Small town, big green dreams

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This article was published 19/10/2024 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Selkirk is a growing city located on the Red River in the heart of the Interlake. Home to more than 10,500 residents, the community 22 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg is known for its catfish, famous for its steel mill and is active in arenas that feature hockey and curling teams, clubs and championships.

It might not be as well known that Selkirk is leading the way in taking steps towards a greener world.

With the release of the 2023 corporate and community greenhouse gas emissions reports, Selkirk’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Accountability Bylaw mandates tracking and reporting and sets new GHG reduction targets that are consistent with Canada’s national targets and the global effort to keep the climate increase to just 1.5 degrees or less. It also establishes a financial framework which ensures the city can meet these targets.

By measuring and tracking emissions, the city is gaining insights into its progress in reducing its carbon footprint and continues to strive towards a more sustainable future.

Duane Nicol, chief administrative officer for the City of Selkirk, is grateful to be part of such a visionary process.

“Selkirk is my hometown, born and raised here. I appreciate the opportunity to be making my hometown a better place, to have a better quality of life. I appreciate working with a council that has vision and gumption,” he said, crediting the council’s commitment to making positive changes.

Selkirk is among the smallest communities in the world reporting via the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), one of only two communities in Manitoba.

“The community drives our strategic plans. Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time,” Nicol added, noting that citizens view community reporting as a priority.

The city’s reporting covered both community and the corporate sector. The former includes emissions from community electricity, fuel consumption and emissions from solid waste disposal, while corporate includes emissions that are a result of assets directly owned and operated by the city.

Selkirk’s new wastewater treatment plant operates without fossil fuel. There’s geothermal heating at the water plant and its fleet is being switched to electric. Each of these measures helps the city lower its corporate GHG emissions as well as its long-term operational costs. The city has converted all of its urban forestry equipment to electric.

Among the 20 new fleet vehicles acquired from 2016 on, were three electric compact SUVs, two electric trucks, two hybrid SUVs and five transit vehicles, one of them a hybrid bus.

The report states that the city’s goal is to reach net zero GHG emissions by 2030. To do this the city will need to reduce or offset its emissions by 16.7 per cent each year.

“I think there’s a lot to be proud of,” said Nicol. “I’m most proud of the fact that we are tracking and reporting on emissions. It’s not common to be doing this: the fact that we have a council that says that this is important and we should be doing this. … The results that we’ve achieved so far are great and we are expecting bigger improvements. That will further drive down emissions. We will make this progress by leveraging federal and provincial grants; renewing infrastructure. By doing that we are decreasing costs on city operations, capital costs.”

With increasing interest in addressing climate action, Nicol has been invited by schools to speak to students about the growing awareness of climate change and its impacts on the future.

“The young people are very proud that they’re growing up in a place that is taking their concerns seriously.

“The success belongs with council that has vision for long-term decisions and not what is politically easy or what will help them get re-elected. They created a strategic plan that is made by our citizens. What is Selkirk going to look like in the next 100 years? Climate has been embedded into city government; accountability by law. Every project that goes to council we have to report on the expected climate change impact. It’s integrated, how we choose and maintain infrastructure — pipes and roads and trees. … We’ve embedded thinking into all decisions, every infrastructure dollar is a climate action dollar.”

With lots of interest and questions from other communities, there are many opportunities to share learning and practice. The City of Selkirk shares all of its documentation online to ensure accessibility and staff have presented at numerous conferences as a Canadian municipality.

“We know we are far from perfect. We are getting better every year. We have a lot of work to do.”

Nicol says they have a number of projects in various stages of implementation including transition to lower-emission vehicles, new technology like the conversion to geothermal in the water treatment plant, growing the urban forestry program, improving the health of trees, cooling the urban air, expanding the active transportation pathway and working on the development of a new transit strategy.

“Our job today is to make decisions and choices so that people who come after us will have better opportunities than we have today,” Nicol added, highlighting that municipalities have a choice to be proactive or wait until the changing climate becomes even more of a crisis which then involves more risk and more financial expense.

“Issues aren’t going to be solved by one person. They need to be solved by collective action. Because Selkirk has been taking action, the people who live here are reducing their impact.”

Nicol refutes the old perceptions of Selkirk.

“There are people who care about climate, protecting our river, people who are focused on long-term quality of life. People should really come see Selkirk now. We are doing things that are maybe unexpected for a smaller city. Things are evolving to a much better state. Initiatives like this, with a waste water treatment plant which is second to none in the province, taking action to protect Lake Winnipeg and the Red River — we are a growing community creating a place where people want to live and raise a family.”

View the report details here: https://wfp.to/selkirkemissions

city@freepress.mb.ca