Belleville not considering declaring climate emergency

By Connor Robinson

Climate change protest held in Belleville on September 20th – Photo by Robert D. Champagne QNet News 

BELLEVILLE – The mayor of Belleville says council is not considering declaring a climate emergency despite other municipalities in Ontario doing so.

“So under the Municipal Act the head of council or the mayor has the ability to declare an emergency. And in those situations is typically because of some type of emergency event. And then triggers assistance from the federal and provincial governments.” Mayor Mitch Panciuk said when asked by QNet News about the possibility of declaring a climate emergency

“If council was to pass a resolution it would open ourselves up to being able to be influenced by the federal or provincial governments in a way that we don’t anticipate.”

However, city councillor Chris Malette thinks the city should be taking climate change more seriously.

“They’re not taking climate change into account in any shape or form.”

Malette sites the recent news conference held by four area mayors about water levels in the bay of Quinte.

“I think its too simplistic to just say well scrap Plan 2014 and everything will be fine again.”

Plan 2014 was put in place by the International Joint Commission. It was intended to combat falling water levels in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River and to protect fish and wildlife habitat. But its result has been water levels so high that residents and businesses along Lake Ontario are concerned.

Ottawa, Kingston and Peterborough have all declared climate change emergencies. Just last week Peterborough city council voted unanimously to declare the emergency, back in March Kingston was the first city in Ontario to declare a climate an emergency. On Wednesday the largest municipality in the country, Toronto declared a climate change emergency. The vote was passed unanimously with the goal of achieving net zero greenhouse emissions by the year 2050.

Still city council has made moves to help the city reduce its impact on the environment. The city has a Green Task Force that was created in order to “recognize the importance of a healthy, sustainable environment and work towards developing policies and recommendations that positively impact corporate operations and services.”

Belleville city council is also considering a ban on single use plastics.