Hague is allowed to enact laws it deems in the public interest. Article content The Hague took bold action and have since been vindicated — but it was not without legal risk, as Ottawa's city staff note.
Ottawa Citizen
11-06-2025
- Ottawa Citizen
What new OC Transpo funding means for special constables
Article content OC Transpo's special constables are counting on recent provincial funding to bolster their frontline numbers, increase officer visibility at transit stations and allow for 'more proactive, less reactive' enforcement. Article content 'The province recognized there could be improvements in public safety on transit and specifically in the downtown core,' said OC Transpo chief special constable Peter Scislowski. Article content Article content Article content The so-called 'New Deal for Ottawa' announced by the province last year includes $48 million in funding over three years to improve safety and security on transit and in the city's downtown core. Article content Article content That parcel of funding, announced in November 2024, followed the approval of the city's public safety plan and will increase the number of uniformed OC Transpo special constables on the transit system, along with funds for outreach and alternative mental health supports and the police neighbourhood operations centre near the ByWard Market. Article content OC Transpo currently has 56 frontline special constables and will be using the provincial funding to hire eight more officers in August and September. Article content 'The biggest focus for us is adding staff,' Scislowski said during a recent tour of the city's Transit Operations Control Centre (TOCC) on Belfast Road. The tour included a ridealong through some of the city's transit hotspots, from Tunney's Pasture to Rideau Station at the edge of the ByWard Market, and a look inside the police neighbourhood operations centre on Rideau Street. Article content Article content 'We're adequately staffed to respond to calls we receive right now, but it will improve that visibility for us at the stations. Our special constables are responding to calls from one end of the city to another and north to south… We want to have resources dedicated that are more proactive visibility on the system, and less reactive. Article content Article content The city received funding with the launch of Line 1 to improve its monitoring and response with eyes on more than 5,000 CCTV cameras across the transit network. Special constables and transit staff monitor thousands of cameras in the bustling open-space room, with wall-to-wall screens and a central map of all vehicles and their real-time locations on the road.
Globe and Mail
06-06-2025
- Globe and Mail
Competition watchdog finalizes anti-greenwashing guidelines for businesses
Canada's competition watchdog has finalized its guidelines for new federal anti-greenwashing provisions without imposing new rules but offering more indication of which corporate communications could be scrutinized. The Competition Bureau said on Thursday that it is unable to make changes to the legislation, which has been the subject of heated debate. The guidelines are designed to help businesses ensure compliance, it said. Companies, especially in natural resource industries, have complained the provisions prevent them from publishing anything about their environmental records and plans by putting them at risk of stiff penalties under the Competition Act. The guidelines follow two rounds of public consultation about the new provisions in the act, which came into force almost a year ago with the passage of Bill C-59. Is Ottawa's anti-greenwashing law helping or hurting Canadian companies? Companies are at legal risk for making environmental assertions that do not stand up to scrutiny. Corporate communications over such things as emission reduction plans and net-zero ambitions must be backed up by international standards. Individuals and companies could face sizable fines if found liable. Later this month, private parties will be able to make their own complaints to the federal Competition Tribunal in what is known as private right of action. The bureau said its guidelines, which closely follow a draft version, do not prescribe whether companies can make environmental claims. 'Companies are free to make any environmental claims they wish, as long as they are not false or misleading, and have been adequately and properly tested or substantiated where required,' it said in a statement. The finalized guidelines point out that provincial securities commissions, not the bureau, are responsible for securities regulation, and that disclosure requirements involving environmental factors are evolving. The agency said it will not review corporate filings made to regulators. The catch, said Beth Riley, a competition lawyer with McMillan LLP, is that some material risks come under scrutiny in a private action if disclosure is reused, for example, on a corporate website or other public forum to promote a business interest or product not connected with the sale of securities. 'The sense of accountability for disclosure is a good thing, but I think the legislation, these new greenwashing provisions, are a bit unwieldly,' Ms. Riley said. 'When you capture them with the private right of action that's been granted at the same time, without transition or any case law on the new greenwashing provisions, the bureau is no longer the watchdog, or the gatekeeper, of how to engage in claims.' Some large organizations have scrubbed their websites of environmental materials they had previously trumpeted. In recent weeks, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board abandoned its net-zero carbon emission target, citing 'recent legal developments in Canada' that have changed how such commitments are interpreted, including requiring adoption of standardized metrics and interim emission-reduction targets. Its announcement came after Royal Bank of Canada dropped sustainable finance targets from its public communications, citing Bill C-59 provisions as one reason for the move. Some business groups as well as the Alberta government criticize the legislation as overreach, though supporters say corporate decisions to expunge materials show it is working. Still, environmental groups said they were disappointed the guidelines do not include more detail and practical advice for companies, as is the case in other countries. 'The recent changes to the act already appear to be weeding out greenwashing, but the federal government must continue to enact legislation and policy that mandate transparency and accountability from Canada's biggest polluters – as well as the financial institutions that enable them,' Matt Hulse, lawyer for the group Ecojustice, said in a statement. Deciding which standards are used to back up assertions are a top concern. The bureau said it will recognize methodologies deemed credible in two or more countries that result in 'adequate and proper substantiation.' Many of them will be based in science. Ms. Riley's colleague, Radha Curpen, McMillan's group head, sustainability and ESG, said several methodologies are widely recognized in areas such as tallying emissions and setting targets, including Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the International Organization for Standardization's life-cycle assessment and the Science Based Targets Initiative. The key for companies when publishing environmental materials is to make sure they are subject to internal controls and governance, and determine who in the organization needs to sign off, Ms. Curpen said. 'Lots of people have already started this, but they need to align disclosures with risk management frameworks and all that. And be prepared for what could be a private right of action,' she said.
