FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE: Horizon Ottawa condemns more climate delay from City Council on potential fossil fuel ad ban
OTTAWA - Horizon Ottawa is expressing frustration at a decision from the Finance and Economic Development Committee (FINCO) to further delay discussion and debate around a potential ban on fossil fuel advertising on City of Ottawa property and OC Transpo.
FINCO was supposed to debate a memo from City Staff today who put out recommendations around a fossil fuel ad ban. City staff argued that a ban would be legally risky but were prepared to implement recommendations from the federal government on greenwashing when it came to advertising.
The debate didn’t even get to that point however — Committee voted 8 to 4 opposing discussion of the item, instead punting it to Environment Committee on June 17th.
The item was first brought to the Environment Committee more than a year ago in March 2024 with the staff report supposed to be published months after but has since faced constant delays.
“It is frustrating that this report was constantly delayed for over a year while other projects like Tewin or a bubble bylaw continue to be expedited despite the pressing nature of the climate crisis,” said Tom Ledgley, Coordinator for Horizon Ottawa. “We need to use every tool at our disposal and fast so we can meet the moment and achieve the City’s own climate goals.”
A ban on fossil fuel advertisements was passed by the Hague in 2024 and implemented in 2025. It was challenged in the Dutch courts in April. The courts upheld the ban arguing that the ban was in the public interest and that this form of advertising is clearly intended to serve commercial purposes and therefore does not fall under constitutional protection.
The City of Toronto similarly passed a bylaw to deal with misleading fossil fuel ads last year despite the legal risk.
“Staff are willing to take legal risk when it comes to breaching the rights of those of us to protest with a bubble bylaw,” said Ledgley. “But when it comes to impeding companies like Imperial Oil from promoting their commercial interests at the expense of the public and our climate goals there is suddenly too much risk — it’s time we be leaders on the climate crisis instead of these constant delays.”
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For Media Inquiries:
Tom Ledgley
613-663-7018
[email protected]
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE: Horizon Ottawa Releases Donor Information from Osgoode By-election Candidates
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
09 June 2025
OTTAWA - Horizon Ottawa has released information about how candidates in the Osgoode by-election have financed their campaigns in an effort to improve transparency. The organization has consistently called on candidates to refuse contributions from the development industry based on the perception that this could create a conflict of interest when elected officials are tasked with decisions that would affect developer profits. The City of Ottawa already requires candidates to release a list of all donations over $100 following the election, but Horizon also stresses the importance of voters having access to this information before casting their ballot.
Of the eleven candidates registered in the by-election, Horizon was able to contact ten, six of whom responded to the request. Horizon’s findings can be seen in this chart:
Three candidates: Dalton Holloway, Jennifer van Koughnett, and Peter Westaway provided a list of their donors and were verified to have not received any funding from those connected to the development industry.
Greg Vail provided a list of donors and was found to have received two $100 contributions from donors who could be construed to be connected to the real estate development industry.
Isabelle Skalski and Dan O’Brien both claim to have received no developer-related funding, but did not disclose a list of their donors.
Doug Thompson, Colette Lacroix Velthuis, Guy Boone, and Bobby Gulati did not respond to Horizon’s request. While this does not necessarily mean that their campaigns were funded by developer-connected donors, Osgoode Ward residents will not have access to this information before selecting a councillor.
Horizon encourages each of these candidates to show voters that transparency matters to them and to make this information publicly available before election day on June 16th.
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For media inquiries:
English
Tom Ledgley
613-663-7018
French
Sam Hersh
613-663-7018
