Why Does 'Climate' Matter in Local Elections??

Everything goes through a climate lens...that's why ...

We think we elect people for local issues in local politics - problem is, now we elect them to either further global goals, or not. That is the raw reality. That is fact. We have North Cowichan’s Mayor talking about 30x30, and Duncan’s Mayor literally putting the UN SDGs into her Official Community Plan (OCP). Then we have the CVRD being a member of ICLEI for years. North Cowichan a member of PCP (Partners for Climate Protection) and chatting with the Climate Caucus during their OCP creation … and on and on.

They may deal locally, but their public private partnerships are Global in nature .

North Cowichan’s previous majority council stated that the climate lens was their first priority, and if you did not agree vote differently next time.

All Budgets from each departments list their climate, not economic, priorities first.

From the Climate Action and Energy Plan (CAEP) that all residents pay .5% tax for

We asked the Climate Specialist what this plan would cost North Cowichan - we were told approximately 500 million. This was after all local governments were approached by a group centred around ONE Cowichan that asked they acknowledge a “Climate Emergency”.

So yeah - the CVRD, North Cowichan and Duncan (and everywhere else) have this as the priority above all else. Some wonder if they all buy into it - no, many do not - HOWEVER, with local governments losing so much income locally from old revenues in resource industries, it makes one ponder as to how much they comply based on the massive grants they receive for going along with ‘the plan’ .

Think about the small stretch of Canada Ave. currently under construction. It is a MULTI million dollar project. Canada Avenue Phase 2 has secured federal funding covering 60% of the eligible active transportation components. However, that grant does not cover most of the project's bridge, drainage, utility, watermain, sewer and road reconstruction work. As of July 2026, neither the Municipality of North Cowichan nor the City of Duncan has published a single document showing the total cost of Phase 2 or the final amount to be paid by local taxpayers. But we will have bike lanes, narrowed roads, and reduced speed limits - yay.

So, we could write a whole book on this topic, but never let anyone say that the climate change agenda is not priority ONE locally . Also understand that your local politicians have little power, and it is the NGOs, Committees, ‘working groups’, and others in the community and beyond, that truly hold the power - monetarily, and policy-wise.

So lets play a game, after hundreds of hours of work …

Please let us know if someone mentioned is not part of a group, and also feel free to add on the other hundreds of public-private partnerships we certainly missed.

email updates and redactions to contact@coap.ca

Local :

Then we Zoom out a bit - Note the green Lines = $

Cowichan Climate Action Plan N,C

New Normal Cowichan - Cowichan Adapts CVRD

North Cowichan Active Transportation Plan

CVRD Active Transportation Plan - Human Powered

North Cowichan Forestry Revenue stalled for possible carbon credits and First Nations consultations ..

Let us focus on local environmental issues and not tax folks by the millions in the hopes to change the world .

If you believe in the agenda or put other priorates first - maybe this is a big topic to ask the upcoming candidates ….?

As one special person said - the new world will all be about “public - private partnerships’ . Enough locally ?

Team COAP

email contacts@coap.ca to change anything we may have wrong on the graphs .

Voting locally is where these plans all hit the road - GET OUT AND VOTE this October .