Special Health Protection Bylaw Falls Flat
By 250 News
Monday, March 29, 2010 10:00 PM
Prince George, B.C. – Councillor Deborah Munoz was counting on her Prince George colleagues to support two motions she believes would help reduce fine particulate in the City’s Airshed.
First, she called for Council, to call on the Provincial Ministry of the Environment to declare Prince George a “sensitive Airshed” and commit the necessary resources to help alleviate the air quality problems in Prince George.
Councillor Stolz says he is not able to support the motions because there is not enough information. He asked if Councilor Munoz had spoken with Ministry of the Environment about about the costs involved with the management of a "sensitive airshed" or if she had held discussions with staff as they were developing the latest clean air bylaw. The answer to both questions was no.
Councillor Brian Skakun says he worries about the politics involved in the motion"No one wants to say they don't support clean air, but there isn't enough information, there's nothing about the costs involved or the implications."
Councillor Garth Frizzell says he too supports having clean air, but says he is of the understanding the Mininstry ofthe Environme3nt already considers Prince George as having a sensitive airshed, "Everyyone wants clean air, we have a bowl that won't flush, but this motion may be asking for something that has already been done."
Councillors Sheri Green and Murry Krause both agree that while everyone cares about clean air, there are no specifiics about what it means to be a sensitive airshed or what costs or resources are needed.
Mayor Dan Rogers says he thinks it is valuable to ask if being declared a sensitive airshed would help or hinder the community. That being said, Councillors voted to defer the matter to staff for more information on the possible benefits or costs.
Part two of Councillor Munoz's motion called on her colleagues to support the development of a “Health Protection Air Quality Bylaw” to “specifically assess and control the health effects of major emissions of fine particulate matter”. She points to the City of Oakville Ontario as an example of the type of bylaw that could be developed.
In her presentation to Council, Munoz says she understands municipalities may adopt additional, or more stringent standards in its laws to control pollution.
Councillor Stolz says there is a huge financial liability connected with this kind of move " If we take this on, there is a huge financial cost to us, plus there is litigation." Stolz says the City of Vancouver spends millions of dollars on their bylaw and in court costs fighting industry "This costs millions of dollars and not one dollar comes from the Province.
We could take the money being proposed for this and replace every wood stove in the City of Prince George."
Councillor Brian Skakun says once again, voting against this motion could be misconstrued as not supporting an effort to have cleaner air "That is not the case, but we have no information, and it's unfair to ask Council to make a decision when there is no report from staff and no clear information on what this would mean."
Council Dave Wilbur says he supports working for cleaner air, but supporting this motion would be "A self inflicted wound of downloading". Wilbur says there are constant complaints about the Province downloading responsibilities to the municipal governments, "We don't need to help them by doing it ourselves."
Councilor Garth Frizzell says he applauds Councillor Munoz for trying to make a difference, but doesn't believe this is the way to go.
The Mayor says there needs to be more respect in the way such matters are handled " We need to engage our staff much earlier in the process." He says he was surprised to see the matter on the agenda, "It wasn't clear in my mind what would be the outcome if we were supportive of this? There was such uncertainty in what would be the outcome, how could I in all good conscience allow this to get to the floor?"
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Posted by: privateone on March 30 2010 3:12 AM
HAHAHAHA OHHEEEHEEHEE HAHAHAHAHA
Made my night! That has to be the best darned quote IN AGES!!!
Thanks :)