Councillor urging city to declare climate emergency

An Ottawa city councillor wants the nation's capital to join the growing list of Canadian cities that have declared climate emergencies.

Capital wardCoun. Shawn Menardis planning to introduce a motion at the next meeting of the city'scommittee on environmental protection, water and wastemanagement.

If approved by city council, Ottawa would join a number of Canadian cities that have made similar declarations including Vancouver, Halifax and Hamilton.

Closer to home, Kingston, Ont., passed a similar motion at a council meeting last month.

• Kingston council asked to declare climate emergency

Recognizing the "existential threat posed by climate change" would hopefully allow city staff to better co-ordinate their efforts in areassuch as public health and renewable energy, Menard said in a statement.

The committee will discuss the motion at its April 16 meeting.