Conspiracy theories took centre stage during Tuesday’s city council meeting as the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program was up for discussion once again.
As ThoroldToday reported, City Hall wants to join the free PCP program so it can access resources to calculate the city’s greenhouse gas emissions, but some councillors fear there might be hidden costs down the line.
Local community activist Ron Devereux made an emotional plea during Tuesday's meeting, imploring councillors not to join the program.
“Any subjective fish can float downstream with the crowd,” he said, through tears. “Please be a strong, live, objective fish and swim against the current.”
Councillor Jim Handley said he is not a conspiracy theorist but he believes that the PCP program is part of a larger, more sinister agenda.
“I’ve done a lot of research myself,” he said. “PCP is solely funded by the ICLEI who is funded by Google and many other multi-billion dollar corporations. ”
ICLEI — also knows as Local Governments for Sustainability — is an international NGO that promotes sustainable development. Councillor Handley went on to parse through the ICLEI's mission statement.
“They talk about eating crickets and mealworms, among other edible insects,” he said. “’Nature based,’ they put that right in it. That’s what their objectives are. It’s part of the World Economic Forum.”
Other councillors believe there is indeed a climate emergency and the city should do what it can right now to mitigate it.
“These are facts and these are things we need to recognize,” said Councillor Tim O’Hare. “This is our future we need to be looking out for.”
Councillor Carmen DeRose said he believes the City of Thorold has already done enough to combat climate change — highlighting an electronic Zamboni the city bought last year.
“This initiative will lead us to being told we will need to replace all gas-powered vehicles within our city fleet with electric ones,” Councillor DeRose said. “How is that going to work for the firetrucks and other emergency vehicles? Would you trust an electric vehicle to save your life?”
He went on to condemn the program for its ties to the United Nations and the World Economic Forum, which he called “two of the most corrupt entities in the world.”
“My main concern is the amount of staff time that will be needed in the next ten years to work on the five milestones,” Councillor DeRose continued. “The report is flawed and I believe that parts of it were provided to our planning staff by outside entities.”
City Hall staff reiterated that they just want access to the program’s free resources, stressing there will be no obligation to hit certain emissions targets. They also noted that the region is already part of the program, together with local municipalities such as St. Catharines, Welland, Grimsby, and West Lincoln.
Councillor Henry D’Angela proposed that the city review its membership to the free program in a year to see if it wants to opt out or stay in. And with that amendment, the resolution to join the program was passed unanimously by all councillors.
