By: Annet Preethi Furtado
March 15 2023
False: Mississauga plans to limit its residents' movements and force people to take loans to make their homes solar-efficient.
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Fact-Check
The Verdict False
Mississauga's 15-minute city aims to improve accessibility to services without any restrictions. Theories asserting it will restrict rights are false.
Claim ID 1f1bf9e1
Context
A TikTok video accuses Mississauga, Ontario, of attempting to limit civilian movement and outlaw gasoline vehicles through its 15-minute city plans. The video has been shared in a Facebook post, uploaded on February 20, and has received over a thousand likes and shares.
In this viral video, a woman claims to have researched the 15-minute city plan for Mississauga and viewed an interactive map of the Cooksville area layouts.
She alleges that the administration has not made the public aware of a travel limitation that restricts people from leaving the city 100 times each year, with further trips each costing $56. She also states that the city would install a "smart grid" that will force residents to obtain a loan of $40,000 to adapt their homes to be more solar-efficient. She claims the city will phase out gas cars between 2023 and 2025.
The narrator claims residents will be forced to use digital IDs and currencies and that these steps will amount to "pure control" and "monitoring" over people in the 15-minute city of Mississauga. These claims, however, are based on unproven conspiracy theories and misrepresent legitimate environmental initiatives.
In Fact
The City of Mississauga intends to implement a 15-minute city plan, which aims to provide people access to essential services within a 15-minute walkable distance without needing a vehicle. Mississauga has drafted plans based on this concept in the Downtown Fairview and Cooksville areas.
Contrary to the viral video's claims, there will be no limit on how many times residents can leave the city in a year, and those who leave will not be subject to the travel fees mentioned in the clip.
The viral video also states that the city is considering setting up a "smart grid," requiring people to secure $40,000 loans to modify their homes to be more solar-efficient. While the Canadian government has rolled out the ''Greener Homes Loan Program,'' an interest-free loan program providing homeowners up to $40,000 to make their homes more energy-efficient, it will not be mandatory for residents to participate or take out these loans. Natural Resources Canada's statewide Smart Grid Initiative, launched in 2018, primarily invests in utility-led projects to reduce emissions and is unrelated to the 15-minute city development plans.
The video also claims that from 2023 until 2025, the 15-minute city in Canada would eliminate gas cars. In 2021, Canada's federal government announced a "mandatory target" for all new cars and passenger trucks to be zero-emission by 2035. It does not prohibit anyone from driving currently-owned gas-powered vehicles but stops the sale of new gasoline-powered automobiles and light trucks beginning in 2035.
Mississauga's 15-minute city redevelopment plan does not mention digital currencies or digital ID initiatives, as claimed in the video.
The Verdict
The Mississauga 15-minute city plan does not impose a cap on travel or a fee for people who exceed it. The plan does not forbid the use of gasoline-powered vehicles, nor will it use digital currency. Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.
