The City of Prince George will not be participating in a Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Project.
The Inclusive Climate Action in Tunisian Municipalities (ICATM) will run until February 2029, and aims to the strengthen the resilience of local communities while placing equity and inclusion at the heart of this endeavor.
Prince George City Council voted on the matter at a special council meeting held yesterday. (Wednesday)
A City Spokesperson confirmed in an email the special meeting was held because the deadline to apply for the program was Friday, and it couldn’t wait until Monday’s meeting.
“When we deal with climate change, there’s no borders,” said Mayor Simon Yu.
“This is a project that we cannot really turn down, not to apply, we look at ourselves as the City of Prince George, we have the greenest university in Canada, and we are actively trying to get the City to be as green as possible.”
Councillor Cori Ramsay was originally presented the opportunity through FCM.
She noted there wouldn’t be a financial requirement from the City, other than time volunteered by Council and staff.
“Within this project, there’s the ability to fund a local project, there’s also the ability to draw in either a research institution or some non-profit groups that are working on climate adaptation and mitigation,” Ramsay said.
“This is a great opportunity to participate, there’s no cost to the municipality as it’s funded by FCM and Global Affairs, and it is really regarding work that we’re already doing.”
Councillor Garth Frizzell supported applying.
“This is all important work, and leaders like the US have temporarily stepped aside, this is our time to take that place,” Frizzell said.
Councillor Brian Skakun was not supportive of the City applying.
“I look at the issues that are going on, the tariff war, crime, fentanyl crisis, and everything else like that,” he said.
“I know there’s a timing issue on it, but if we’re going to have a special meeting, let’s have a special meeting for those types of things as well because there’s a lot of things that are going on in our own backyard.”
Councillor Kyle Sampson was not supportive either.
“I think it sounds like it’s important work, I support if Canada, as a nation, identifies international opportunities where we can support other countries,” Sampson said.
“Bringing it down to the municipal level and downloading the work onto our staff to carry that burden doesn’t work for me.”
When asked if staff had the capacity to submit an application, City Manager Walter Babicz said they would do what they could to submit a robust application.
“Having said that, I think we need to be transparent that our resources are valuable and limited in this area,” he said.
“Indirectly we do have scarce resources and if Council does approve this, then that may shift our workplan priorities depending on how much dedicated time is required.”
“While I think this is a really great project, I just don’t know if now is the right time for us to be putting our foot on the gas to do this, just in terms the priorities we have as a city, and staff capacity at this time,” said Councillor Tim Bennett in response.
Council narrowly defeated the motion to apply with a 4-5 vote, with Councillors Bennett, Klassen, Polillo, Sampson and Skakun opposed.
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