HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-15-049 - Blue Dot Declaration
REPORT TO:
Planning and Strategic Initiatives Committee
DATE OF MEETING:
May 25, 2015
SUBMITTED BY:
Alain Pinard, Director of Planning (519-741-2200 X7319)
PREPARED BY:
Barbara Steiner,
(
Senior Environmental Planner519-741-2200 X7293)
WARD(S) INVOLVED:
All Wards
DATE OF REPORT:
May 8, 2015
REPORT NO.:
CSD-15-049
SUBJECT:
Blue Dot Movement: Request for a Municipal Declaration
______________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
WHEREAS the City of Kitchener has striven for many years within its
jurisdiction to maintain a healthy environment for all our citizens through its
many plans, policies, programs and practices supported by the
Kitchener
;
Strategic PlanStrategic Plan for the Environment
AND WHEREAS the City endeavours to respect and promote the rights and
quality of life of its citizens and pursues the public interest in all its actions, the
identification and establishment of new basic human rights is best achieved at
the Provincial, Federal, and even international, levels of government;
AND WHEREAS the Cityunderstands that people are part of the environment, and
that a healthy environment is inextricably linked to human health and the social
and economic well-being of our community;
AND WHEREAS the City believes that the Federal and Provincial governments
should enshrine, within appropriate legislation, the right of all Canadians to live
in a healthy environment, including:
(a) the right to breathe clean air;
(b) the right to drink clean water;
(c) the right to consume safe food;
(d) the right to access nature;
(e) the right to know about pollutants and contaminants released into the local
environment; and,
(f) the right to participate in decision-making that will affect the environment;
*** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. ***
Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance.
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THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
(a) That the Mayor on behalf of City Council, be directed to forward this
resolution to the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of
Canada, with the request that the right of all citizens to live in a healthy
environment be enshrined in appropriate federal legislation including the
;
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
(b) That the Mayor on behalf of City Council, be directed to forward this
resolution to the Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario, with the
request that the right of all citizens to live in a healthy environment be
enshrined in appropriate provincial legislation including Ontario
;
Environmental Bill of Rights
(c) That a copy of this resolution be forwarded to all local Members of the
Parliament of Canada and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario; and
(d) That a copy of this resolution be sent to the Federation of Canadian
Municipalities and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.
BACKGROUND:
Blue Dot
Movement (a campaign of the David Suzuki Foundation and others) at their meeting of
February 19, 2015. The Committee recommended that a standard, generic declaration
ronment
be adopted by Kitchener Council as written.
This recommendation was considered at the Planning and Strategic Initiatives
Committee meeting of April 20, 2015 through staff report FCS-15-057. The matter was
deferred to a standing committee meeting on May 25, 2015 to allow time for additional
analysis and for consultation with other local municipalities and the Region of Waterloo
who are also all currently considering the same request.
REPORT:
What is the Blue Dot Movement?
The Blue Dot movement is a campaign of the David Suzuki Foundation along with
another national organization, Ecojustice (formerly the Sierra Legal Defense Fund). The
ultimate objective of this five-year initiative is an amendment to the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms enshrining
The campaign started in the autumn of 2014 with the Blue Dot tour which made a stop
in Kitchener. At that time, the first municipalities in Canada began adopting some form
of to this report as Appendix A).
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The Blue Dot Movement is calling upon municipalities to pass declarations respecting
s
across Canada will also take notice and pass, or strengthen, environmental bills of
rights. Ontario has had an Environmental Bill of Rights since 1993. Quebec and the
three territories also have such bills.
As of May 6, 2015,approximately forty-six (46) municipalities in several provinces in
Canada have adopted a declaration / resolution in some form. These have ranged from
large cities such as Vancouver and Montréal to small, rural towns. Six (6)of these
municipalities are in Ontario. The declarations adopted by other mid-sized Ontario
municipalities (Hamilton, Richmond Hill and Ajax) are all modified from the Model
Declaration.
What would the Model Declaration mean for us?
There is no fundamental disagreement about the principles and ideas being put forward
in the Model Declaration. In fact, the City of Kitchener has long been a leader in
creating, promoting, and putting into place initiatives that support the environmental
aspirations of our community.
requests of the local municipalities including
presentations at all three (3) area municipal environmental advisory committees, the
Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs), environmental and legal staff of the cities of
Cambridge, Waterloo and Kitchener and the Regional Municipality of Waterloo have
been communicating and collaborating on how best to move forward with this initiative.
During the inter-municipal review of the specific wording of the Model Declaration, it was
identified that there could potentially be financial, legal or other implications to
municipalities. Also, it was noted that the municipalities within this region already act on
most of the types of environmental initiatives referred to in the declaration and, perhaps
then, declarations of municipalities here should focus on the main objective of the Blue
Dot Movementlegislative change at the higher Federal and Provincial levels of
government.
Additional aspects of the Model Declaration include:
1. While we can always strive to do more and better, municipalities within this
region have historically been leaders in programs to enhance the environment
and we continue to push for continued and improved responses to such matters.
As a result, many of the priority actions identified in the Model Declaration are
already underway making this part of the Model Declaration less relevant here
than in other areas of Canada.
For example, the City of Kitchener has a multitude of such plans, policies,
programs and practices which have been in place for decades.
The City has had a Strategic Plan for the Environment since 1992.
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forward-looking policies regarding the various aspects of the environment.
The City has been a leader in water management, from adopting the
Kitchener Stormwater Utility to ensure proper resourcing of water
management initiatives. And the City has been a strong collaborator with
the Region in protecting groundwater, the source of our drinking water
supply.
The Kitchener Growth Management Strategy and biennial Plan has been
a mechanism to implement intensification and maintain a firm urban
boundary.
Air Quality in Kitchener (2006 and 2010)
drove actions to improve local air quality from 2006 forward.
An integrated, connected ecosystem of rivers, streams, woodlands,
wetlands and functional habitat was envisioned and identified in the
Kitchener Natural Heritage System (2011) and implemented through the
Kitchener Official Plan (2014).
The City is an active member of Partners for Climate Protection, a
collaborator in the Region-wide Community Climate Action Plan (member
of ClimateActionWR) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has in recent
years adopted master plans in respect of transportation in general and
walking and cycling in specific along with a Transportation Demand
Management Strategy (2011), and installed and operates one of Cana
largest solar roof projects at our main operations facility.
2.The wording of the Model Declaration may commit municipalitiesto actionsthat
are not within their jurisdictionsor that may not always be practicable.
3.Municipalitiesmay not have the legal authorityto grant all of the rights identified
in the Model Declaration.Many of the rights are already enshrined to some
extent either in common law or in various environmental and consumer
protection statutes.
4. Some provisions duplicate existing legal measures at other levels of jurisdiction.
The right to know about pollutants and contaminants
National
Environmental Protection
Act.
decision-
Environmental Assessment Act
andEnvironmental Bill of Rights).
5.
fall under multiple jurisdictions.Municipal public health departments (in
Kitchener, the Region) oversee food safety in restaurants and at public events,
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but responsibility for other aspects of food safety such as pre-packaged foods,
pesticide residues, and additives rests with senior levels of government.
6. The precautionary principle referenced in Section 3 is generally accepted as a
good idea, but can be challenging to implement if it delays necessary actions.
Essentially, the difficulty is that there is always a level of scientific uncertainty,
and the strict application of the precautionary principle might lead to abandoning
or delaying a worthwhile undertaking. An everyday example of the consequences
might be to push Ontario Planning Act applications beyond the statutory time
limits and therefore risk an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board for failing to
make a decision.
7.
Why a Declaration Customized for Kitchener and Other Municipalities in the Region?
The collaboration and communication among the staff of the cities of Cambridge,
Waterloo and Kitchener and the Regional Municipality of Waterloo has resulted in a
proposed declaration that addresses the collective concerns identified, and permits a
similar, customized version to be considered for adoption by all four Councils.
-in-Waterloo- helps
objective while using customized wording more specific to our local and regional
more specificity to our context, may have even more impact on the Provincial and
Federal governments.
Thus, such a declaration is recommended by this report. It contains an enhanced
preamble better related to the jurisdictional realities of municipal government, more
illustrative of the very real environmental actions and commitments of the City of
Kitchener, and clearly outlining municipalities are part (not all) of the solution. This
customized preamble is followed by a clear, succinct resolution calling upon the senior
levels of government to act on improving the environmental rights of Canadians.
This version is generally consistent with that which will be considered by Waterloo,
Cambridge and the Region of Waterloo; however, each municipality will have some
custom wording and, at the time of writing this report, the City of Kitchener is the first
Standing Committee/Council to consider adopting the customized declaration.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
Supporting the Blue Dot Movementhelp safeguard
healthy environmentthrough a Municipal Declaration customized for Kitchenerwill help
demonstratethe Community Visionfor the Community Priority ENVIRONMENT, in
which our community focuses significant energy and resources on becoming more
environmentally friendly.
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FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The recommended customized declaration does not have any financial implications.
The unmodified Model Municipal Declaration put forward by the Blue Dot Movement
may or may not have financial implications to the municipality. Several sections include
wording regarding the consideration of costs to human health and the environment,
applying full cost accounting, and establishing numerous targets and actions within
specified, short time periods which may have resourcing, capital and operating budget
implications. Detailed financial implications are not known at this point.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM
advance of the council / committee meeting.
CONSULT TheEnvironmental Committee considered this matterat their meeting of
February 19, 2015 and their recommendation was forwarded to standing committee on
April 20, 2015 through staff report FCS-15-057.
CONCLUSION:
It is recommended that municipalities in the Region of Waterloo, including the City of
-in-Waterloo-
Model Municipal Declaration. This has the benefit of adding reference in the resolution
t
our local commitment, identifying our support for certain rights with a clear statement
about our jurisdictional authority, and focussing more directly on the Blue Dot
overriding objectives for change at the provincial and federal levels.
REVIEWED BY:
Larry Tansley, Assistant City Solicitor
Brandon Sloan, Manager, Long Range and Policy Planning
ACKNOWLEDGED BY:
Michael May, Deputy CAO (Community Services)
Attachments
Appendix A - Model Municipal Declaration: The Right To A Healthy Environment (Blue
Dot Movement)
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APPENDIX A
Model Municipal Declaration
The Right To A Healthy Environment
(Blue Dot Movement)
Whereas the MUNICIPALITY understands that people are part of the environment,
and that a healthy environment is inextricably linked to the well-being of our
community;
The MUNICIPALITY finds and declares that:
1. All people have the right to live in a healthy environment, including:
(a) The right to breathe clean air
(b) The right to drink clean water.
(c) The right to consume safe food.
(d) The right to access nature
(e) The right to know about pollutants and contaminants released into the
local environment.
(f) The right to participate in decision-making that will affect the environment
2. The MUNICIPALITY has the responsibility, within its jurisdiction, to respect,
protect, fulfill and promote these rights.
3. The MUNICIPALITY shall apply the precautionary principle: where threats of
serious or irreversible damage to human health or the environment exist, the
MUNICIPALITY shall take cost effective measures to prevent the degradation of
the environment and protect the health of its citizens. Lack of full scientific
certainty shall not be viewed as sufficient reason for the MUNCIPALITY to
postpone such measures
4. The MUNICIPALITY shall apply full cost accounting: when evaluating reasonably
foreseeable costs of proposed actions and alternatives, the MUNICIPALITY will
consider costs to human health and the environment.
5. By 2017, the MUNICIPALITY shall specify objectives, targets and timelines and
to a healthy environment, including priority actions to:
a. Ensure equitable distribution of environmental benefits and burdens within
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b. Ensure infrastructure and development projects protect the environment,
including air quality;
c. Address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and
implementing adaptation measures;
d. Responsibly increase density;
e. Prioritize walking, cycling and public transit as preferred modes of
transportation;
f. Ensure adequate infrastructure for the provision of safe and accessible
drinking water;
g. Promote the availability of safe foods;
h. Reduce solid waste and promote recycling and composting;
i. Establish and maintain accessible green spaces in all residential
neighbourhoods.
The MUNICIPALITY shall review the objectives, targets, timelines and actions
every five (5) years, and evaluate progress towards fulfilling this declaration.
The MUNICIPALITY shall consult with residents as part of this process.
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