On March 5th, a group of 15 community organizations asked Ottawa's Finance and Corporate Services Committee to prohibit fossil fuel advertisements in City facilities or sponsorship of City facilities and activities when the City’s Corporate Sponsorship and Advertising policy came up for review. The Committee agreed to study the issue and to ask staff to report back by September this year. This opens the door to a potential ban on fossil fuel advertising.
On May 28th, it was revealed through a leak to the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment that the advertising regulatory organization Ads Standards found the statements made in these fossil fuel ads create an "overall misleading impression" about the dangers of burning fossil fuels.
Fast-forward to February 2025 and this matter STILL hasn't been revisited. We expect this to face further delays before it eventually comes to the Finance and Corporate Services Committee, potentially in May. If you're interested in delivering a public deleagtion, sign up here and we'll reach out with all the information you'll need once the date is confirmed.
