The Calgary city council executive committee got back to work on Monday, after taking the month of August off from any meetings. The executive committee is comprised of councillors Carra, Mian, Penner, Sharp, Spencer, Walcott and Mayor Gondek and meets to hear updates from city administration, as well as notices of motion (NoM), which are items councillors want to appear before the entire council, with the executive committee voting yes or no to the ask. The executive committee was joined by councillors McLean, Wong and Chabot, who, along with Sharp, were sponsoring an NoM to rescind the climate emergency declared by Gondek as her first piece of business immediately after being elected in 2021. The sponsoring councillors said in their NoM the declaration has since been used to embed climate-related spending to the tune of millions of dollars across a number of city departments. The NoM reads, “according to the city’s own numbers, in 2025 the Climate & Environment business unit has a $26 million base operating budget, $22 million in one-time operating programs, and $22.7 million in capital spending, with an additional $214.6 million in climate-related capital spending planned across departments in 2026.” ."The declaration of a Climate Emergency has been criticized as largely symbolic, while committing the city to significant long-term expenditures and organizational changes, without corresponding clarity on measurable benefits or alignment with core municipal responsibilities.” The councillors maintain administration’s 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. They add the declaration was premised on the assertion that such a declaration would not invoke the Emergencies Act as referenced in Section 551 of the Municipal Government Act but rather was a provision of the city charter permitting municipalities to declare an emergency related to environmental matters. They also suggest it could put the city in the position of accessing significant federal funds to address environmental issues. However, the province of Alberta, through the enactment of Bill 18, has prohibited municipalities from negotiating or receiving funding directly from the federal government, eliminating one of the primary rationales originally advanced in support of the climate emergency declaration. The resolution in the NoM is that council rescind the ‘Climate Emergency' declaration, which will be debated in the regular meeting of council on Sept. 16. .Also in the debate that day is to have council direct administration “to conduct a comprehensive value for money audit of all city climate-related spending, including operating and capital expenditures tied to the climate emergency declaration and subsequent climate strategies, across all business units and departments, including: a full accounting of annual climate-related expenditures since the declaration of a Climate Emergency in November 2021,” according to the NoM. On the table as well is an “assessment of whether the outcomes of expenditures align with council’s jurisdiction and priorities; identification of cost savings, duplications, or expenditures not delivering measurable benefits; recommendations for how climate-related spending can be better aligned with core municipal responsibilities and financial sustainability.” Following the meeting, Sharp, a mayoral candidate this year, told the media, “If there is money being put forward for some of the great things we’re doing for climate, then keep it. But if there’s stuff in there that isn’t making a difference, then declaring the climate emergency was a political stunt and I think what’s happening is calling it out.” In response and defending the declaration, Gondek said, “The number of companies that have chosen to locate in our city and help drive our economy, most of their leadership asked us about our stance on sustainability and, with our declaration. we are taken seriously.” So, the battle lines have been drawn in what is looking to be the first public policy skirmish between two of the candidates for Calgary's mayor this fall.
