Council receives new climate change motion

A week after deferring a decision about whether to tell the federal government to take action on climate change, a rewritten motion has come forward to city council.

A week after deferring a decision about whether to tell the federal government to take action on climate change, a rewritten motion has come forward to city council.

At Monday evening’s council meeting, Shanon Clohosey, the city’s sustainability projects manager, brought forward the latest version proposed for the motion aimed at urging the federal government to take action during next month’s international negotiations on climate change in Copenhagen.

The latest edition of the motion would have the city urging “the Canadian government to adopt greenhouse gas emission targets that meet or exceed the minimum targets recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report: reduction of 25 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050 based on 1990 levels.”

It would also encourage “the Canadian government, in partnership and collaboration with provinces, territories, first nation governments and municipalities to develop and implement an effective national plan to meet these targets and adapt to the impacts that now appear inevitable.”

The newest version of the motion was drafted after considerable debate by council at last week’s meeting over the wording that was proposed initially by Coun. Dave Stockdale, who brought it forward.

Debate among councillors ensued over that wording, which encouraged Ottawa to sign off on the treaty which could be signed in Copenhagen. Councillors took issue with telling Ottawa to sign off on a document that has yet to be drafted.

Stockdale then suggested and council agreed to an amendment that instead urged the federal government to adopt carbon emission reduction targets standards set out by the intergovernmental panel and to recognize the importance of responsible action on climate change and that the federal government is expected to work “for us and the rest of the world in Copenhagen in December 2009.”

However, instead of then voting to adopt the amended motion, council (except for Stockdale) voted to defer it when there was confusion over the new wording.

At last night’s council meeting, Clohosey said the latest edition of the motion came about after spending the week discussing it with council members and stakeholders in the community such as Ken Madsen and John Streicker.

Madsen and his teenaged son, Malcolm Boothroyd, had originally proposed the motion to Stockdale, and last week, Madsen and Streicker addressed council on it.

Coun. Ranj Pillai was quick to praise the work over the past week to come up with an amended motion.

All but one councillor expressed their support for the latest motion.

Coun. Florence Roberts said she’d rather support the original motion, than go with the specific reduction limits that are outlined in the newest version proposed.

“It’s too specific for my liking,” she said, later noting the city is doing a “wonderful job” in dealing with climate change through initiatives like the compost cart program.

While Roberts wondered aloud if the specific target numbers would be taken out, Coun. Betty Irwin argued the motion would be too weak without them.

Irwin said she would definitely support it when it comes forward next week for a vote, but also argued words like “urge” and “encourage” didn’t seem to do enough in stressing the importance of the issue.

“We have to take it seriously,” she said.

Clohosey pointed out the city will join other municipalities that are also bringing forward similar motions.

Along with the mayor sending along a copy of the motion in a letter to the government, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which is set to represent municipalities across the country in Copenhagen, will
receive a copy.

Stockdale, who was acting mayor last night in Mayor Bev Buckway’s absence, argued copies of the motion should also be sent to each of the political parties in Ottawa . As well, he said, copies should go to independent MPs, the Association of Yukon Communities and to council members in London, Ont., who earlier shared their motion with Whitehorse councillors.

Coun. Doug Graham, who voiced his support for the motion, also stressed the importance of the federal government working closely with municipalities on handling the changes that are coming as people deal with climate change.

“You have to look at the costs as well,” he said, after using the example of the impact hybrid cars will likely have on municipalities.

It’s municipalities that will be stuck dealing with the disposal of the battery packs from the vehicles into landfills, he pointed out.

Following the meeting, Streicker, who was on-hand to listen to the discussion, wouldn’t speculate on what will happen with next week’s vote.

However, he said that as a scientist, he spent the last week trying to help city officials find wording for the motion they were comfortable with, recognizing the city has a role to play in negotiations.

Roberts’ concerns came as little surprise, given that she had expressed them previously, he said, noting that the limits proposed are the minimum targets set out in earlier documents.

He’s hopeful the city will keep those baseline reduction limits in the motion if it passes next week.