Before MPP Gilles Bisson submits a Private Members' Bill in a couple months, he's touching base with Timmins residents.
Almost 30 people attended the Climate Crisis Town Hall, which was a chance for him to hear about what people are interested in.
It featured Jessica Kim, a student activist from Ecole secondaire catholique Theriault, Timmins Coun. Kristin Murray, and manager of environmental services and public utilities Scott Tam.
After the meeting, Bisson noted there is interest about recycling, work the city is doing to eliminate single-use plastics, and in the whole idea of how to deal with climate change.
“When’s the last time you saw the Mattagami River have flowing water in the third week of January? There’s something going on out there and I think we struggle to find what we can do that is going to make a real impact and that’s what everybody’s sort of wondering,” he said.
One of the meeting's themes, said Bisson, is concern about people's habits for what is used and discarded.
"And people are looking for the city and the province to do something when it comes to, first of all, helping people better understand that you do have choices about how you can live in a way that you don’t have as much things going into the garbage dump, but also how to buy things that have better packaging so you don’t have more packaging than necessary," he said.
"The other big thing obviously we heard is in regards to what’s going on with climate change. I think most people here tonight are not climate change deniers, they understand that there’s a problem and I think everybody is sort of struggling to find is there a magic bullet? And I don’t think there is, I don’t think it’s a magic bullet to fix the problem. I think it’s a number of things that have to be done and we heard a number of those things tonight."
At the Timmins council table, Murray has been speaking up for environmental issues.
Last year, a phased-in approach to eliminate single-use plastics within the corporation was approved. It doesn't include medical waste or items needed by people with disabilities.
It was Murray who pitched the idea to council.
“I know to some people it’s not a big deal, but it’s a start. To get to the long-term goal you have to start somewhere,” Murray said.
A one-year pilot project for curbside textile collection also started in September.
The idea of municipal composting also came up at the town hall. Tam said it's something that's going to happen sooner than later.
"As with processes in terms of government it does take a little bit of time. So I was glad to see that that’s a budget line that we have for our 2020 budget,” said Murray.
Kim was the youngest speaker on the panel.
While she has big goals, she said the biggest influence on her plans and the future is climate change.
“Timmins is good, but we can most certainly do better,” she said.
She said plastic must be eliminated, and there needs to be clean energy.
“Everyone’s heard the reduce, reuse, recycle and really that order is actually really important because recycling is really your last resort that you want to use,” Kim said.
Bisson's opportunity to introduce a Private Members' Bill is in April.
He's still looking to hear from constituents. It could be to support the municipalite to have better policies for reducing waste going to landfills, how to reduce waste in every day life, or looking at ways to reduce energy consumption.
If you have ideas, you can contact his office at 705-268-6400 or by email.
