Happy Thanksgiving!
Climate Action Energy Plan is back on the table this Tue. Oct 10th 6pm
First off ….HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
COAP has a lot to be thankful for this past year. One year ago our founders were on the campaign trail, trying to engage citizens on the democratic ways to create the change we want to see in the world. The voter turnout was very unfortunate, and we hope to inspire more to come out for the next election. If we had only one more seat on council, things such as the Climate Action Energy Plan would look a lot different today! So let’s keep working to educate the public and engage in local politics before the next election.
We have been blessed since the beginning with donors who believed in our vision and helped us get off the ground. As we grew this past year, our membership kept growing, as did our initiatives. Now with a monthly paper, growing Substack, growing YouTube channel, and more, and we are more determined than ever to continue our Oversight and Accountability mission. So on this day of thanks, we thank YOU! Our work is only beginning.
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Unfortunately, our work does not stop for turkey, so we are bringing your attention to a very important part of the engagement process around climate policies in the Valley Happening this Wed.
On Tues 10th 6PM ( sign up 5:30) in council chambers, there will be another chance to speak to the council on their Climate Action Energy Plan, affectionately called by COAP, their ‘poverty plan’.
On Wed. Staff will be recommending “THAT the Committee of the Whole direct staff to seek input from the Environmental Advisory Committee through review of key findings of the engagement phase of work.” This is basically saying, “Let’s give our survey to the committee that helped create the CAEP and see what they want to do with it (to further justify the CAEP)”.
Fun Fact - Our Mayor Douglas sat as chair on that committee one year.
What does this mean? We are in phase two of the implementation of the mitigation plan.
Coles Notes: This Wed you can speak on anything to do with the climate plan ( CAEP) which can be read here (https://www.northcowichan.ca/assets/Departments/Engineering/PDFs/220121_North%20Cowichan%20CAEP%20Update%20ISSUED.pdf ) .
The climate plan has drastic changes for your lifestyle, from retrofitting old homes to the demonization of agriculture. Will you be heard? The louder we become, the more the people behind these policies understand that causing the citizens to suffer, based on unmeasurable goals, the more the public will remember for the next election.
COAP keeps a record of who votes which way.
Just to keep in mind as you write your speech. You are being asked to give up driving, affordable heat, incurring debt to retrofit, staying in your walkable cities, and farming less….while :
Longer Version:
“The Adaptation Strategy project is proceeding in alignment with the Contribution Agreement for grant funding on this Project. Results from Phase 1 engagement will be used to inform findings in Phase 2 and 3 of this project. Additional engagement is scheduled to support Phase 3's climate change adaptation strategy development. Following discussion at Committee of the Whole, the attached What We Heard report will be posted on the project's engagement page at www.connectnorthcowichan.ca/climate-adaptation
After our amazing turnout last week, where we packed the hall, and all speeches but one were against the Step Code acceleration Plan. We as much as heard that none of our input mattered, and since the council had signed on to the updated Climate Action and Energy plan in 2022 to reduce emissions by 80%, that trumped our thoughts/feelings/input. Showing up like that is not for nothing however, as the council will start to see that their plans for our future are not as popular as they may feel they are when they start to hear from the majority.
We also heard Counc. Istace state that they took their marching orders ( my words) from the UBCM, and that they heard from provincial reps there as to what moving forward would look. It felt like a mocking of our presence as their mind was already made up. The less the public has a true say, and the more they/we are gaslit with the Delphi technique, the more the public will grow weary of our representatives.
Then we came upon this : “North Cowichan received a grant of $150,000 from the Disaster Risk Reduction-Climate Adaptation Program administered by the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) and will report out on this Project by March 2024.”
So that statement by Counc. Istace makes more sense now - money talks.
The handouts from UBCM, the Province, and the Feds are what local governments rely on as they are not able to be as self-sustainable as they once were - much of this due to a lack of jobs and new innovation through (mostly) climate policies.
So back to the CAEP ‘engagement’ process, which will later be touted as “rigorous” or “thorough” public engagement.
I read the 103-page report so you do not have to.
( but if you want to, here it is https://pub-northcowichan.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=13534 )
“Public Engagement to gather community input on key concerns relating to climate change. A virtual engagement process launched on North Cowichan’s engagement platform, and an online survey was open from July 13 to August 7”.
This public engagement consisted of 20 people attending in person, and 156 responding to the online survey ( 12 were not residents of N.C.) So 144 NC, and without knowing if the in-person attendees also did the survey ( which I am sure they did), we will be generous by adding the 20 to the final number - 164 responded of 32000 residents.. a .51%, not even 1 percent of the population responded or engaged in this massive plan to overhaul their lifestyles. Should this be allowed to continue? We are not counting the ‘stakeholders’ they engage with as they can all be bought and swayed. No, we want the citizens to have a real survey, that asks questions directly from the CAEP, not a survey that lays out questions around how ‘climate change’ has affected their lives - that is leading and manipulative … as is the data reported back.
Then in order to get the mental health statistics, they had the nerve to go speak to grade 5/6 students and ask them what they are most worried about ( the kids should be worried about who won tag at recess, not be bombarded with these fears beyond their control. No wonder there is a rising mental health issues in kids) :
“North Cowichan also coordinated a separate activity for a grade 5/6 class within School District 79. Key takeaways from all conversations are noted below. Island Health (health sector) · “There are huge mental, emotional, and spiritual health implications due to climate change/drought. It is affecting people’s livelihoods (e.g., farmers) and the youth are vulnerable to stress and anxiety”
Youth (grade 5/6) What do you think climate change is? · Climate change is when we have extreme weather changes caused by pollution and greenhouse gases in the environment. What parts of climate change are you worried about the most? · 1) Wildfires 2) Extreme Heat 3) Flooding/Storms”
Have you ever read “Lying With Statistics”? A great quick read, and can help you understand how these surveys are manipulated.
ie
Therefore; 58.9% have not experienced loss. The “other” option was put into the survey for people to comment, and as you can see in the comment section, (Pg 22 Appendix A responses) there were many comments against this whole narrative.
Or in their summary report to council that breaks down the 103 pages into three basic graphs such as :
If you just looked at this graph you would automatically think “Wow, we are on the right track, look at those numbers!” When in fact those in agreement in North Cowichan 81% of 156 respondents = 126 North Cowichan Residents of 320000 believe climate change will pose a threat to North Cowichan.
This is how policy gets rammed through - expensive outsourcing to ‘consultants’, who happen to have the same results in all communities they are involved in that align with global agendas - coincidence of course.
We will always fight this agenda as we see that no matter what locals have for input, they will dismiss it if it doesn’t align with the CAEP which is not a bylaw, but somehow has become the bible that all policy must go through, regardless of the public’s wishes.
I hope to see you there, as I do not see a lot of public input planned for this CAEP in their future plans.
The CAEP should have gone to a referendum, or at the least a Town Hall.
4:30 sign up !
Sincerely,
Team COAP Inc.