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
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.