A motion to rescind the climate emergency declared by Calgary city council in 2021, as well as perform an audit on value for money spent on the emergency and climate strategy was defeated in council chambers on Tuesday.
There were actually seven differnt motions relating to the "climate emergency" — and each one of them was defeated,
The motion was brought forward by Cllrs. Sonya Sharp, Andre Chabot, Dab McLean and Terry Wong who claimed the declaration has been used as a basis for embedding climate-related spending across city departments, adding the emergency has led to long-term expenditures and organizational changes, “without clarity on measurable benefits.”
“Administration’s current reporting on climate-related expenditures is fragmented, with significant portions of climate spending embedded across departmental budgets, making it difficult for council and taxpayers to clearly identify and evaluate the full costs,” read the motion.
Another issue addressed by the motion was the declaration suggested it could position the city to receive federal funds to address environmental issues, although the Alberta Government, through Bill 18, has prohibited municipalities from negotiating or receiving funding directly from the federal government.
In debate, McLean said, “I want to focus on what this declaration has meant for Calgarians and taxpayers. To fund the decisions we make, according to the city's own numbers in 2025, the climate and environmental business unit alone is operating within a $26 million based budget, $22 million of runtime programs, $23 million in capital spending and that does not include $214 million in climate related capital.”
“A lot of millions. This level of spending has a direct impact on significant property tax increases, at a time when families and businesses are already struggling with affordability, we have a duty to ensure that every tax dollar we spend here produces measurable results. We don't know whether these investments are producing real tangible results. This is not about denying climate change, it's about ensuring that our response is proportionate, affordable and transparent.”
Cllr. Carra argued, “I'll start by saying that my 25 years of professional practice as a city builder of all kinds and the last 15 as an elected official in the City of Calgary has been very much about trying to build a place that will survive and thrive long into a climate uncertain future.”
“We decided to put it front and centre and that was a big political move. It was a big leadership move. It was a big body of work that's critically important for our city if we don't do this work. And anything we do to hurt that work is bad leadership. It was also a political commitment and a leadership commitment to put climate front and center. I'm going to vote against Issue A here because I believe so strongly in it. It's bad politics, it's bad leadership. Shame on the people who brought it forward. Shame on their bad faith arguments.”
Mayor Jyoti Gondek weighed in with,” Our role as governors is to manage risk. That's absolutely part of our job. 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 it is, ‘what's your commitment to sustainability? Because without one, we don't want to come to your locations.’ I can tell you that tech leaders are asking the exact same questions about whether or not to locate in this city.”
“I think it's important to recognize that our job is to be governors and manage and mitigate risk. That is something that we signed up for. And doing that work is not being part of a cool kids club. It's actually a leadership moment. We showed that kind of leadership in 2021. We gained investment from it. We gained reputational benefit from it. And to now roll all of that backwards is nothing more than posturing and politicking. And it's the worst kind of politics.”
As one of the sponsoring councilors, Sharp closed the debate.
“This was one of the most political decisions we had to make in 2021. And now my colleagues are falling over themselves to defend their past decisions, just like I had to defend my opposition of that word of emergency in November 2021, where I was vilified publicly on social media.”
“Councillor Carra, I can give you a lot of examples about our leadership over the last four years and what we've rescinded and poor governance (but) this is not about denying climate change.”
“Myself and my colleagues understand the impact in the changing climate, but we also are realistic about what we can do as a city. There's a difference between caring about the climate and environment and the impact we have on writing that blank cheque. Auditing the work we do is actually really important. To make sure you're doing it right. That's why I believe most of Calgarians want, and that's what we brought forward.”
The seven motions inside the main were all defeated.
