Fossil fuel companies like FortisBC have an outsize influence in B.C. politics. Whether it’s funding staff positions in local governments, skewing reports to villainize electrification, collaborating with Alberta’s now-defunct “energy war room” to attack Zero Carbon Step Code policies or sponsoring the annual gathering of B.C. municipal governments (the UBCM), Fortis and the fracked gas industry have run deep-pocketed influence campaigns in this province for decades.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the recent decision by the City of Vancouver to roll back their climate action plan in favor of continuing fracked gas hook ups in new buildings. This regressive move is a reflection of the constant pressure gas lobbyists put onto municipalities to vote down climate-saving measures.
It’s time to cut the strings between Fortis and our elected officials and demand an end to fossil gas industry meddling in politics. Tell your local mayor and councilors to vote yes to getting fossil fuel company sponsorship and advertising out of the UBCM and out of local government decision-making — period. Because politicians should be listening to us, not Fortis.
