Aug. 28, 2023

Elizabeth Gallant
Climate and Environmental Coordinator
Lanark County
99 Christie Lake Road,
Perth, ON K7H 3C6
climate@lanarkcounty.ca 

Dear Elizabeth,

It is with great pleasure that Climate Network Lanark submits its comments on the Draft Lanark County Climate Action Plan. We have certainly been pleased to be such an integral part the development of the Plan and to have contributed so much to it on behalf of our 1,000 supporters across Lanark County. All our contributions and comments along this journey have been intended to make the Plan as effective as it can be given the crisis we all must engage in addressing. Our comments attached are submitted with the same well-meaning intention. Should you wish to discuss any of them, please simply contact us. Further, in our organization, we have some expertise in the design and presentation of such documents. We would be very pleased to meet with you to discuss how to make the final Plan a compelling read for the community who must engage with the Plan since they are partners in its implementation. We will follow up by mid-September to discuss this.

Yours sincerely,

Scott Hortop
Chair, Climate Network Lanark

CLIMATE NETWORK LANARK RESPONSE TO LANARK COUNTY DRAFT CLIMATE ACTION PLAN

AUG. 28, 2023

Climate Network Lanark is pleased to have the opportunity to comment on Lanark County’s DRAFT Climate Action Plan (the Plan or CAP).

CNL believes that addressing the climate crisis, the most critical crisis to threaten humanity, must be a collective effort involving the County, its lower-tier municipalities, and its citizens, businesses, institutions, and community organizations. Making meaningful progress as quickly as possible relies on the full engagement of everyone in our community.

Our broad recommendations follow here immediately. These recommendations are applicable to the whole Plan, not necessarily to either the Corporate or Community streams. Further below are recommendations regarding the specific Goals/Actions.

1. Begin the Plan with a short and compelling narrative. As a first step, this Plan must explain to residents, businesses, organizations, and institutions in Lanark County why it is so important that they be engaged in acting on climate change at the local level. They must see their place in this Plan. Here is a possible narrative:

   We have the knowledge and technologies now to address the climate crisis. But we must act now to begin reversing the worsening impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the future, and to adapt to the changes that historical emissions have already wrought.  It is possible that in 30 years we will not recognize the world as it is today because of the climate crisis. Fossil-fuel powered cars will be a memory. Renewable energy will be commonplace as will Smart Homes which will gauge all aspects of energy consumption. The Arctic and Antarctic will be ice free year-round. Most coastal cities will thrive on floating infrastructure. Drones will deliver all our consumer needs to our doorsteps. Waste disposal will cease to exist having been entirely replaced by recycled or reusable products in the circular economy. Artificial Intelligence will provide instantaneous analysis and solutions to all energy related matters. Oil and gas infrastructure will be redundant.

   But conversely, it is also likely the Sixth Mass Extinction will be well underway. We will be taking urgent life-or-death decisions based on extreme weather including floods, wildfires, droughts, storms, and freezing rain events of unimaginable intensity. Citizens will struggle to adapt, paying higher insurance rates, facing insurmountable recovery challenges, and coping with steadily worsening impacts on their mental and physical health.

   It has been said that our “Earth” is neither a commodity nor a possession, and that it is the duty of each and every one of us to prevent our planet from “baking to a crisp”. Preventing the worst effects of climate change is a 30-year exercise that involves all sectors of society and all individuals coming together to make crucial decisions that will affect everyday life. No one is exempt, and no municipality is exempt from participating.

   Climate change is already upon us. Planning for clear, comprehensive, and timely decisions, properly costed, is vital.  Raising municipal staff awareness of climate change is not optional. Climate change actions must be endemic to each and every decision made not only by staff but by County Council and ultimately, every organization within the County–every business, every community organization, every institution, and every household.

   This Plan requires the County and everyone in it to embark on actions and accept new costs to reduce GHG emissions and adapt to the new realities of a changed climate. If we fail to act, we face escalating costs that will dwarf what early mitigation and prevention action now would involve. 

2. Establish a higher minimum target for GHG emissions reduction of 40-45% for the community as a whole and the County, to move us beyond minimum or token action to substantive, best efforts. The County’s current reduction target of 5-10% by 2030 goes against ALL the global and national consensus on required cuts by 2030. The IPCC and the Paris Agreement call for cuts of 45% by 2030, the Canadian government calls for a cut of 40-45% by 2030. And the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, with which Lanark County is contracted for its Climate Action Plan, recommends that municipalities integrate cuts of 45% for both Corporate and Community streams.

   Lanark County’s targets of 25% for the Corporate stream and 5-10% for the Community stream don’t come near global, science-based targets. Setting such low targets communicates an unwillingness to take the climate crisis seriously which weakens community involvement and support and will not adequately prepare us for the future.

3. In the Plan, establish and support a formal County Climate Committee structure that:

   1. Engages all sectors of the community, and

   2. Encourages the community to bring creative ideas and actions forward for sharing with committee members and the broader community, and for participatory action by the County and the community

   3. Gives the County Climate Committee an unequivocal mandate to drive timely fulfillment of the Plan

   CNL is pleased with the Plan’s emphasis on the importance of engaging with the community – with businesses and local organizations – to meet the emissions reduction targets, and that its first Principle is to “create a climate conscious culture and community.” However, aside from broad intentions to push information out to the community through communications vehicles, the Plan does not contain any concrete steps for engagement. To facilitate the behaviour change that mobilizes action, engagement must involve the two-way exchange of information and ideas and co-creation of initiatives.

   CNL has long advocated for an integrated structure of engagement on climate change for the community and the County. We proposed a formal committee structure of Council that would bring business representatives, agriculture, community organizations, community institutions (such as hospitals, the Health Unit, etc.), and all the lower-tier municipalities into the process to collectively reduce our GHGs.As the defining issue of our time, the climate crisis demands a wartime footing and the participation of all members of our community to prevent and mitigate the damaging effects of global warming.

4. Include a commitment to an annual budget for the Climate Action department and staff, commensurate with the task. For Lanark County and our community to take substantial action on the climate crisis there must be a continuing commitment by the County to fund the necessary staff and ongoing program administration, above and beyond funding specific projects.

5. Include in the Plan adaptation measures to begin building resiliency, and bolster support for mitigation action. CNL believes successfully addressing the climate crisis involves significantly reducing GHGs as quickly as possible AND creating a resilient community that is prepared and equipped for more frequent extreme weather events. While the focus of this Plan is mitigation of GHGs, the severity of the climate crisis has worsened quickly since the beginning of the development of this Plan in 2021. More Lanark residents are experiencing the effects of extreme weather, with threats to health, life and property.

   Successfully engaging citizens to do more to reduce GHG emissions relies on also offering them ways to protect themselves now. Consequently, this Plan must reflect the Community’s need to build resilience for extreme weather with adaptation measures for the worst immediate impacts of climate breakdown. What is more, the County can play an active role in assisting lower-tier governments to adapt emergency measures procedures. CNL recommends that updates and revisions to this Plan beginning in 2024 address adaptation.

6. Include a section in the Plan to address governance, to explain how the Community stream of this County Plan is integrated with plans and actions by the lower-tier municipalities. CNL is aware that it is unclear to many Councillors and staff from lower-tier municipalities how this Plan is intended to assist them in their delivery of climate actions. At the beginning of the Plan development process, it was intended that each lower-tier municipality would develop its own Corporate Climate Action Plan addressing its assets, and that the County Community Climate Action Plan would be developed and delivered jointly because so many actions would be common to all the municipalities.

7. Establish a training program for all County staff on climate change.  Lanark County has successfully mobilized action on pressing matters such as Intimate Partner Violence and Indigenous History (flowing from the Truth and Reconciliation report) with training for staff on the issue. Likewise, successfully implementing this Plan relies on staff who not only understand the climate crisis, but are aware, informed and encouraged by the best practices and lessons learned of other local governments. This is a key part of Guiding Principle #1 “Create a Climate Conscious Culture and Community.” For example, the City Council of London, Ontario, fully engaged their staff in training and implementing their Climate Action Plan.

   CNL anticipates that training for Lanark County staff would include education on the climate crisis; the implications for Lanark County government and its key functions; the effects on specific responsibilities (e.g., road clearing, managing fires, emergency response training, flood mitigation and response,  etc.); the importance of and business case for mitigation measures; best practices in municipal government leadership, monitoring and oversight of community GHGs reduction, and, very specifically, the application of the Climate Lens tool as developed by local expert Bob Argue. Establish Corporate protocols and job descriptions focused on decision making through a climate change lens.

8. Commit to consistently using the Climate Lens (as developed by Bob Argue) as a tool within policy development and during procurement processes. (Corp. Goals 1.1)

9. Commit to using full life-cycle costing to assess the long-term economics of options to aid in making the best decision. Too often, decisions are made based on the initial capital cost of an item, without detailing the subsequent cost impacts on, for example, long-term energy supply, servicing, disposal and or recycling. The end result is investment in inappropriate materials that damage the climate and/or natural environment and/or people that cost taxpayers more over the life of the asset.

10. Make the Guiding Principles paramount in the Plan and in the document.

    For the community to engage with the Plan, it is critical that the structure of the document be clear and coherent. Revise the structure so that the same set of Guiding Principles and Themes unites the Corporate and the Community streams. Situate the identified Goals (Actions) that comprise the Corporate Plan under the applicable Theme and Guiding Principle, and likewise for the Community Plan.  All seven Guiding Principles should apply to the entire County Plan – the Corporate stream and the Community stream.

    GUIDING PRINCIPLES

    • THEMES

      • GOALS (ACTIONS)

11. Lay out an implementation timeline, costs, delivery partners and performance indicators for all goals (actions) in the plan with the timeline and partners to be identified by the end of 2023 and the costs and performance indicators by the third quarter of 2024.  

    This will reinforce the urgency and help to prepare and engage the lower tiers and the community on their responsibilities, within the budget cycle of most lower-tier municipalities.

    Actions should be prioritized by the largest source of emissions; therefore, the first priority is transportation, second is buildings, third is organic waste, etc. Many of these specifics can be taken from the Tables of Actions previously developed. CNL was disappointed to see that references to most of the community partners were struck from the Tables of Actions. A few remain, and CNL is very pleased to be working directly with the County on the development of a natural heritage and wetlands protection project. However, especially since the Draft Plan expresses such a desire to engage with the community, CNL would encourage more such partnerships between the County and civil society and invites the County to partner with: CNL on such projects as CNL’s Climate Concierge project and its Community Engagement project, Trees Perth, Mississippi Mills Bike Movement, Lanark Leeds Home Builders Association net zero contractors, Lanark Rural Transportation Group, etc.

12. Establish a separate section for Reporting on the progress of the Plan.

    This requires a stand-alone section given its critical importance.  There is no sense in having a Plan unless it is reported on. The FCM/PCP requires a certain reporting schedule in which the data on emissions from the County must be updated. This schedule needs to be stated. As well, an annual progress report of the Plan must be made to County Council, to partner lower-tiers, and to the public. And, the Plan needs to be reviewed every 4 years, by each new Council at the beginning of its term. (Page 31)

13. 13.) Use whatever means available to the County to transform electricity service in our region.

    The coming shift off fossil fuels to electricity as well as extreme weather events will strain the capability of the grid to provide consistent and reliable service. Global trends suggest that Distributed Renewable Generation (DRG) combined with battery storage and improved distribution infrastructure forming “micro grids” can address the issue. The County should initiate an ongoing communication with the IESO and Hydro One to emphasize and coordinate the development of micro grids in our Region. Such an initiative supports not only secure electricity service but also local economic development through solar generation.

The following are recommendations regarding specific Goals/Action:

CORPORATE ACTIONS

1.1: Apply the Climate Lens tool in the development of policies and during the procurement process. The effects of this action will be immediate and direct GHG reduction.
1.3: Delete action as a duplicate of 1.2
2.2: Install EV recharge stations for universal use at all County buildings and retrofit all County housing units with vehicle recharging capacity
3.1: Rebuild or retrofit all County buildings and housing units to be net-zero
5.2: Construct new buildings to be net-zero
5.3: Following Guiding Principle #2 Eliminate Fossil Fuels, and to improve tenant comfort and capacity to withstand extreme weather events, replace electric baseboards and gas systems with electric heat pumps at the earliest opportunity.
5.5: At the earliest opportunity, (continue with existing text) ….
5.6: At the earliest opportunity, replace appliances with Energy Star models.
5.7: Add: Report improvements in climate actions from the Housing Corp to the tenants.
5.8: Convert managed properties from open grass to pollinator habitat or food production.

COMMUNITY ACTIONS

• Add another Goal: Incorporate the whole County Climate Action Plan in the County’s revised and updated Official Plan in 2024. Thereby ensure that all lower-tier municipalities incorporate all Community stream Goals in their Official Plans.

• 1.4 Restore the Rural Transportation Issues and Options for Lanark County Report, establish a Transportation Working Group and investigate public transit options in operation in other rural and small towns in Canada so a system can be adopted within 3 years, by 2027.

• 1.5: Add: Implement and improve active transportation including upgrade of cycling infrastructure on all County roads (i.e., paved shoulders)

• 2.1: Develop and support the delivery of local home energy retrofit programs (plural) including those offered by partner non-profits and private companies.

• 2.2: Establish and promote incentives for water and energy retrofits within the business, industrial, commercial, and institutional sector

• 2.3 Establish green building standards that enforce climate resilient, low-carbon and adaptive building designs to increase energy efficiency and eliminate Greenhouse gasses.

• 2.5 Replace “fuel” with “energy”.

  • In the second point under Recommended Approach, add: ensuring there is no expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, in keeping with Guiding Principle #2 to Eliminate Fossil Fuels.

• 3.1: Change to: Increase the Managed Forested area and Tree Canopy within Lanark County to 25-30% by 2029.

• 3.2: (Delete Conduct studies to determine and)

  • Change to:  Protect the carbon sequestration and climate resilience value of wetlands, greenspaces and other naturalized areas within the County and increase their coverage by 30% by 2029.

OTHER COMMENTS

P. 10: Impacts of Climate Change: bullet point listing should include the risks of flooding and fire.
P. 11: Corporate Emissions Inventory: should expand on what is meant by Corporate buildings in the first paragraph: “…inventory tracks included corporate buildings (i.e., administrative buildings, long-term care buildings and County housing)” since the subject of county housing is not further addressed until p. 17.

Acknowledgements

Bob Argue, Energy and Climate Science, Tay Valley
Sue Brandum, Energy and Community Developer, DNE
Doreen Donald, Educator and Training, DNE
Stephen Graham, Energy Engineer, Lanark Highlands
Gord Harrison, Naturalist and Educator, Lanark Highlands
Scott Hortop, Soil Health and Organics, Mississippi Mills
Sarah Hurman, Government Relations, Perth
Sophie Lamb, Intern
Corry McClure, Business Advisor, Mississippi Mills
Glenn Tunnock, Registered Planner, Perth