City committee advances mayor’s climate change declaration to council

A Calgary city committee has voted unanimously to advance the mayor’s climate emergency declaration to a full council meeting later this month.

It’s Jyoti Gondek’s first notice of motion as mayor.

RELATED: Mayor Gondek to put forward motion to declare climate emergency

Ward 5 Councillor Raj Dhaliwal supported the motion in part because his part of the city was devastated in June 2020’s record hailstorm.

He says he heard from many constituents that Calgary needed to be doing more on climate change.

“Why are we kicking the can down the street? My kids or their kids, they don’t want to see this again in the lifetime,” Dhaliwal said.

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The motion still has to be voted on at a regular council meeting on Nov. 15.

Gondek had pointed to Calgary and Alberta as being the place where six out of the top 10 most expensive natural disasters on record in Canada have occurred, saying she wants to ensure the city is developing strategic plans and partnerships to invest in reducing emissions and to make Calgary a global leader in the energy transition.

The mayor’s motion also looks to move faster on climate action by updating city-wide targets to hit zero emissions by 2050 and asking other levels of government for more funding to help.

“It’s critical that our governments, all governments, address this and it’s absolutely important that Calgary city council and the mayor take leadership on this position,” said David Khan, a senior staff lawyer at Ecojustice Canada.

“This is a really positive step. It will contribute to Canada meeting its international targets in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and more importantly, it will ensure that the climate crisis is addressed at the very highest levels and with all seriousness that it requires.”

Vancouver and Halifax are among the other Canadian cities to have declared climate emergencies.