April 22nd, 2015

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath's Statement on Earth Day

Today marks the 25th Earth Day. Ontarians all across our province are making conscious choices to reduce their environmental footprint and nearly all school-aged children will participate in Earth Day activities as they learn how to become better stewards of our province’s environment.

We have a beautiful province. We have more than 250,000 lakes which contain about one-third of the world's fresh water. Ontario has one-third of North America’s boreal forest and one-quarter of the world’s wetlands. Ontario’s delicate ecosystems are the envy of the world, and it is the responsibility of all of us to protect them.

Ontario’s New Democrats are proud of our record on the environment. It is thanks to the NDP that Ontario has an Environmental Commissioner, an Environmental Bill of Rights and the Crown Forest Sustainability Act. We have been leaders in calling for energy conservation and retrofit programs to help Ontarians reduce their carbon footprint.

Building a sustainable economy makes sense not only for our environment, but for Ontario’s long-term prosperity.

This is about leaving a legacy that we can be proud of for our children and for generations to come.