It is important here in our province and everywhere else across the nation - and indeed, worldwide. Litter not only looks ugly, but causes real damage to wildlife and the environment in general. If we could address this very visible problem immediately, by fines, or a reward system for recycling, we would see the benefits all around us, of clean beaches, lakes, open spaces, in our cities and even along the sides of the roads. Our wildlife, both in the ocean and lakes as well as the woodlands would not be at risk of harm by ingesting plastic, birds and animals getting stuck with sometime fatal results in discarded tubs and cans would not be happening either. This would have a knock on effect for us all, as slowly, the plastic waste trickles down into water courses, and stays in the earth, not biodegrading, and polluting in a very big way. We could even, with the will, create sustainable jobs by processing all this waste by re-purposing, or waste to energy.

The sports world is taking bold action in solidarity with Jacob Blake, an unarmed black man who was shot and paralyzed by a white Wisconsin police officer a few days ago. The NBA, WNBA, MLB and MLS have all postponed games in the wake of players and team's speaking out against the shooting and boycotting games. Notably absent from this list is the NHL. The NHL has issued a statement, taken a "moment of reflection" before Wednesday nights game, but continued with games as usual. Sign your name calling on the NHL to postpone playoff games, along with other major sports leagues in America, who are taking a stand in support of Jacob Blake, and the Black Lives Matter movement.

News reports are showing that the Toronto Raptors are considering boycotting the first game of their series against the Boston Celtics. This discussion comes as a result of the attempted murder of yet another innocent Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the latest in a seeming unending string of such murders and attempted murders by unaccountable police officers. The pain of seeing such public murders inflicted over and over again must be immense. And it comes with the additional burden of knowing that each time, nothing changes. The Toronto Raptors are more than our basketball team. They are the spirit of Toronto, and they represent our compassionate, progressive nation to the world. And we as fans are part of the team. We want them to know that if they decide to boycott Game 1 in order to shine a spotlight on this injustice and say "no more" to the ongoing police violence, we the fans have their backs and will rise to support them.

City people need clean, healthy air to support good health. The country needs clean air to reduce the frequency of forrest fires, windstorms and torrential downpours which flood many parts of our land. The costs related to saving lives and repairing the damage affects everyone by increasing their insurance rates.

Counsellors and psychotherapists are the only mental health professionals required to charge GST/HST! Other providers of psychotherapy include: psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, doctors, nurses, psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses. All of these professionals are exempt from charging GST/HST. But not counsellors and psychotherapists. This discrepancy is unfair. There are tens of thousands of counsellors and psychotherapists across Canada. Professional help is available. Yet counsellors and psychotherapists are out of reach for many due to the added expense of GST/HST. That expense can mean the difference between getting much-needed support or allowing mental health issues to go untreated. In order to remove GST/HST for counsellors and psychotherapists, the Ministry of Finance required five provinces to regulate the profession. After the fifth province regulated it, however, former Finance Minister, Bill Morneau, rejected the removal of GST/HST, citing differences in regulated titles among the provinces. Some provinces call the service psychotherapy while others call it counselling. But the government had not made these titles a requirement for GST/HST exemption. The goalposts keep moving. Mental health issues used to affect 1 in 5 Canadians. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, this figure has increased to 1 in 4. The pandemic has had a devastating emotional and financial impact on many. Removing this financial barrier to mental health services is needed now more than ever. Let’s create the necessary national change and make mental health and addiction services more accessible - let’s finally get GST/HST on psychotherapy and counselling removed!

The plan put forth by Minister of Education Stephen Lecce and Premier Doug Ford to reopen schools this fall amidst the pandemic is not enough. The underfunded plan leaves everyone in the dark as to how schools will be run, and limits the resources to keep students safe. Elementary schools, in particular, have very little in terms of actual safety measures, with overcrowded classrooms preventing social distancing and masks being non-mandatory for grades three and below. Many faculty are already at a greater risk of infection, especially in a cramped environment such as a classroom. Children are also known to be asymptomatic, which will make doing symptom checks extremely difficult, making it that much harder to detect and control outbreaks if they occur. The government has made promises such as adding 900 new custodians and 500 nurses. But, for nearly 5,000 schools across Ontario, this is not nearly enough. There have also been promises for new HVAC systems, but there is little time to install them before the beginning of the school year. Please sign this petition if you feel students and faculty deserve to be protected at school, and that Lecce and Ford should rethink their current reopening plan, so we can go back to school with confidence that we, our families and our teachers will be safe.

In current classrooms, physical distancing is impossible. If the government does not change course and insists on reopening schools without reducing class sizes, our kids, friends, and family members will contract the virus.

The Ford Government wants to ramp up the greenhouse gas pollution from Ontario’s gas-fired power plants by more than 300% by 2025. (1) If Doug Ford and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) get their way, Ontario will not be able to meet its 2030 Climate Target. We must not let this happen! 1- https://www.cleanairalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GAS_REPORT_FINAL_WEB_R.pdf 52 groups - and growing - are part of this campaign! AWARE Simcoe Braden Homes Ltd. BurlingtonGreen Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment Canadian Climate Challenge Canadian Environmental Law Association Citizens Climate Lobby Creating Healthy & Sustainable Environments Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario Clean Air Partnership ClimateFast CoEnergy Co-operative David Suzuki Foundation Don Heights Unitarian Congregation, Social Action Committee Ecology Ottawa eMERGE Guelph Sustainability Environmental Defense Environment Hamilton Folkes Construction Inc Fridays for Future Fridays for Future Ottawa Grassshopper Energy Green 13 Green Party of Ontario Hamilton 350 Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Office of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul Kairos Leadnow Ministry for Social Justice, Peace, and Creation Care of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto. MobilizeTO Mount Dennis ecoNeighbourhood Initiative Ontario Clean Air Alliance Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-operative (OREC) Oxford Community Energy Co-operative Prevent Cancer Now Reep Green Solutions Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health SolarShare South Riverdale Community Health Centre Sustainable Waterloo Region The Council of Canadians The Lea[ The Roots Collaborative Toronto Environmental Alliance Toronto 350 Trinity St. Paul's United Church - Climate Justice Group University of Toronto Environmental Action (UTEA) Wellington Water Watchers Wilderness Committee Women's Healthy Environments Network York Region Environmental Alliance

TDSB staff have put together a plan that will allow class cohort sizes to decrease to 15-20 students per class, as recommended by Toronto Public Health. The plan costs $20 million dollars for additional teachers - drastically less than other plans or approaches - and it requires a slightly shorter school day. However, the plan cannot proceed unless the Minister of Education gives TDSB permission to shorten the school day by 48 minutes. And Minister Lecce has refused that permission. By refusing permission, the Minister is forcing Toronto schools to cram kids into larger classes where their risk of exposure is much higher due to a lack of physical distancing. There is no justification for such a risk when we have a high-quality, effective plan on the table. Tell the Minister - protect our kids and give TDSB the simple permission it needs to enact this plan. Note: if you'd like to read the full TDSB plan, you can do so here: https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/0/docs/Returning%20to%20School_A%20Guide%20to%20the%20Safe%20Reopening%20of%20the%20TDSB_August%2010.pdf

We need to challenge the power of the military-industrial complex Do you know that the largest lobby group for the fighter jets is a charity - the Global Affairs Institute? We need the $19 billion for housing, child care, the green new deal, and for education, long-term care, etc. Quote: "More for COVID-19 latest hurdle in Canada's long road to buying new fighter jets" Fighter jets are a major polluter, and they are mainly used for air shows.

I have already reached out to Toronto Public Health, Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Government Services, The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, all without a response or a plan to address this issue. Although there is a requirement for PPE for disabled people to receive personal support and assistance, no individuals should be paying for PPE out of pocket, and yet, this is happening. I have talked to many non-profits, that have shared the concern that there is no commitment or funding for PPE for disabled people who need access to it for their activities of daily living where physical distancing is not possible. This petition requests that all levels of government work together to ensure that Attendants, Nurturing Assistants and people with Disabilities in Ontario are PPE secure. It appears that the government has forgotten about disabled people and the folks that support us. This lack of action is unacceptable. This lack of action puts lives at risk. Regards, Terri-Lynn Langdon, MSW, RSW Ontario Institute for Studies In Education, Social Justice Education, University of Toronto

Mental health calls are largely handled by untrained officers who don't have the skills to de-escalate crisis situations. This leads to unnecessary violence and killing of people in crisis, of which poor and IBPOC are largely overrepresented. In cities where mental health crisis teams are properly implemented, they provide clear benefits, including: - reducing carceral costs, - reducing the incidents of violence from the police, - reducing repeat calls for service, - reducing costly psychiatric hospitalizations, and - improving the use of officers’ time [1]. [1] https://www.prainc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/RespondingtoBHCrisisviaCRModels.pdf