This video presents an example of  “An Ontario Adventure This Family Day”:

This is an update to my previous blogs:

• You’re Invited: Films of Inuit Stories Jan.25-26 + Mediatheque’s Family Day Fun Feb.18-20

• You’re Invited to HarbourKIDS: SK8 Winter Festival February 19-20, 2012

Family Day is on February 20 this year, whereon exciting exhibitions, fun festivals and seasonal sports are taking place throughout Ontario, Canada.

Family Day is currently recognized as a holiday in two other provinces – Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Please add the following events to your itinerary of Family Day fun for February 18-20, 2012:

You're Invited: More Family Day Fun February 18-20, 2012

At the NFB Mediatheque in Toronto, Ontario: FREE

• FAMILY DAY WEEKEND: FAMILY STAY-CATION.

• Please click here for more details and a schedule of Family Day events.

At Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario: FREE

• the FREE HarbourKIDS: SK8 Winter Festival is a great opportunity for you to “explore all forms of skating and winter culture from a child’s perspective!

• From beatboxing and urban art to skating and hot chocolate to music and movies, there’s something for kids of all ages to enjoy at HarbourKIDS: SK8 presented by RBC Play Hockey.”

• Please click here for the updated and full listing of HarbourKIDS: SK8 events!

At The Walter Carsen Centre for The National Ballet of Canada, Toronto, Ontario: FREE

• Celebrate Family Day by exploring movement together with some of our artists followed by an interactive performance by The National Ballet of Canada’s Apprentices.

• Please click here for a listing of FREE Family Day events.

At the Winterlude, Ottawa, Ontario:

• FREE Shuttle Bus
  • Take the OLG Sno-Bus to travel between Winterlude sites.
  • This free service is available every Saturday and Sunday during Winterlude: February 4, 5, 11, 12, 18 and 19.
  • Please click here for more info about OLG Sno-Bus’ schedule and service.

• The Winterlude festivities are focused in three main locations:

• The Rogers Crystal Garden, in Confederation Park, is home to amazing ice sculptures.
• The Snowflake Kingdom, in Jacques-Cartier Park, is a kid’s paradise with snow slides and no shortage of outdoor fun.
• The Rideau Canal Skateway, which winds its way through downtown Ottawa, is the world’s largest skating rink.

• Please click here for a listing of some FREE events of Arts and Culture, which can be identified by the absence of both the $ sign and the label “Paid event” on the left-hand side of each listed Winterlude activity.
  • 40 Eco Art photos form an exhibit at Dows Gallery on the Rideau Canal Skateway.

• Canadian Forces Winter Obstacle Course.

• 32nd Annual Accora Village Bed Race.

• Please click here for a listing of some FREE events of All Outdoor Sports and Recreation, which can be identified by the absence of both the $ sign and the label “Paid event” on the left-hand side of each listed Winterlude activity.

At Blue Mountain Village, Collingwood, Ontario: FREE

• Celebrate the annual Family Day at Ontario’s favourite ski Village with FREE activities for 3 days.

• Free-flying Birds of Prey shows by the Canadian Raptor Conservancy, Columbia Guided Snowshoeing, Horse & Carriage Rides, Face Painting, Fire Dance Show and FIREWORKS!

• Please click here for a schedule of FREE events February 18-20.

• For Village events information, contact Heather Harding Tel: 705-445-0231 x6205; info@bluemountainvillage.ca .

 Happy Family Day!

You may also like:

• Harbourfront Centre Large-Scale Photographic Exhibition

• 2012 Green Toronto Awards Nominations: Now Open Until Feb. 6 at 11:59 P.M.

• You’re Invited: More Celebratory Events for Black History Month February 2012

• You’re Invited: Celebratory Events of Canadian Black History Month February 2012

• Everyday Heroes Festival 2012: Canadian Youth’s One-Minute Eco-Films Can Win Great Prizes

• Superior Adventure Contest Opens to Legal Residents of Canada and Most of U.S.

• You’re Invited: Visual Arts Winter Exhibitions 2012 Opening Reception Jan. 27

• You’re Invited: Films of Inuit Stories Jan.25-26 + Mediatheque’s Family Day Fun Feb.18-20

• You’re Invited to HarbourKIDS: SK8 Winter Festival February 19-20, 2012

Save Canada’s Jasper National Park: The Pressure is Working!

This is an update to my previous blogs:

• Less Then 24 Hours Left to Save Canada’s Jasper National Park!
• Please Save Canada’s Jasper National Park Now!

Good news from the Avaaz team:

Update: 31 January 2012
The pressure is working! Parks Canada just announced they are delaying their decision — giving us more time to build our outcry against this attack on our public parks.

Thank you very much everyone for helping and caring to keep Canada’s Jasper National Park beautiful and magnificent for us and future generations to freely enjoy!

Jasper National Park is a national treasure of Canada, as shown in this video:

You may also want to know:

• Canada Just Cancelled its $400-Million ecoENERGY Retrofit Program

• Please Petition Europe to Oppose ACTA – a Global Treaty for Corporations to Censor the Internet

• You’re Invited to Watch FRESH Online Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2012!

• 2012! Happy New Year!

• 2012 Green Toronto Awards Nominations: Now Open Until Feb. 6 at 11:59 P.M.

• Everyday Heroes Festival 2012: Canadian Youth’s One-Minute Eco-Films Can Win Great Prizes

• Superior Adventure Contest Opens to Legal Residents of Canada and Most of U.S.

Canada Just Cancelled its $400-Million ecoENERGY Retrofit Program

This is an update to my previous blog ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes Grants For Homeowners Are Back!

Today the following disappointing news is provided by the Toronto Star:

• Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver quietly announced Sunday that the Tories will no longer accept new registrants to the ecoENERGY Retrofit program. (The government was expected to close registration March 31.)

• The Conservative government has cancelled its $400-million ecoENERGY Retrofit program ahead of schedule.

• However, homeowners currently registered can receive post-retrofit evaluations and apply for grants until June 30, 2012; the retrofit renovations must be completed by March 31.

Please click here to read the Toronto Star’s story “Federal government pulls plug on ecoENERGY Retrofit program.”

You may also want to know:

• Less Then 24 Hours Left to Save Canada’s Jasper National Park!

• Please Petition Europe to Oppose ACTA – a Global Treaty for Corporations to Censor the Internet

• You’re Invited to Watch FRESH Online Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2012!

• 2012 Green Toronto Awards Nominations: Now Open Until Feb. 6 at 11:59 P.M.

• Everyday Heroes Festival 2012: Canadian Youth’s One-Minute Eco-Films Can Win Great Prizes

• Superior Adventure Contest Opens to Legal Residents of Canada and Most of U.S.

• 2012! Happy New Year!

• Harbourfront Centre Large-Scale Photographic Exhibition

• You’re Invited: Visual Arts Winter Exhibitions 2012 Opening Reception Jan. 27

• You’re Invited: Chinese Cultural Dance + DanceWeekend 2012 + Dance Photography Exhibit

• You’re Invited: Films of Inuit Stories Jan.25-26 + Mediatheque’s Family Day Fun Feb.18-20

• You’re Invited to HarbourKIDS: SK8 Winter Festival February 19-20, 2012

Less Then 24 Hours Left to Save Canada’s Jasper National Park!

This is an update to my previous blog Please Save Canada’s Jasper National Park Now!

Less then 24 hours left to save Canada’s Jasper National Park!

The following updated alert from the Avaaz team urges us to to call Jasper National Park Superintendent Greg Fenton and stop him from selling out our public park, then forward this alert to everyone.

“In hours, the Harper Government could privatise a section of Jasper National Park and let an American-owned company blast a 300m metal walkway into our World Heritage mountains — but Jasper’s Superintendent Greg Fenton has the power to stop them.“

Call to save our park today!

Then, please click here to leave your message on the right-hand side of the Avaaz page “24 hours to Save Jasper National Park.”

Jasper Superintendent Greg Fenton

• Phone: (780) 852-6171
• Email Greg Fenton here (opens new tab)

Environment Minister Peter Kent

• Ministry Phone: (819) 997 1441
• Constituency Office Phone (905) 886 9911
• Click here to post to Minister Kent’s Facebook page
• Click here to email Minister Kent (opens new tab)

Sample Facebook message: “Minister Kent, I call on you to put Canadians ahead of US-owned companies and immediately deny Brewster’s proposal to privatize part of Jasper National Park.”

Talking points:

• “I call on you to save Jasper National park by denying Brewster’s application to build a 300m lookout on the side of a mountain.

• Over 170,000 Canadians object to Brewster’s planned privatization whereby Canadians would be charged a fee to use a portion of Jasper Park.

• We want to protect all of our parks and are concerned that privatizing even a portion of Jasper could lead to the further commercialization of our public and natural park land.

• For these reasons we call on you to put Canadians ahead of US-owned companies and immediately deny this privatization.”

“Sources:

Jasperite, Greg Fenton, returns home to become superintendent of Jasper National Park (Parks Canada)

National Parks – and the views – belong to Canadians (Calgary Herald)

Feedback Deadline Looms, Decision Expected Next Month (The Fitzhugh)

Record of Lobbying (Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada)

National Parks should be Wildlife Sanctuaries, not Cash Cows (Green Party of Canada) ”

Please Tell Your Friends!

You can see what inspired the three finalists in the Community Projects award category of the 2010 Green Toronto Awards in this video here:

2012 Green Toronto Awards

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Winter, spring, summer, fall… Who’s the greenest of them all? You tell us!

The City of Toronto’s environmental awards of excellence honour and celebrate the individuals, organizations and companies that are helping lead the way to a cleaner, greener and more liveable Toronto. Big, small – we’re looking for them all!

Nominations close Monday, February 6 at 11:59 p.m.

Nominations are now open for the 2012 Green Toronto Awards.

Please note that any person, project, initiative or company may be nominated for an award provided that they reside in Toronto (Ontario, Canada) and/or contribute directly to the greening of the City of Toronto.

Please click here to read the complete list of eligibility requirements.

2012 Green Toronto Awards Nominations: Now Open Until Feb. 6 at 11:59 P.M.

The Award winners will:

• receive a prestigious Green Toronto Award

• receive $5,000 to further their work on the environment or donate to a registered charity of their choice, courtesy of award sponsors

• be recognized at a public awards ceremony

• be profiled on the City of Toronto’s website

• be profiled by Toronto media

Categories for nomination include:

Before you complete the Green Toronto Awards 2012 nomination form, please review the:

New for 2012

Good Luck / Bonne Chance!

You may also like:

• You’re Invited to Watch FRESH Online Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2012!

• Everyday Heroes Festival 2012: Canadian Youth’s One-Minute Eco-Films Can Win Great Prizes

• Superior Adventure Contest Opens to Legal Residents of Canada and Most of U.S.

• Please Save Canada’s Jasper National Park Now!

• 2012! Happy New Year!

• Harbourfront Centre Large-Scale Photographic Exhibition

• You’re Invited: Visual Arts Winter Exhibitions 2012 Opening Reception Jan. 27

• You’re Invited: Chinese Cultural Dance + DanceWeekend 2012 + Dance Photography Exhibit

• You’re Invited: Films of Inuit Stories Jan.25-26 + Mediatheque’s Family Day Fun Feb.18-20

• You’re Invited to HarbourKIDS: SK8 Winter Festival February 19-20, 2012

You're Invited to Watch FRESH Online Jan. 26 - Feb. 1, 2012!

FRESH

New Thinking About What We’re Eating.

A film by ana Sofia joanes

The FRESH Team gives us the good food movement with FRESH tips for greener living, news and action alerts.

The FRESH Team is “always looking for ways to build the good food movement and reach a tipping point where sustainable food is the rule, not the exception.”

So, in order to continue spreading the word, here is their exciting new initiative:

FRESH is available for viewing online for FREE!

FRESH is a great film on how to put good food on every plate.

For details and a synopsis of FRESH the movie, please click here.

For a limited time, you can access the full-length film from your desktop (total running time: 72 minutes). The movie will be available for one week, from Thursday, January 26th through Wednesday, February 1st, so don’t wait to watch! To access the movie, simply click below:

http://action.freshthemovie.com/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=6608

The FRESH Team “hopes that you will take the opportunity to enjoy the film and share it far and wide, with your friends, family, coworkers, school, baking club, gardening circle and more. After accessing the movie online, you’ll  receive an exclusive link to purchase a FRESH DVD for home use for just $14.99, 50% off their regular price! Consider supporting FRESH and our work by buying or gifting a copy to someone you care about.”

Happy Eating & Viewing FRESH!

Everyday Heroes Festival 2012: Canadian Youth's One-Minute Eco-Films Can Win Great Prizes

3rd annual Everyday Heroes Film Festival 2012

April 13 – 22, 2012

2012 Theme
Going environ-MENTAL: Cool Tricks to Solve Climate Change

Showcasing great film, video and animation with an environmental focus by Canadian youth aged 13–24.

The 3rd annual Everyday Heroes Film Festival’s highlights include:

• reaching over two million viewers a day

• unique in North America

• the festival plays on Onestop’s TTC subway platform screens in Toronto, Ontario, and on screens in malls across Canada
  • Everyday Heroes plays every 10 minutes on the network of 300 TTC subway platform screens in 60 stations across Toronto.

  

  • The Everyday Heroes Festival also plays once every 5 minutes on screens in 35 Ivanhoe Cambridge Shopping Centers in communities across Canada.

• all official selections will also be featured on the Everyday Heroes Festival website
  • Finalists are featured on the Everyday Heroes website, where viewing and voting take place during the festival.
  • Films continue to be available year-round, which means that there is an ever-growing library of films from past festivals.
  • Viewers can rate and comment on all the films in the collection throughout the year.

• showcasing truly unique and wholly creative one-minute eco-films at the same time Earth Week is celebrated around the world

• new this year, the Everyday Heroes Festival is now focused on Canadian youth, and the theme of Climate Change

“Our actions are changing our climate in a way that is negatively affecting our health and the ability of some parts of the world to meet the basic necessities of life (food, clothing, shelter).

Show us a cool trick you think could help solve climate change or tell us about someone who’s already doing something about it. Either way, we want to know what you think and give you the chance to win some great prizes!”

The requirements for participating in the Everyday Heroes Film Festival are:

• Submissions must be 60 seconds and silent
  
• You must be living in Canada
  
• Also, you must be between the ages of 13 and 24
  

Submission is FREE.

Everyday Heroes Festival is produced by:

Good Luck / Bonne Chance!

———————————-

You may also want to know:

• Please Save Canada’s Jasper National Park Now!

• 2012! Happy New Year!

• You’re Invited to HarbourKIDS: SK8 Winter Festival February 19-20, 2012

• You’re Invited: January 2012 Skate Culture Activities at Harbourfront Centre

• 2 for 1 Skate Rentals at Evergreen Brick Works Ice Skating Rink All Winter Long!

• You’re Invited: Leisure Skate and Shinny Hockey Programs at Toronto’s Outdoor Rinks

• Superior Adventure Contest Opens to Legal Residents of Canada and Most of U.S.