Premier calls Jyoti Gondek's plan to declare a climate emergency 'peculiar'
Jason Kenney didn't mince words Tuesday when asked about Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek's desire for the city to declare a climate emergency.
Climate and environmental resilience was one of the pillars of Gondek's campaign platform during the election.
In a questionnaire CTV News sent to all mayoral candidates before the election, Gondek said declaring a climate emergency and enacting the recommendations around environmental resilience in existing City of Calgary policies would be "one of her first priorities" if she were to win.
“In a city that has been suffering from near double-digit unemployment, that has gone through five years of deep economic adversity, I find that a peculiar priority,” Kenney said while speaking to reporters on Tuesday.
“I would have thought that the mayor of Calgary’s top priority would be getting Calgarians back to work," he said. "That’s certainly my top priority.”
In response to comments, Gondek said she felt it was important for the mayor of Calgary to represent the best interests of the city.
"We need to be focussed on economic, social and environmental resilience for our city," she said.
"That is the focal point of every major corporation who is creating jobs in our city. We need to be in step with them in doing the right thing.
"The environment is absolutely one of the priorities."
Gondek was sworn in on Monday, along with Calgary's 14 new or re-elected councillors.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.