Glebe residents prepare for what mother nature may throw at us

By Emma Weller

Ottawa had better do more to batten down the hatches because extreme weather events are hitting more frequently and there’s worse to come – that was the central message when when 75 Glebe and Centretown residents gathered virtually on November 17 for a Climate Resiliency Webinar to learn how they can help keep their communities afloat amid the global climate crisis.

“We are at the point now where climate impacts in Ottawa are unavoidable and becoming worse,” said Joan Freeman, lead on climate change at the Glebe Community Association which co-hosted the event with its Centretown counterpart.

“Climate impacts will trigger massive shocks not just to the environment but also to our economy, people’s health, buildings and infrastructure, vulnerable people and our institutions.”

In the last two years, Canada has reached new flooding and heat records according to government statistics, and only 15 per cent of buildings across the country are prepared for the consequences.

The panel discussion with medical experts, architects and professors aimed to help educate residents on how to become climate resilient before climate disasters strike. It touched on the need to reduce heat impacts and increase tree canopies and laid out ways people can alter infrastructures as well as their habits to become more sustainable and durable when disasters hit.

Freeman stressed the need for the City of Ottawa to play a larger role in efforts to make communities more resilient. She said it will just cost more in the future once the trail of climate disasters seen across the country reaches this city.

According to a Public Safety Canada report, Canada experienced approximately $31 billion in climate-related damage between 1980 and 2020. Without government intervention, those numbers will increase. A greater number of lives will also be at risk due to heat and natural disasters.

Isla Paterson has lived in the Glebe for 23 years. She strives to be conscious of her living habits to help reduce climate impacts, so this webinar on how to climate-proof your home and community was an event she couldn’t miss.

“I think residents are losing hope. Absolutely losing hope,” said Paterson.

“To me, I appreciate that this was done by my community. These are people who walk the streets and pay attention to the issues faced by people who feel powerless and try to empower themselves with things they can do.”

Paterson says little things make a difference She suggests planting more trees, lobbying for more parks, finding ways to cool your roof, using rain barrels, riding your bike and advocating for sustainable funding.

“I am fortunate as my street has many trees but there are some places you go in the city that are like heat islands because they have no trees and there is no parkland,” said Paterson.

Andy Kenney, a Senior Lecturer Emeritus with the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Toronto, was one of the featured panelists.

“To ensure that the supply of benefits that the urban forests can provide us continues for generations to come, it’s important that our urban forests are extensive, healthy and resilient,” said Kenney in an interview.

During the event, Kenney touched on the importance of stewardship of trees, as their structures and health are determinants of how they contribute to human life and the overall environment. Lack of shade challenges the prevention of heat-related illnesses.

The increase in heat, outlined by a panelist from Public Health Ottawa, is significantly impacting the most vulnerable community members such as homeless citizens, pregnant women, infants, young children and older adults.

The City of Ottawa released a Climate Change Vulnerability and Risk Assessment this year that concluded that due to the severity of heat-related issues in the city, immediate action is required. The next phase of the project, beginning this year, is to develop adaptation strategies as part of a Climate Resiliency Strategy, which will identify opportunities to embed climate resiliency considerations into key City plans, budgets and risk assessment processes and to identify gaps and resource needs.

It is also up to residents themselves to establish forms of resilience.

Emma Weller is a Carleton journalism student and president of Global Minds, a Carleton non-profit focusing on social justice.