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Premier Gordon Campbell and Minister of Community Development Blair Lekstrom present Prince George Mayor Colin Kinsley with the LiveSmart BC Green Cities Award.
CITY OF PRINCE GEORGE - Winner
Notable highlights of their nomination include:
- council endorsed an energy and green house gas management (GHG) plan:
- council endorsed completion of milestone three of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Partners for Climate Protection Program:
- 20 initiatives to reduce corporate and community GHG emissions by 10 and two percent respectively by 2012;
- estimated minimum annual reduction of GHGs 200.7 tonnes of CO2e from corporate emission reduction initiatives thus far;
- estimated 40 per cent increase in transit ridership in last three years;
- installation of micro-turbines at wastewater treatment plant to turn digester gas in to electricity and use of natural lighting;
- expansion of anti-idling campaign with an anti-idling ambassador;
- hired energy management consultant to complete audit of all corporately owned buildings and monitor effectiveness of recent retrofits; and
- tree planting in response to mountain pine beetle, resulting in more than 6,000 trees being planted in city parks, playgrounds and greenbelt area.
CITY OF KAMLOOPS
Notable highlights of their nomination include:
- have embraced the “Tournament Capital of Canada” theme as part of their economic revitalization;
- registered “Active Community” of BC Recreation and Parks Association Active Communities program and submitted one of the first plan which promotes:
- Healthy eating;
- Promotes physical activity and health-oriented programs;
- On-site food for young athletes at sporting events;
- pedestrian master plan aimed at increasing commuting and recreational walking/running;
- invested more than $37 million in recent years in the development and renovation of recreation facilities through the city;
- continual development of the Rivers’ Trail, a 100-km multi-use trail system connecting to major parks;
- developed “Safe Routes to Schools” program to encourage kids to walk/cycle to school;
- urban Forest Management Plan (2006) to improve the forest canopy in the city;
- hired professional arborist to educate public about benefits of planting trees and where to plant them to achieve other goals such as reducing building energy costs while considering fire suppression;
- in process of completing economic valuation of all the trees;
- tree coupons provide 50 per cent subsidy to residents who want to plant a tree on their property;
- have undertaken comprehensive transportation planning including development of TravelSmart plan which integrates land use and transportation planning;
- expanded the UPASS program for students at Thompson Rivers University to promote transit;
- Watersmart program has resulted in 23 per cent reduction of water use;
- constructed four LEED-certified, city owned buildings (water treatment plant, BC Wildlife Park’s Discovery Centre, McArthur Island Sports Centre, Tournament Capital Centre);
- purchased four hybrid vehicles for fleet and will purchase 12-15 more;
- establishing a curbside recycling program; and
- comprehensive Pine Beetle Recovery Program.
CITY OF NORTH VANCOUVER
Notable highlights of their nomination include:
- most recent Community Energy and Green House Gas Inventory report estimates an eight per cent decrease in emissions compared with 1999;
- Lonsdale Energy Corporation is now expanding into solar photovoltaic technology and bringing its fourth mini-plant on-line in the new civic library which is currently being built under the new civic building design guidelines (LEED);
- average monthly energy saving of 5,100 kWh during the summer of 2007 through participating in the BC Hydro Turn it Off Challenge (4.4 per cent energy consumption reduction), as well as purchasing Green Power Certificate Program;
- currently working with the University of British Columbia on a 100-year Sustainability Vision/Plan for the city;
- Street Tree Master Plan – 5,400-street tree inventory;
- quantified the value (social, environmental and economic) using STRATUM software developed by the Centre of Urban Forest Research at University of California; and
- 1.25 per cent of every capital project budget given to quality streetscapes/public art.
