On Monday evening,
Thunder Bay City Council will be hearing from a deputation that will ask it to
declare a climate emergency. According
to a front page story in the January 11th Chronicle-Journal: “Thunder
Bay’s EarthCare climate
adaptation working group, led by chairperson Aynsley Klassen, is
set to make
a deputation to council asking
for them to declare a symbolic climate emergency.” According to Chairperson Klassen, they are
not asking for a declaration under the Emergency Management and Civil
Protections Act that would include asking for actual resources but are simply asking
for a symbolic message to be sent. Thunder
Bay City Councillor Foulds – who is the chairperson of the City’s EarthCare
Advisory committee - is championing this cause and argues that: “Declaring a climate emergency is a way for
governments to publicly acknowledge the need for urgent action.”
This is the kind of
declaration Thunder Bay City Council will enjoy debating and making and will
likely spend several hours on it as each Councillor voices their lengthy support for
dealing with the effects of climate change, making sure everyone publicly knows that
they are on the side of the environment and future generations by declaring a
climate emergency. Moreover, given that
it is “symbolic” it means they will not have to ask the provincial government for
any resources or better yet not have to commit any City resources to dealing with
the “emergency.” In many respects, they
are simply doing what climate activist Greta Thunberg has railed against – the inaction
against climate change.
As she noted in her address
to the UN - “How dare you continue to look away, and come here saying that
you are doing enough when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere
in sight,” … ““You say you ‘hear’ us and that you understand the urgency. But
no matter how sad and angry I am, I don’t want to believe that. Because if you
fully understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would
be evil. And I refuse to believe that.” I also refuse to believe politicians are evil when self-absorbed, opportunistic and short-sighted are much better descriptors.
I would opine that simply declaring a
climate emergency and not acting on it is simply paying lip service to climate
change and trying to score some political points with climate change activists. If Thunder Bay City Council really wants to
do something to deal with a climate emergency, then they need to back up their “feel
good” declaration with some concrete action. It is not about what they have
done to date – such as the stated reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent since 2007 –
it is about what they are going to do.
An emergency requires
drastic action. What will be done to
expand use of Thunder Bay Transit in order to reduce reliance on personal
automobiles? Is not raising city transit
fares by 11 percent - as proposed in
the 2020 budget – contrary to bringing about a more sustainable
economy? Maybe City Council should aim
to reduce the “footprint” of City government by pledging to reduce its
employment via a process of attrition – that is through not filling retirements
and exits – by 10 percent over the next five years and reinvesting the savings
in climate initiatives such as planting more trees in the intercity area or
expanding sewers to deal with heavier rainfalls? Maybe there should be a permanent reduction
in property tax rates for new homes constructed that are under 1000 square fit
in order to promote more sustainable lifestyles with less “stuff”? Need I go
on?
Enough with the political
grand standing. Where are the solutions?
If you are going to declare an emergency, back it up with some action. Words and symbols are not enough. Thunder Bay does have a climate emergency –
it is the climate at Thunder Bay City Hall.
