Vernon city council Monday, May 13 (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

City council

Vernon’s call to end fossil fuel sponsorships fails at SILGA, will be brought forward at UBCM

May 16, 2024 | 5:00 AM

A proposal by a Vernon councillor for municipal organizations to stop accepting fossil fuel sponsorships fell short at a local leaders convention, but that might not be the end of it.

Councillor Brian Guy issued a proposal at the recent Southern Interior Local Government Association that called for fossil fuel industry sponsorship money not be accepted for SILGA or Union of B.C. Municipality (UBCM) meetings and conferences.

“Whereas burning carbon-based fuel causes climate warming with harmful socio-economic and environmental consequences; and in response Canada and BC have developed legislation, targets and incentive programs to rapidly decarbonize the economy; and local governments must assist in achieving these goals, and have developed Climate Action Plans and decarbonization programs to do so;

“And whereas the fossil-fuel industry funds conventions and meetings of local government associations, which benefits the industry while the rising costs of delay are borne by governments and society:

“Therefore be it resolved that SILGA and UBCM will no longer accept funding from the fossil-fuel industry and its lobby groups in support of conventions and meetings,” Guy’s resolution read.

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The proposal was put forward at the SILGA conference in Kamloops from April 30 to May 1, where it was defeated by a slight margin.

“I just took a rough count of the votes and I figure we needed 13 or 14 or 15 more votes, to have those nay votes shift to yes side to make it pass,” Guy stated during Vernon council’s meeting Monday, May 13.

“We lost, but it was close enough.”

Though the motion was defeated at the SILGA convention, it still has the possibility of becoming a recommendation to be brought forward to the province through another municipal convention.

“Our motion is going to go to the Union of B.C. Municipalities in September,” Mayor Victor Cumming told Vernon Matters following Monday’s meeting.

Cumming noted the topic was “hotly debated” at the SILGA conference, with some local leaders discussing the cost impacts of climate change and extreme weather events, but others arguing that the fossil fuel industry remains a large employer in the province, even though the resolution did not infer any direct impacts to the sector.

The mayor said he expects the resolution to spark even more conversations and debate at the UBCM meeting

“There’s a different balance of municipal elected directors, so we might find it a very close split in the conversation when we go to the coast,” Cumming said.

The 2024 UBCM convention will be held from Sept. 16 to 20 in Vancouver.