UPDATE: Stratford City Council received reports and presentations for two climate items on their meeting agenda on February 22nd. Read a recap of that part of the Council meeting in an article from the Stratford Beacon Herald. The proposed motion was divided into two sections with some parts passed and others deferred – see below. Councillors asked questions and offered opinions on an appropriate target for Stratford’s greenhouse gas emissions with some councillors calling for a more ambitious target than a 10% reduction of 2017 levels by 2030. The target issue and priority climate actions for the city will be revisited when the Perth County Climate Change Coordinator presents her climate plan to Council, hopefuly in March.
Parts of the motion that were passed:
THAT staff be directed to investigate and report back within 3 months on the following initiatives which could commence in 2021:
– Review of Idling By-law.
– Electric Vehicle Charging Stations.
– Corporate Adoption of One Planet Living Principles; [Editor’s note: See more aboout the One Planet Living Principles here – scroll down to the section on cities.]
AND THAT staff be directed to enter into a new Local Partnership Agreement with the Municipality of North Perth, Municipality of West Perth, Township of Perth East, Township of Perth South, County of Perth, and Town of St. Marys for the shared services of the Climate Change Coordinator for the period of March 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, with the potential for extension in 2022.
Parts of the motion that were deferred:
THAT the Corporate and Community Initiatives identified in this report (COU21-023) be adopted in principle, subject to a more fulsome review by staff, at the direction of Council, to outline individual implementation plans with specific budget and resource impacts identified;
THAT the City of Stratford set a 10% emissions reduction target, based on 2017 levels, by the year 2030
We’re excited to see climate items on the agenda for Monday’s Stratford City Council meeting! But your voice is needed to ensure Council does not pass a weak climate action target. Please let Council know that you want bold climate action and will do all that you can to support Stratford to catch up to neighbouring communities and become a leader in climate action. Read more about this call to action and find the email addresses for councillors in our latest e-newsletter.
Please watch and listen in to the virtual City Council meeting at 3pm on Monday February 22nd. You can watch live over Zoom with this link or watch on the City of Stratford’s Facebook page.
Items 6.2 and 7.1 on the meeting agenda are: Presentation by Rebecca Garlick, Climate Change Coordinator, of Stratford’s Emission Profile; and Resolution – Stratford Greenhouse Gas Emissions Planning
The presentation by Rebecca Garlick has been delayed for a long time, so we are pleased to see she will get her first chance to talk to City Council about the GHG emissions report she prepared. The resolution for GHG emissions planning that City Staff will present includes some proposed initial actions and a proposed 2030 emissions reduction target for Stratford of just 10% – see the text from the meeting agenda below.
We’re concerned that an emissions reduction target of 10% by 2030 does not reflect what we can do or what’s necessary given the urgency of the climate crisis. We need a strong target as we get started on coordinated community climate action!
Also, Rebecca Garlick will not present her completed Climate Action Plan to Council until sometime in March. It’s unclear – and confusing – why Council is discussing and approving a GHG emissions target, and initiatives to reduce those emissions, before seeing the Climate Change Coordinator’s plan and learning what the community feedback has been in response to her survey. We want Rebecca’s expert recommendations on targets and actions, along with the community feedback she’s gathered, to be the foundation of Stratford’s Climate Action Plan. Please urge Council to delay setting a GHG reduction target until they receive the climate action plan report from their Climate Change Coordinator.
An excerpt of Monday’s City Council meeting agenda, plus the relevant pages of background documents that were prepared for councillors, can be seen here.
The proposed resolution that Council will consider reads as follows:
7.1. Resolution – Stratford Greenhouse Gas Emissions Planning (COU21-023)
Motion by ________________
Staff Recommendation: THAT the Corporate and Community Initiatives identified in this report (COU21-023) be adopted in principle, subject to a more fulsome review by staff, at the direction of Council, to outline individual implementation plans with specific budget and resource impacts identified;
THAT staff be directed to investigate and report back within 3 months on the following initiatives which could commence in 2021:
– Review of Idling By-law.
– Electric Vehicle Charging Stations.
– Corporate Adoption of One Planet Living Principles;
THAT the City of Stratford set a 10% emissions reduction target, based on 2017 levels, by the year 2030;
AND THAT staff be directed to enter into a new Local Partnership Agreement with the Municipality of North Perth, Municipality of West Perth, Township of Perth East, Township of Perth South, County of Perth, and Town of St. Marys for the shared services of the Climate Change Coordinator for the period of March 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, with the potential for extension in 2022.