Two Calgary city councillors are looking to revive the revolving debate around the previous council's climate emergency declaration. Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot and Ward 14 Coun. Landon Johnston are both planning to bring notices of motion next week that ask to revoke the 2021 declaration, which stated Calgary is in a climate emergency.
Their motions will have to pass through Tuesday's executive committee before they are formally debated by council at a future meeting. Alongside scrapping the declaration, Chabot is also calling for a full accounting of all climate-related spending by the city in the four-plus years since the declaration was made and for an assessment of whether spending outcomes are aligned with council's priorities.
He also wants the city to come forth with recommendations on how climate-related spending can better align with core municipal responsibilities and financial sustainability. "If you can't demonstrate there's a benefit from doing something, then why are we doing it?" he said in an interview.
Administration's current financial reporting on climate-related expenditures is fragmented, Chabot argued, with significant portions of spending embedded across various departmental budgets. He said this makes it difficult for Calgarians to identify or evaluate value for money. "If it's embedded in every business unit, then what's the cost and benefit from that?" he said.
The previous council first approved the emergency declaration in a 13-2 vote on November 2021. Calgary followed in the steps of other cities that have made similar declarations, including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton. The 2021 declaration ultimately guided council's adoption the following year of the city's new climate strategy, which aims for Calgary to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Chabot, who voted in support of the declaration in 2021, said he was under the impression it would lead to funding infusions from other orders of government. That hasn't necessarily materialized, he argued. "Which is why my notice of motion includes to do an investigation on exactly what kind of money we received from other orders of government, what positive outcomes have come from it, and whether or not it's actually created improvements," he said.
Climate emergency declaration called 'performative' gesture
Johnston, who is bringing a similar call to revoke the 2021 declaration, panned the proclamation as a purely performative gesture, and claimed it didn't lead to any additional investment. "By the administration's own terminology, it's a symbolic declaration," he said. "It didn't provide us any extra funding. It didn't put us on the world stage. As a matter of fact, I believe it put a dark cloud over the administration, when they're actually doing good work with watershed improvement and flood mitigation."
Both councillors emphasize that they acknowledge climate change but argue the declaration was a symbolic move without tangible benefits. The debate is expected to continue as the motions proceed through committee and toward a full council vote.
