Prince Edward County council heard an update from the Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) at its meeting Tuesday.
EAC representative Jane Lesslie identified some of the challenges facing the EAC including a lack of data gathering ability, council’s alleged lack of urgency despite declaring a climate emergency, and a lack of resources.
Lesslie also identified successes in the county’s fight against climate change.
Just recently, the new Official Plan was adopted which includes more environmental sustainability planning than the previous one and there’s been a new tree policy put in place to better protect and replace trees.
According to statistics brought forth by Lesslie, the fight against and the fear of climate change is gaining steam across the country.
“Eighty-two per cent of Canadians are telling governments that climate change and global warming are either very serious, or serious concerns, second only to the cost of living. Seventy-four per cent of Canadians think about climate change and are increasingly worried about it.”
Councillors also discussed the idea of a survey being sent out with tax bills.
Council opted not to move forward just yet on the survey that would serve to collect data on property damage sustained in the 2017 and 2019 century floods that rocked the Bay of Quinte.
Questions were raised about the cost of the survey, whether or not sending surveys on other topics with tax bills would become more frequent, and whether or not the survey would be better served online, via the Have Your Say webpage, for people to decide to do themselves.
Some councillors felt that sending the survey to people who do not have shoreline property would be wasteful and would not serve to help collect the data they’re looking for.
After further discussion, council opted to refer the concerns back to the EAC, who developed the survey, for further consultation before making a final decision.
Council did, however, elect to move forward on sending a letter to the provincial government regarding the Long Term Energy plan. The province is seeking input on the plan and councillors voted to send a letter to provide input.
