April 2023

Seedy Sunday Success!

We were so happy to participate in this great community event, which promoted seed saving and local agriculture. It was nice to meet so many of our members and followers -- thanks for visiting our table. Pictured are Laurie Friskie, Kathryn Hazel and Heather Baitz, hard-working members of our board of directors.

Climate Change Workshop with Katimavik Visit

NCAH's Heather Baitz and Kevin Lindsay recently had the opportunity to facilitate a workshop with a group of young people who are currently spending time in Nanaimo as part of an experience called Katimavik. Katimavik is a non-profit organization that offers young adults opportunities to gain life skills and work experience while contributing to community development through volunteerism and employment. The word ‘Katimavik’ originates from the Inuktitut language, meaning ‘meeting place’. Since 1977, Katimavik has brought young Canadians together to learn, to exchange culture and language, and to help build stronger communities across Canada. Katimavik aims to help youth become engaged, caring citizens and capable contributors and leaders for a better Canada. We do this through the development of 21^st century skills, experiential learning, employment and civic engagement.

During the 2-hour workshop, there were lively conversations on topics ranging from causes of climate change, mitigation strategies, and adaption—as well as tactics for engaging the participants' own communities in conversation about climate change. The group brought a broad range of perspectives to the conversation, due in part to their geographical diversity—participants came from as far to the East as the Magdalen Islands, as North as Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, and many points on the map in between."We really appreciated the opportunity to work with this group of bright young adult Canadians," said Heather Baitz, NACH Chair, "and hope to work with Katimavik again in the near future."

Congratulations to the Sunshine Coast Sue Big Oil Action Team!

On March 7^th, Gibsons Council voted unanimously to work with other local governments in BC to file a class action lawsuit against global fossil fuel companies to recover a fair share of the climate costs they are incurring. This means setting aside at least $1 per resident and working with First Nations towards this purpose. The Sunshine Coast Sue Big Oil Action Team gathered public support and made a presentation to Gibsons council, which was likely instrumental in obtaining the unanimous vote.

Municipalities, who own and maintain approximately 60% of core public infrastructure in Canada, are going to pay a lot for climate-driven disasters and to re-build more resilient infrastructure. Currently, those costs are borne entirely by municipalities. For example, Gibsons is grappling with relocating a sanitary sewer main and a community hall because of sea level rise. The Sunshine Coast has experienced coastal erosion and destruction of waterfront infrastructure. In 2022, a state of local emergency was declared because of a severe and prolonged drought that caused crop losses and some temporary business closures to maintain adequate levels of drinking water. The fossil fuel industry, which has reaped profits of $3 billion a day for 50 years, needs to pay their fair share of those costs.

“Sue Big Oil community groups are springing up across the province, in Powell River, Nanaimo, Whistler, Greater Victoria, Burnaby, and more, as British Columbians demand that their local governments protect them from the costs of climate change and hold the fossil fuel industry accountable.” says Fiona Koza, Climate Accountability Strategist at West Coast Environmental Law, which is the Secretariat to the Sue Big Oil campaign. For more information or to join the Nanaimo Sue Big Oil team, email NanaimoClimateAction@gmail.com We are currently planning meetings with Nanaimo council members and local organizations. In the coming months, you will see us at a local event or in a park, asking people to complete the Sue Big Oil declaration.

Renovate the Public Hearing!

CityHive is launching an experiential, cohort-based civic education program for youths aged 18 to 30 based in the province of B.C. This hands-on program will take place over weekly sessions for 3 months, guiding a cohort of 25-30 participants through a knowledge-to-action learning journey centered on Public Hearings, and how to make them more accessible and inclusive. Over the course of the program, participants will learn about government and power with an emphasis on the municipal level from key stakeholders (elected officials, urban planners, and grassroots organizers).By the end of the program, the participants will have developed an alternative to the current public hearing process and will present their ideas to CityHive's partners at Simon Fraser University, to help them with their ongoing research on this topic. More information and application details can be found here.

Nanaimo Climate Pledge Update

In November 2022 NCAH launched the Nanaimo Climate Pledge, a campaign intended to assess and encourage climate action in Vancouver Island households from Ladysmith to Qualicum Beach and as far west as Port Alberni. The Pledge includes a list of 13 actions, carefully chosen to be accessible and either high-impact, high-frequency, or both. Actions include reducing or eliminating meat consumption, and additional outreach actions such as joining a climate change organization. Four months after the launch of the Nanaimo Climate Pledge, over 180 people have completed the online survey to commit to one or more climate actions.

While more data is required to make some conclusions, patterns are beginning to emerge. These patterns can inform future directions of the Pledge and help identify where best to invest time and effort to effectively encourage household climate action.

"There were a few key lessons from the first phase of the project", according to Whelm King, program manager for Nanaimo Climate Pledge. "First, change is best motivated by direct contact within our personal networks. Climate Connectors and working with established groups or clubs were the most successful methods we tested. Conversely, impersonal methods such as cold mailing were the least effective. Second, despite the urgency of the climate crisis, it will take time for many people to come to terms with the scope and severity of the crisis, and to feel empowered to take action to minimize their own contribution to the crisis. Combatting feelings of insignifigance ("my actions don't matter") and doomerism ("it's too late already") are crucial to overcome on an individual and societal level."

What’s next? Plans are underway for the next phases of the Pledge, including evaluating the report’s recommendations for increasing reach and response rates. To accomplish this, the program is looking at targeting well-organized communities, including organized and active neighbourhood associations.

"There is an old saying that best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago; the second best time is today. So it is with the climate crisis", says King. "The best time to take action is twenty years ago; the second best time is today" If you haven’t filled out the Pledge yet it’s not too late – here’s a link to the Pledge if you don’t have it handy!

Heat Pump Campaign Survey

Heat pumps are an essential tool in the fight against climate change. Having a heat pump in your home can mean the difference between life and death during extreme temperatures.

Yet too many British Columbians are unable to afford them. The cost of having a CleanBC Income Qualified Program (IQP) registered contractor install a heat pump is often in the tens of thousands of dollars, well above the value of available rebates.

New rebates and increasing demand for heat pumps, combined with a shortage of available installers, mean there is little incentive for companies to keep their prices competitive.

The Nanaimo Climate Action Hub is launching a campaign to ensure that heat pump installations will be affordable and efficient for everyone, thereby reducing energy consumption, combatting climate change, and making homes more comfortable in both summer and winter.

The first step in the campaign is to gather information on what getting a heat pump - or trying to - has been like for BC citizens. The Nanaimo Climate Action Hub has prepared a short, five-minute survey that asks about your heat pump experience. Please complete this survey today.

Looking Ahead...

Earth Day -- April 29 -- Stewards in the Spotlight Event -- 11 am to 3 pm

Kinsmen Park and Kin Hut in Departure Bay Beach, Nanaimo

Join Team WaterSmart at a community event that celebrates local stewardship organizations from across the region who are taking action to restore, protect, and safeguard our environment - from caring for our local waterways, to removing invasive plants, and much more! Check out some interactive activities for all ages and learn how you can get involved.

Departure Creek Streamwalk

Join local experts and stewardship volunteers on an interpretive walk along Departure Creek. This urban stream has been in the care of community volunteers and citizen scientists for many years. Come see some of the work being done to restore and protect this stream, including tree planting, salmon monitoring, and riparian area protection. Participants must be able to walk 2-3km on mostly flat terrain.

Learn more and register here.

Please Support Us!

We have an account with the Regional Recycling South Return-It Depot at 839 Victoria Road in Nanaimo. You can donate the money from returnable items by asking the clerk to credit the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub account. Thanks in advance for your support. It makes a huge difference!

This newsletter is a publication of the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub. For more information, please click below:

We respectfully acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Snuneymuxw, Stz'uminus and Snaw-Naw-As First Nations.