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RDCK Roundup: Sue Big Oil asks RDCK to join the cause

All the news from the RDCK's Jan. 16 meeting
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Kootenay Lake, in the Regional District of Central Kootenay, is seen here from Pilot Bay.

Representatives of the Sue Big Oil West Kootenay campaign – data analyst Greg Amos, lawyer Therin Rhaintre, and lawyer Andrew Gage –  appeared before the Regional District of Central Kootenay board at its Jan.16 meeting requesting that it join the initiative to work with other local governments across the province to sue global fossil fuel companies.

The goal is to make the world’s largest oil companies pay a fair share of the costs associated with climate change. Local governments are asked to allocate at least one dollar per resident to fund a class action lawsuit. Though the first of its kind in Canada, U.S. states have had success with these types of campaigns, said Amos.

Sue Big Oil hopes to raise a minimum of $500,000 to fund the lawsuit. The West Kootenay team said that climate adaptation and recovery from extreme weather events are creating extra expenses for local governments.

“There’s always going to be some portion of that cost that we will have to cover from our tax dollars at the regional district level,” said Rhaintre.

The RDCK would become the 10th B.C. local government to join, said Amos.

In February 2024, the Village of Slocan passed a resolution and became the first interior municipality to participate in Sue Big Oil, contributing $379 to the cause. Rhaintre said over 14,000 British Columbians have signed the declaration as well as 500 in the Kootenays. Area I Director Andy Davidoff is working on a motion to bring forward at the February board meeting.

The province-wide initiative is being co-ordinated by West Coast Environmental Law, where Gage is a staff lawyer. 

Rural homelessness

Jayme Jones, researcher with Selkirk College, invited the regional district to partner with the college on a proposed new project to address rural homelessness in the West Kootenay. Stories to Solutions would use an innovative new study methodology called participatory narrative inquiry (PNI). People use stories to make sense of complex issues, said Jones, with homelessness being a particularly intricate issue.

Sharing stories fosters connection and empathy, and reveals patterns to encourage community-supported, evidence-based decision making. “PNI helps determine what interventions or actions have the best chance of moving forward,” she said.

The RDCK was a community partner on Selkirk’s previous study, Bridging Rural Homelessness and Well-Being. Research from this project highlighted the urgency and scale of the issue and that many people want to share stories – not just people with lived experience, but also businesses, local governments, and service providers.

Selkirk College is seeking funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Community and College Social Innovation Fund. The board directed the chair to write a letter of support for the project on behalf of the RDCK. No decision on partnership or funding supports was made at this time.

Winlaw recycling depot closes

The board has decided to permanently close the Winlaw Recycling Depot. The recommendation was made by the West Resource Recovery Committee “in consideration of taxation reduction,” said Area H Director Walter Popoff, chair of the committee.

A system efficiency study completed by GHD Limited found that the depot is one of three that receives less than 50 kilograms of material per hour of operation – the Riondel and Kokanee Park Marina depots are the other two.

The RDCK procured GHD for the study in September 2023. The consultant identified that closing the three facilities could reduce costs – $120,000 a year, or 10 per cent of the RDCK’s budget for recycling services. All three depots are now permanently closed. They were all 20-minute drives from other RDCK facilities that accept a wider range of recyclable materials.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated how many British Columbians have signed a petition supporting the Sue Big Oil movement. It is 14,000, not 500.