In June 2019, North Bay City Council voted against declaring a climate emergency, as so many other municipalities across Canada already had. NEW undertook an initiative to inform City Council about the climate crisis with a series of short videos called Climate Go-To’s.
Go-To #15 – March 2026
Go-To #14 – August 2024
We’ve been fortunate in North Bay this summer to avoid flooding and fires, but the work of building a more climate-resilient city has quite a way to go, right?
Have you seen any of the documentaries called The Life-Sized City? The series showcases inspiring stories from everyday citizens yearning for change and urban renewal, just like so many North Bayites. Volunteerism is a strong theme in each episode. Ideas once limited to a single neighbourhood, somewhere halfway around the world, are brought to the screen to inspire people from just about everywhere.
Each episode focuses on one city and on what makes it liveable (or not) for its residents. Host Mikael Colville-Andersen gives a voice to those who go above and beyond stereotypes and who dare to make a difference, from ordinary citizens to urban activists and political leaders.
Colville-Andersen is a Canadian-Danish urban designer and urban mobility expert. Here’s a 2-minute trailer: Season 1
Always ready to have conversations about making North Bay a more climateresilient city!
Go-To #13 – January 2024
North Bay’s tree canopy has long been of interest to local residents. Especially with climate extremes affecting people right where they live. The federal government has designed a website showing data on healthy cities including tree canopy, air pollution, flood susceptibility, parks within 1 km radius, transit stops within 1 km radius, and average summer temperature and others. The data can be filtered for certain populations such as older adults, low-income individuals and first-generation immigrants. It covers all Canadian cities over 30,000 population, based on information from Statistics Canada.
Here’s the link: https://healthyplan.city/en
Just sharing in case you haven’t seen it and hoping you will find it useful. There is a tutorial explaining how to use the site.
Go-To #12 – May 2023
You may wonder why we’re sending an article about fishing in Lake Erie. . . Lake Nipissing is much like Lake Erie. They both stretch primarily along the prevailing winds from west to east. Both are shallow and can whip up strong waves quickly like water sloshing around in a bathtub. And both have economically significant pickerel (walleye) fisheries. This brief article tells how warmer weather is hard on the fish both in summer and winter. Less ice cover results in fewer fish living longer and growing larger, for example. Climate Impacts on Fish
Go-To #11 – Nov 2022
This brief video brings a breakdown on the true costs of residential sprawl type development and the economic benefits of small cities supporting smarter, walkable development. The example is in the US, but the narrator is Canadian and he points out the differences. It starts with the statement that many small cities can’t afford their infrastructure maintenance. Then goes on to explain why. Suburbia is Subsidized: Here’s the Math
Go-To #10 – Aug 2022
Learn about throwing good infrastructure $$ towards bad roads. Wonderland Road in London, Ontario is the example. Here’s an excerpt:
“… when it comes to car-dependent infrastructure, the real cost is the lifetime of maintenance, not the capital costs.”