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FCM’S Green Municipal Fund announcement for Greenest City 2020 Action Plan

Bob Long, a member of the national board of directors of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and of the Langley, BC, Township Council, and Andrew Saxton, Member of Parliament for North Vancouver, today presented a Green Municipal FundTM

(GMF) grant contribution to Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. The City is putting the $324,500 toward a robust public engagement and planning process, research and analysis leading up to the creation of the Greenest City 2020 action plan.

“FCM’s Green Municipal Fund offers a range of resources and services that address the sustainable community development needs of municipal governments,” said Councillor Long. “The financing and knowledge provided by the Fund supports the development of communities that are more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.”

“The Government of Canada is assisting municipalities across the country in achieving their goal of a cleaner and healthier environment for Canadians through the Green Municipal Fund,” said Mr. Saxton. “Today’s announcement is another example of how our government, in partnership with FCM, is helping the City of Vancouver build a greener future for our citizens.”

“Vancouver is making great strides towards becoming the world’s greenest city by 2020, and we are doing it in a way that engages people throughout our city,” said Mayor Robertson. “The greenest city action plan is crucial to ensuring our work is a success, and this funding will go toward expanding and enhancing our public dialogue.”

The Green Municipal Fund grant provides support for public engagement, in addition to research and analysis, for the Greenest City 2020 action plan. The plan will include ideas from Vancouver citizens generated during an extensive public engagement process, which has already included a pecha kucha, an event highlighting short, themed presentations; as well as Talk Green to Us, an interactive online forum.

Upcoming community workshops and social media forums will capture input from Vancouver residents and incorporate it into the final plan. Events include the Greenest City Camp, an opportunity to bridge planning work and community-based actions, which will be held March 5 this year.

The action plan will also consider research on global best practices, baseline numbers for Vancouver, and feasible and cost-effective actions that can be implemented between now and 2020.

The Government of Canada endowed the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) with $550 million to establish the Green Municipal Fund. The Fund supports partnerships and leveraging of both public and private-sector funding to reach higher standards of air, water and soil quality, and climate protection.

FCM has been the national voice of municipal governments since 1901. It fosters the development of sustainable communities to improve quality of life by promoting strong, effective, and accountable municipal government.

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