Executive committee takes stand against fossil fuel sponsorships for city operations

Regina’s executive committee voted Wednesday to treat fossil fuels the same as tobacco, pot, porn and weapons — at least when it comes to sponsorship, naming rights and advertising policies for city operations.

Mayor Sandra Masters was joined by councillors John Findura, Lori Bresciani and Terina Shaw in opposing the decision, which passed by a 7-4 vote.

Masters said she sees fossil fuels producers as a major employer within the community, adding it’s important to not vilify people in those industries.

“We should be supporting innovation for the transition into biofuels so we can keep those jobs here,” she said. “I think this was purely political, not pragmatic at all. I think it was to attempt to send a message that we would like to be more green and sustainable.

“I do think it went deep into the weeds in terms of defining what that means and I think some of the counsellors alluded to it that they felt they were taking a leadership position in terms of what they stand for.”

Daniel LeBlanc, the councillor for Ward 6 who brought forward the motion, said it will affect companies whose business is primarily taken from the sale or production of fossil fuels.

“Having a city building named after someone sort of implies that we endorse them,” LeBlanc said.

He said the report from the city showed a number of businesses that couldn’t get naming rights no matter how much they paid. That included pornography companies, gun manufacturers and marijuana shops.

LeBlanc said he wanted to add fossil fuel companies to that list.

“The City of Regina, including councillors, have been very clear we are taking sustainability seriously,” LeBlanc said. “I think it’s not controversial that the continued use of fossil fuels is inconsistent with environmentally sustainability.

“It seemed to me that fossil fuel companies and their sponsorship is as inconsistent with our values as is a marijuana shop, for example.”

If passed, the city will be tasked with finding additional revenue sources, as well as other forms of sponsorship for different projects.

“This is just money that we wouldn’t get in the future,” Masters said. “This only means it’s a lost opportunity, potentially in terms of sponsorships.”

The decision would ban fossil fuel producers and sellers from advertising or sponsorship agreements for city operations, but it would not impact users of fossil fuel energy.

The decision still needs to be passed by city council.

Premier Scott Moe voiced his disagreement with the executive committee’s decision on Wednesday.

Regina City Council’s Executive Committee has passed an absurd motion that would restrict energy companies from sponsoring or advertising with the City of Regina. I commend Mayor Sandra Masters and the three other Councillors for voting against this.

Read my full statement: pic.twitter.com/Nz4Mjjjjr9

— Scott Moe (@PremierScottMoe) January 20, 2021

Moe called the committee’s decision “absurd” while applauding Masters, Findura, Bresciani and Shaw for opposing the policy.

In Moe’s statement, he called the motion a “hypocritical attack on the hardworking workers and employers that fuel Saskatchewan’s economy.”

Councillors LeBlanc, Cheryl Stadnichuk, Bob Hawkins, Andrew Stevens, Shanon Zachidniak, Jason Mancinelli and Landon Mohl were all in favour of the motion.

LeBlanc said he thinks there’s some interpretation needed when it comes to if SaskPower and SaskEnergy also fall under the new policy, but says they very well could.

“SaskPower, it seems to me, is principally involved in the sale of fossil fuels and that’s because, in my view, they’ve been slow to upgrade the grid to renewable energy,” LeBlanc said. “There’s certainly financial implications to what we did and it means many of the deepest pockets in the province and in the country are now not available to us.

“I think that’s the price which city council is willing to pay to stand by our commitment to sustainability. There are financial implications of it but that’s often the case when you have to make politically difficult decisions based on our values of sustainability.”

LeBlanc said while he was door-knocking in his neighbourhood, he had a lot of people concerned with sustainability in the city. He said the city has passed a motion to try to be a net carbon neutral city by 2050.

“I think that had people very excited but they wanted to see a movement beyond just nice platitudes to actually the rubber hitting the road,” LeBlanc said.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Britton Gray