Hello,

Last month, ACORN Ottawa released a report showing how tenant rights, housing affordability, and climate change intersect. The report follows year-long efforts by the organization to build a network of eco-tenants throughout the city to engage with climate change’s impacts on tenants. 295 tenants were surveyed for the report between July 2023 and March 2024.

The survey showed that 39% of respondents made less than $30,000 a year and roughly 42% live in a high rise of more than 10 stories. Nearly 90% said they lived in a building constructed before 1990, indicating that it is not likely to include many of the energy efficiency measures that have been developed since that time (“Only 11% of tenants reported that their buildings had been renovated within the past 5 years to improve energy efficiency”). Yet 71.5% of tenants are paying for electricity outside of their rent, meaning that they are both on the hook for paying for energy inefficiencies but also unable to make improvements that could cut energy costs.

Some key statistics that outline how tenants are affected by energy inefficiencies in their buildings include:

• Nearly half of tenants responding to the survey said their unit is too hot in the summer

• 40% do not have air conditioning/cooling in their unit

• Almost 40% reported having experienced a lack of heat in the winter

• Almost 25% said their appliances didn’t work OR were very old and had problems

• 46% of respondents with inadequate heating said they had bought space heaters to keep warm, while 20% bought multiple, and roughly 30% had problems with hot water

• 58% said they would maybe trust their landlord to put the interests of tenants first, while 16% said they would and 26% said they wouldn’t. 70.6% of respondents reported that building management treats them fairly.

• 11% of tenants responding to the survey reported that their buildings had been renovated within the past 5 years to improve energy efficiency

The city’s emission reduction targets necessitate that 98% of existing homes must undergo a deep retrofit by 2040, according to the report. But in Ottawa, where 36% of households rent their living space, the results of ACORN Ottawa’s shows that too many residents are not in control of their building’s energy inefficiencies while the building owners have no incentive to make changes.

You can read the report itself here, or read The Energy Mix’s story about it here.

Stories from the PEN!

This month’s stories from the PEN include:

• An update on Ottawa-based nonprofit Sea Change Canada’s involvement in this year’s Nature On The Hill, written by Vice Chair Chantel Haigh.

• Rural Woodlands Ottawa writes about Ottawa’s forests, with a call for more efforts to conserve trees in the city’s rural areas “for the love of forests.”

• Greening Sacred Spaces’ Emily Sayadi provides two articles about how Ottawa’s faith communities are making strides to improve energy efficiency, with a reflection on GSS’ Energy Benchmarking Program and an overview of the program’s success stories.

From the PEN Archives

The PEN’s July-August 2002 Insider included an update about the then-newly passed ‘Right to Hunt’ legislation—the Heritage Hunting and Fishing Act—that passed despite strong opposition from First Nations, provincial environmental organizations, and NDP environment critic Marilyn Churley.

In their summary for the PEN, authors Anita Krajnc, who chaired the forest and wildlife campaign at Sierra Club Eastern Canada Chapter, and Dr. Aviva Patel, an ecologist and volunteer at that same chapter, note three main issues at stake following the legislation’s passage:

• The Act cements in legislation an increased role for groups that otherwise have little to do with wildlife conservation

• It creates special rights for sports hunters and fishers, and therefore discriminates against other “non-consumptive, recreational uses of wildlife.”

• Sports hunting and fishing groups not only designed the bill but were also the only groups the Tories consulted with for its development—”incredibly First Nations and the public were shut out except for a brief posting on the Environmental Bill of Rights registry,” note Krajnc and Patel.

Other News

• Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.’s director of communications and government reporting described the Chalk River nuclear facility’s response to a toxic sewage spill in the Ottawa River as “suitably opaque,” reports CBC.

• Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has called on residents to demand “fair funding” from the provincial and federal governments, saying that Ottawa’s financial circumstances are unique among Canadian cities because of the federal government’s presence.

  • "Imagine if you, as a property owner, could decide how much you pay in property taxes every year," Sutcliffe said. "That's exactly what the federal government gets to do. They decide how much their property is worth and what tax rate they pay. And they've stopped paying their fair share, meaning local property taxpayers have to make up the difference."

• You can read the perspectives of 350 residents who participated in this past fall’s Rural Summit for Ottawa’s five rural wards here.

• Climate projections by NCC say that Ottawa will experience more severe storms in the coming years as weather patterns are affected by climate change.

• Following findings in the Rural Residential Land Survey, The Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee received a report showing that there are “sufficient residential development potential within Ottawa’s rural areas.”

  • The survey, which which monitors lot creation and residential development, “estimates the potential for almost 11,000 dwelling units in rural Ottawa. Roughly 82 per cent of that future rural growth is within the City’s 26 villages.”

• Two small tornadoes touched down south of Ottawa this week.

• Last Generation Canada hosted a Game Nights at Level 1 Game Pub on Aug. 28, with a second scheduled for Sept. 4, where attendees can
  “learn more about the role of civil resistance.”

I look forward to connecting with you again next month through the PEN Newsletter. In the meantime, please use the comments section of the newsletter or email [email protected] with thoughts or questions.

—Christopher Bonasia, PEN editor

PERC appreciates all of our readers for giving us this chance to connect with members of our community, and we love being able to provide you with a forum to discuss pressing environmental and social justice issues.

But we also rely on your support to make this happen. If you are interested in helping our organization continue to use storytelling and networking to help individuals, non-profits, and community groups work locally for a greener and more peaceful world, please consider making a donation to the Peace and Environment Resource Centre.