THE POWER OF MUNICIPALITIES TO WAGE CLIMATE ACTION IN CANADA

By Riyana Karim-Hajiani

---

Riyana Karim-Hajiani is a third-year undergraduate student of McGill University’s Department of Political Science where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Honours Arts. Riyana has joined the Climate Reality Project as the Community Climate Hub Research intern. She is heavily engaged in journalism where she advocates for social, political, and legal justice. She has always been passionate about the law and intends to tackle law school following her undergraduate degree. She predicts that her work will involve organizations advocating for climate action in the courtroom.

---

For many Canadians, the threat of global climate change did not always feel like a direct threat to their particular circumstances. But as Canada is warming twice as fast relative to the rest of the world, estimated at 1.7 °C annually, threats that once seemed far away are felt close to home. For example, in 2017 parts of British Columbia were devastated by extreme wildfires that reached levels seven to eleven times more intense than previously experienced. Extreme wildfires such as these are projected to further intensify. More than ever, we are in need of lasting solutions to reduce Canada’s carbon emissions.

Communities are at the front lines of climate disaster. British Columbia’s wildfires displaced 65,000 local people and millions more were exposed to wildfire smoke. Or take for example, as a result of warming in the Arctic (warming at 2.3 °C annually), Inuit communities’ way of life and survival are under threat. That is why we must look to municipalities (or communities), to deploy the solutions needed for a net-zero emissions Canada.

What about the federal government?

While the Canadian government has committed itself to fighting climate change, the pace of change at the federal level is often slow and complex. This is largely due to what is best described as a balancing act between economic growth and the environment that often puts federally elected officials in the middle of long political and legal disputes.

For instance, in 2018 Parliament passed the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act to impose a minimum carbon tax on provinces. Following which, the federal government was hit with three individual lawsuits filed byOntario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. It was not until March 2021, three years later, that the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the federal government.

This may demonstrate how the federal government is unfit to make swift moves against climate change’s ticking clock as national action is continually muddled by resistance against federal direction.

Nevertheless, Canada cannot afford more years-long legal battles directed against progress. That being said, municipalities may be better situated to deliver the mass decarbonization that is needed to defend against climate change.

How can the actions of municipalities profoundly influence the future?

With 81 per cent of Canadians living in urban centers, cities are leading low carbon innovation hubs. Namely, in 2011 Vancouver set out to become the greenest city in the world by 2020. Currently, the city ranks among the top environmental cities worldwide as leaders in green building and architecture design, infrastructure, and policy. For example, Vancouver requires energy efficiency retrofits when a building is sold and when renovation permits are being issued. Proposed climate action policies such as these, become tailored to local communities, their vulnerabilities, and advantages—maximizing the efficacy of policy.

Speaking of policy, local governments may be well positioned to influence the federal government. This refers to the ability of municipal policy to trickle up. Take Toronto for example, which emitted 49.2 megatons of carbon emissions and 41 percent of Ontario’s total carbon emissions in 2017. Any Toronto-led climate policy that reduces emissions would not just affect Toronto, rather the effects would span outwards across the province and the country. In this same vein, any policy that is implemented in cities such as Toronto calls on a wider range of people, elected officials, and public servants to step up for climate action. In doing so, the culture of action changes by beginning local municipal conversations about how to build a better Canada.

However, big cities are not the only municipalities capable of taking action. North of Thunder Bay, the people of the Kiashke Zaaginng Anishnaabek (KZA)/ Gull Bay First Nation have become the first fully integrated microgrid in Canada. Through microgrid, the community will be able to use clean energy generated by solar panels in place of diesel fuel. Demonstrating that any community, despite remoteness, can join the climate fight.

Meaningful action can happen in Canada, but only if our ambitious municipal leaders and locally based solutions are supported as municipalities have the power to profoundly influence the future. Ask yourself, how does your community fit into the climate fight?