Calgary city council maintains climate emergency declaration in vote

Calgary city council has voted down an attempt to rescind the climate emergency declaration.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek spearheaded the move shortly after the last general election in the fall of 2021, but a group of four councillors put forward a notice of motion to end it, arguing it is largely symbolic and the promise of using it to get federal funding hasn’t materialized.

Ahead of the vote, the mayor spoke in favour of the city’s climate plans, saying they’ll help bring business to the city.

“I can tell you for a fact that when we talk to film and television production houses, one of the first things they say to us is ‘What’s your committment to sustainability? Because without one, we don’t want to come to your locations,'” Gondek said. “This is a way for us to point and say, ‘We are absolutely committed to sustainability.”

Council also voted down other parts of the motion, including to have a full accounting of all climate related expenditures.