Although the Mayor’s State of Cochrane address on February 9th, presented in cooperation with the Cochrane & District Chamber of Commerce, providing the “vision guiding Cochrane forward into the future”, was advertised as “an annual gathering of business leaders”, it was also billed as being “open to the public”.

However, to get a glimpse of that “vision” for Cochrane one had to pony up $50 to get entry. One would hope that there would be a venue of no cost to the public to learn about this Council’s “vision guiding Cochrane forward into the future”. Unfortunately there is a declining trend of public engagement.

For me, of particular interest was that there was to be “an open session at the end where people can raise their hand and ask a question”, which Kelly Carson, the Chamber’s Executive Director, described as “not common in politics.” Indeed, failing to get an answer from our mayor and council to communications sent to them on various topics has been a relatively common experience. So, I looked upon the $50 entry fee as the price to be paid in order to get a question answered by the mayor.

Once inside, I picked up my drink that came with the ticket, found a seat, and nibbled on some appetizers which I would describe as top notch, especially the little roast beef hors d’oeuvres and cream puffs.

The CAO, Mike Derricott opened the meeting and used an interesting phone app, Menti.com, to break the ice by asking questions of those in attendance like, how long have you lived in Cochrane. In an instant, the app was able to generate a pie-chart breaking down the results. I was unable to participate with my lowly flip-top phone.

I will not go into details with respect to the mayor’s presentation, which was covered by the local media, here and here. I noticed that it was being video-recorded and presumably will be made available to the public. Suffice to say that there was no mention of 15-minute cities nor was that to be expected..

He began his presentation by referencing the protest that had occurred outside prior to the event, painting himself as a poor victim and happy to be in his safe space.  He described the “greeting party” that met him as he walked in, “sadly it is a sign of our times that we actually at the town have to put up with on a daily basis, whether it be protests or FOI requests”. It escapes him that those FOI (Freedom of Information) requests might be an indication that the public feels ill-informed about what is going on at the town office. Contrast that perspective with the freedom-oriented perspective of the Chamber’s Executive Director Kelly Carson who noting that the protesters on the whole were peaceful and that he understood why they chose this function for the protest, said, “I think that’s where I would pick if I was going to be a protester. Would we like to have no protesters? Of course, we would, but by the same token, it’s their right and we respect that.” With respect to the challenges of the previous year, the mayor implored everyone “to put the negative aspects of the past in the rear view”. Including the town requiring its staff to show proof of vaccination with the experimental gene therapy, which neither prevented one from contracting Covid nor spreading it, in order to continue to be employed by the town? Including the town rejecting the placement of a framed copy of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Council chambers?

Mr. Positivity ended his speech with an appeal, “We need your help. We need to hear from you. We hear a lot of negativity. We walked through it tonight. As I mentioned earlier, that type of behaviour is increasing”.

With the conclusion of the mayor’s speech around 8:00 PM, the meeting was then opened up to a question-and-answer session. At first, I thought that I wouldn’t be able to ask a question as it was suggested to use the Menti.com app so the question could be displayed on the screen, and here I was with only a flip-top phone. However, I noticed someone stand up to ask a question, so I at one point did the same. My question was in two parts. In the first part, I asked him if he agreed with Calgary Mayor, Jyoti Gondek, that there’s a “climate emergency”. Perhaps, not unexpectedly, he ducked giving a direct answer, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, responding “We have not declared any emergency here. (Which was not my question.) We obviously are concerned about the environment”.

The second part of my question was to ask him if the Town of Cochrane was committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to which he replied, “Not officially in any regard. Are we aware of it, yes. Do we make decisions where we can, yes”. This was an interesting response from the mayor, saying that such was not the case when, in fact, the town is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions according to the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board’s (CMRB’s) Growth Plan which he heartily endorsed and approved. According to Section 3.3.3.1. of the Growth Plan, we read that “Municipal Development Plans shall (emphasis added) address Climate Change resiliency, which will include: (a) a commitment to reduce municipal greenhouse gas emissions”. I would direct Mayor Genung to page 67 of the Growth Plan to get himself better informed about what he signed our town on to.

The reduction of carbon dioxide emissions was an important consideration in the development of the Growth Plan and that should come as no surprise since Peter Calthorpe, one of the lead planners with the consulting form, HDR Inc, retained to help develop the plan, expressed the alarmist view that  “Over the long run, climate change is going to hurt millions, if not billions, if we cannot cope with it in a serious way. It’s an existential threat”, the kind of catastrophic perspective that Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek, with her “climate emergency”, would embrace. ‘Fighting’ climate change by reducing carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas) emissions is one of the major objectives of Agenda 2030 promoted by globalist bodies like the United Nations and the World Economic Forum. In other words, undeniably, CMRB is a vehicle that puts Cochrane on the road to Agenda 2030. No mention in his talk of this “vision guiding Cochrane forward into the future”.

UPDATES:

In the wrap-up to the February 13th Council meeting the Mayor (from 1:32:56 to 1:38:00 minutes in the video) and several other Council members gave their impressions of the protest preceding the State of Cochrane address on February 9th, as reported by Cochrane Now, and as reported by the Cochrane Eagle.

On March 27, 2023 I sent an Email to Mayor Genung copied to the other Councillors advising him that with him telling me during the Q&A at his State of Cochrane address that when it came to a commitment to reducing greenhouse gases that the town “Not officially in any regard whatsoever” has such a commitment, I directed him to page 67 of the CMRB’s Growth Plan to get himself better informed about what he, and several other of the town councillors, have signed our town on to.