Norwich request info on Oxford’s Partners for Climate Protection Program membership

Luke Edwards, Post Contributor

Calling it a push for transparency, Norwich councillors are requesting a wide range of information on progress made and dollars spent by Oxford County combatting climate change.

Councillors approved a motion from Karl Toews at the Sept. 23 meeting that seeks information on the milestones Oxford County committed to when it joined the Partners for Climate Protection program in 2017.

“The public has a right to know what actions have been taken since then, what targets have been adopted, what progress reports have been filed and most importantly what this has cost,” Toews said at the meeting.

The program is free to join, and its website bills it as a “a five-step milestone framework that guides you (municipalities) as you take action against climate change by reducing emissions in your municipality.” Oxford County opted to join the program in November 2017.

According to Toews’ motion, the five-milestone framework includes completing a greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory and forecast, setting a GHG reduction target, developing a local action plan, implementing said plan, and then monitoring and reporting the results.

His motion requests the county to show what progress has been made on those milestones and how much it has cost the county to achieve them. It also requests copies of the progress reports that the county was supposed to submit to the Partners for Climate Protection every two years.

Going back to 2018, the motion asks for a year-by-year, line-item summary of the costs to the county for the program, climate change mitigation efforts and green energy costs, along with expected costs going forward.

In July councillors heard a delegation from Jacqueline Robinson opposing membership in the program and casting doubt on the dangers of human-caused climate change.

Scientists largely agree that human activity is causing the global climate to change in ways that have negative consequences for life on this planet.

Toews said his focus wasn’t on climate change itself.

“It’s not about how we may personally feel about spending on climate initiatives, it’s about getting a sense of what costs have been incurred,” he said.

And with property taxes at the county level increasing, he said local politicians have a duty to review how those tax dollars are spent.

“Since 2022, levies on Norwich residents for Oxford County services have risen by over 36 per cent…amounting to $31 million. That’s 31 million reasons why we can be asking for this information,” he said.

Toews’ motion nearly didn’t even make it on the floor, as Mayor Jim Palmer initially ruled it out of order, suggesting lower tier councillors may not ask questions of upper tier staff. However, Toews appealed the ruling and received enough support from council to move ahead.