Climate change, despite the inference, is not a hot topic, politically speaking. We had two big elections this year and you can probably count on one hand how many times the environment came up in conversation. Perhaps the time has come for a re-examination of our priorities: Can Guelph still be a climate leader in a political time when no one wants to talk about climate change?

Back in May, City of Guelph staff presented to council the “Guelph’s Community Call to Climate Action.” It was not a good news story.  According to this report, the City of Guelph has made “moderate” progress in its greenhouse gas goals, so staff opted to lay out a way that they could engage the broader community to join the effort; from building more energy efficient low carbon buildings to using more sustainable transportation options.

Then, September’s “Draw the Line” protest tried to centre climate action along with peace and poverty as the crises of our time, and the Community Climate Forum 2025 next week will try to follow up on that with a formal event bringing together activists, politicians, experts and regular folk on the best ways to really cut down our carbon footprint. Can Guelph get green again? That is the question we will put to Donna Jennison, a member of the Guelph Climate Action Network.

On this week’s pod, Jennison will talk about the state of climate activism in Guelph, and the goals of the climate conference. She will also discuss how we make climate change a priority issue again, how we reclaim Guelph’s position as an environmental leader, and why climate action is something everyone can do. Finally, she will talk about why we don’t need to wait for upper levels of government to take action, and what keeps her hopeful while taking on this fight.

So let’s talk about making climate action a priority again on this week’s Guelph Politicast!

The Guelph Community Climate Forum will take place on Sunday October 26 from 1:30 to 4:30 pm at the Italian Canadian Club. You can learn more and register to attend the event for free on the website for the Guelph Climate Action Network. If you want to do your homework first, check out the Community Call to Climate Action on the City of Guelph website here.

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