Who are we?

Meet Climate Action King

Catherine Flear - Chair
I believe in the Indigenous seventh generation principle - that the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future. In my 70 years on this earth I have observed the loss of many living things from butterflies to snakes to birds to fish due to the loss of their habitat as a result of human decisions and behaviour. The human-made climate emergency is here. We must take action now before much of what we love and value in nature is gone. Let’s band together and get it done!

Mary Asselstine - Secretary
Climate change is the most important issue of my life time. I believe that addressing it must start with the community. I am a founding member of Climate Action King, a group which seeks to support the community in understanding and taking action to address climate change. On a personal level I will endeavour to reduce my greenhouse gas emissions with every decision I make.

Neva Lorenzon - Treasurer
Our physical, mental, and spiritual health is intimately connected to our natural environment. As a 30-year resident of King City, I joined Climate Action King because I believe that the protection and sustainability of the earth, our common home, is the responsibility of each and every one of us. I am passionate about climate action that is based on robust scientific evidence, and supported by sound economic solutions. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, we can do this.

Debbie Schaefer - Member-at-large
As I am a King Township municipal councillor (specifically for ward 5) I have the responsibility of ensuring that the Township’s policies and programs are responsive to our stated climate emergency. But, as I also want to play a role in influencing people to take action in their own lives, I am a founding member of CAK. Significant choices of relevance in my private life include heating and cooling my home with geothermal and purchasing an electric vehicle in fall 2020.

Keith Beckley - Member-at-large
I have been a passionate advocate for Electric Vehicles for over 10 years. My first electric vehicle (EV) was bought in 2012 and it has been used on numerous long distance trips having now travelled over 230,000 kms. I have worked my entire life in the tech sector, first in fiber optics and more recently in biomedical engineering field. More recently my focus has been on the 'electrify everything' movement and the need to move all of our energy related activities off fossil fuels.

Bruce Craig - Member-at-large
I have loved the outdoors from my childhood and through all of my adult years. Exploring cool green forests, paddling or sailing on lake waters and hiking trails high into alpine meadows on mountains have all held appeal. I’ve also been fascinated with weather and climate, plus various other natural systems on earth.

In the midst of this, I’ve learned about the high priority of stewardship and care of the earth. As I see climate and weather patterns going through dramatic changes, and natural systems and numerous species in decline, I’m inspired to respond. With Climate Action King I hope to help and to join with others in creating a healthy and sustainable future for this generation and for generations to come.”

Kate Goodale - Member-at-large
I am passionate about nature and I love to share that enthusiasm with others. I specialize in community engagement and I firmly believe that if you connect with people about values that are important to them, common ground can be found. There are many reasons that people choose to protect the environment, and I think that no single reason is more important than another--but in identifying those different reasons, we will be able to reach a much wider and receptive audience.

Ann Raney
I am a professional engineer who’s professional work experience took me between space and history (space craft component manufacture and historical building conservation and restoration), with a year and a half teaching high school maths and sciences. Root causes of problems are the best way to solve them effectively and efficiently, and the more solutions to a problem the better off we are. I've had a keen interest in outdoors and ecology from a young age, and I have been monitoring the global warming and biodiversity crises for some time. Seven years ago, committing to action I made a commitment to my community of King and I want to do my part to ensure that we work toward increasing the possibility of a stable and liveable climate for our children and generations to come. As a founding board member of Climate Action King, I look forward to enlarging the number of people in King willing to work together to ensure that future acting with boldness and urgency as the situation demands.

Susan Beharriell - Past Chair
Susan Beharriell was a founding member of Climate Action King from its inception in July 2019 and acted as Chair starting in January 2021. We were greatly saddened to learn of her death on December 1, 2022.

Susan was a special and unique person, a self-described “engaged optimist”. Her passion for her world was profound. She was excited about discovering a hibernaculum for snakes on her property and was thrilled when she got a report that one of the monarchs carrying a microchip that she had applied was tracked part way to Mexico. She was impatient with those who didn’t look at the big and long picture. She was a woman who, in her military career ,wrote intelligence reports for the Prime Minister and then in her retirement years, created and donned a costume evoking Mother Nature as a way to bring attention to the climate crisis.

The mission of CAK is “to inspire, encourage and support transformative climate action in King Township and to lead by example.” Susan has left us with a superlative example of how to do just that. We miss her greatly but feel assured she will continue to guide us in spirit.