Alternatives North would like to commend the City of Yellowknife for ensuring opportunities for public input and input from interested parties to help inform the Climate Change
Action Plan. Good climate actions can help with creating a more inclusive, livable
city (example: reducing cost of living, healthier environment). We look forward to
additional opportunities moving forward.
Governance and Communications Recommendations
We were pleased to hear that you’ve had input from several sources for a Climate
Change Action Plan committee, and for a variety of communication messages and
methods. For the committee, we agree as mentioned at the March 5th meeting that
the committee’s meetings should be open to the public, be integrated with Council
(such as having a Councillor on or chairing the committee) and partners, and should focus on ensuring timely implementation of the Action Plan recommendations. This provides an opportunity for an informed public through increased transparency and accountability regarding the implementation of the Plan. To support the work, we suggest:
- Reallocate all of the carbon tax grant to climate action ($629k last year)
- Allocate an annual budget for each action and work with GNWT and Federal
Government to identify additional funding sources - Report to Council every other year on progress
- Develop and implement an inter-departmental policy framework for climate
smart decision-making to incorporate a climate change lens on all city
projects and purchase services and procurement process. This can be done
by:
● Adopting a life cycle carbon measure as part of life cycle decision-making
● Considering embodied carbon and operational carbon when making decisions,
which can help justify options which appear more costly, but have a lower
carbon footprint. An example would be foam insulation vs. mineral wool.
In addition to a bi-annual report by the Climate Action Committee, we agree with
the points raised that communicating regularly with residents about climate actions
will help motivate, inspire, address frustration and misinformation, and increase
understanding and cooperation. We recommend:
- a. Use multiple modes, for example on the billboards at the multiplex and fire hall, the weekly newsletter, water bills.
- b. Use a variety of messages, including progress on net zero and interim goals, availability of car share locations, other opportunities for residents to act or collaborate towards emission reductions, reasons for changing landscape design and maintenance, transparency on recycling, composting and other programs
- c. Communicate successes and connect them to the vision for climate actions
Along with the governance and communications recommendations, we have
comments on
- Reducing GHG emissions, and
- Adapting to a changing climate/preparing for unprecedented events
A. REDUCING GHG EMISSIONS
- Understand and protect natural carbon sinks within the city limits
We need to better understand, appreciate and protect our natural carbon
stores, as important parts of the City’s green assets and infrastructure.
Gaining a better understanding of our carbon stores (particularly peatlands)
and our vulnerabilities (flood; drought; permafrost degradation; fire) will
enable better decision making. We recommend that the next Community
General Plan should include base information on permafrost, peatlands,
wetlands, and hazard areas (such as flood prone areas and contaminated
sites). Further actions include:
a. Map extent, carbon density, depth, type of peat (permafrost plateau vs fen etc), so that
appropriate development standards can be developed for any areas with peatlands (protect high
density carbon stores like peat during development and operation)
b. Develop a wetland policy, possibly in conjunction with GNWT
c. Maintain trees
d. Limit greenfield development
e. Prevent deleterious off-site effects (e.g., erosion-inducing runoff).
2. Understand and protect natural carbon sinks within the city limits
a. Switch all heating at City Hall and Water Treatment plant to biomass,
either through new city-owned infrastructure or a public-private
partnership such as district heating
b. Increase energy efficiency of municipal buildings (e.g., insulation,
windows)
c. Assess and pursue grid-tied solar PV installations on appropriate City
building roof tops to reduce costs and supplement clean electricity
availability.
d. Appendix E of the 2015-2025 Corporate and Community Energy Plan
provides a solar installation priority table that could serve as a starting
point.
e. Assess wind power generation at appropriate locations. Shift City owned
vehicle fleet to EVs (through ownership and car-share program), bikes
and E-bikes and install or promote (tax incentives?) more charging
stations as needed. Update procurement policies to factor in electrification
of fleet.
f. Reduce the amount of lawn. Maintained lawns emit carbon and usually
also nitrous oxides. Use shrub/tree planting to sequester carbon
(example: around multi-plex). Where lawn is needed (such as at City
Hall), use electric powered maintenance tools.
g. Ensure holistic carbon accounting. Assign a $/t cost of carbon to be
applied in asset decision-making and apply it to both embodied carbon
emissions and operational carbon emissions when making asset decisions.
This will help justify materials and technologies which are more
expensive, but which also cost-effectively reduce the asset’s life cycle
carbon footprint. An example would be assessing foam insulation vs.
mineral wool. Foam is cheaper, but the blowing agents used to create it can release more emissions than are saved through its use. See also https://www.materialspalette.org
h. Adopt Renewable Diesel as an interim solution for use in transportation,
heating, and power-generation applications when available at a cost
premium in line with acceptable $/t cost of carbon.
- Assist with developing Biomass District Heating
a. Publicly communicate the District Heating Policy
b. Engage with any parties interested in developing biomass district
heating networks within municipal limits, including as a customer, and
potentially as a public utility owner.
c. Support work towards implementation of a biomass district heating
system for the downtown and surrounding area.
- Ensure the City Master Transportation Plan prioritizes emissions reductions by reducing
car-dependency and encouraging low-carbon,
healthy, inclusive transportation options.
a. Continue investing in public transit; consider electric vehicles
especially if moving to smaller transit format in off-peak times.
b. Continue investing in safe and convenient pedestrian infrastructure
for all levels of mobility.
i. This includes connecting trails;
ii. Revising standards to prioritize pedestrian traffic
c. Invest in safe cycling infrastructure (trails, signage, parking), both in
summer and winter, with year-round maintenance.
d. Encourage car sharing in Yellowknife by supporting the installation of
electric vehicles in neighborhoods outside of the downtown core
through the already existing Yellowknife Car Share Co-op. The City of
Yellowknife, as an earlier partner of the Co-op, could also resume the
partnership so their employees can drive EVs.
e. Continue encouraging brownfield development through higher
density mix-use zoning.
5 . Review and update City standards and specifications, with aim:
a. To reduce embodied carbon. In particular, reduce the use of concrete (a
high source of GHG emissions).
b. Encourage use of recycled materials within standards and specifications.
c. Ensure that sidewalks are built to prioritize pedestrians, rather than
vehicles. Use rolled curb as a standard. Ensure sidewalks at alleyways are
cleared of snow. Ensure crosswalks are gravelled regularly.
- Improve energy efficiency and GHG reductions in all new City
developments
a. We are unclear why “Monitor and implement energy efficient construction
practices (ERS 80 By-Law for new buildings)” was included in the City
presentation, as the ERS-80 by-law was cancelled by the City in 2018. Our
understanding is that the latest building by-law (2022) references the
National Building Code (NBC) energy requirements. Please
● provide information on what tier of energy efficiency the City currently
has for all types of buildings
● communicate the plan for increasing the standard
b. Apply Northern Infrastructure Standardization Initiative Standards to
municipally-owned buildings and encourage commercial and residential
owners to apply them too. These standards cover the design, planning and
management of buildings and municipal infrastructures. Standards include
but are not limited to building in permafrost, snow load, drainage, fire
resiliency, wastewater community planning, and extreme weather.
- Encourage residents and community organisations to improve energy
efficiency by shifting to renewable and affordable energy.¹
a. Energy co-operatives: Support a citizens’ renewable energy
co-operative or partner with electric utilities to increase renewable
energy generation and availability with participation of residents. This
could include offering appropriate land for a solar garden/solar
installation or making unused city roof tops available.
b. Revolving fund: Reassess and implement a revolving fund or similar
way to enable low interest loans for residential energy efficiency and
energy switching with a bylaw/policy that allows the renovation loan to be attached to the house at sale/purchase. This enables the new
owner to enjoy the benefits of the renovation while paying their share
of the costs. Such a revolving fund could be used for loans that
support residents’ costs of insulation, new windows and doors,
cold-weather heat pumps, biomass appliances, and/or solar panels.
Citizens could be provided the opportunity to invest in the fund and be
provided a reasonable rate of return.
c. Plan for clean electricity demand: given that switching from fossil
fuel to (clean) electric energy is expected to increase demand, and
knowing that our hydro system is limited, assess opportunities for
production of clean electricity within the city, and develop and
implement a plan for pursuing these opportunities
1 To fund and implement the following actions, the City of Yellowknife could connect
with The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). They have extensive
resources
(https://greenmunicipalfund.ca/resources/resources-community-efficiency-financing
) as well as a Community Efficiency Financing funding program
(https://greenmunicipalfund.ca/community-efficiency-financing) to support
municipalities in launching self-sustaining funding program.
8. Encourage a local, sustainable and frugal economy
a. Implement the GROWYellowknife, Yellowknife’s Food and Agriculture
Strategy to encourage urban agriculture at a scale that increases
reliance on local food production.
b. Further divest unwanted items from dump’s salvage area (i.e.
encourage a new Re-Store initiative or equivalent); failing that, for
wood items assess bio-char potential.
c. Expand organics collections for composting to include apartment
buildings, schools, and restaurants.
d. Promote and encourage circular economy, by improving the salvage
area and incentivizing second hand stores, swap, repair store
B. ADAPTING TO A CHANGING CLIMATE and PREPARING FOR
UNPRECEDENTED EVENTS
- Protect the health of Yellowknifers during the wildfire seasons
a. Provide clear criteria for opening up clean air shelters, such as the
multiplex, field house, swimming pool for free. For example, as soon
as air quality is 7 or higher clean air shelters will be available to
residents. Criteria may vary for different degrees of vulnerability to
smoke.
b. Clearly communicate the criteria.
c. Provide subsidies to low-income families to buy air purifiers.
2. Maintain and use fire breaks
a. Develop and communicate a plan for using the fire breaks for agriculture, berries, solar farms,
cycling or pedestrian recreation, and
similar uses.
Our organizations and members will continue to look for climate positive solutions,
not just climate neutral solutions, and want to work co-operatively with the City and
others in achieving this.
Submitted on behalf of:
Ecology North – Dawn Tremblay
Alternatives North – Bob Bromley, PHD