Council supports hail resilience program — but no funding for it
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The multi-pronged program was put forward earlier this month, in response to a notice of motion last year from Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal, asking the city to consider reinstating the Resilient Rooftop Rebate Program that was discontinued in 2022.
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Dhaliwal's motion came after his northeast ward was pummeled by a series of supercell hailstorms last August. The hail damaged roughly 60,000 homes in Calgary and generated more than $3 billion in insurance claims, making it Canada's costliest weather event of 2024.
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Administration also proposed conducting a hail equity impact analysis to examine how hail damage has impacted socioeconomic inequity in certain vulnerable neighbourhoods.
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Nicole Newton, the city's natural environment and adaptation manager, told council the network would foster collaboration between governments and the different sectors that deal with hail, including the insurance, real estate and building industries.
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'(It's about) bringing those all together and having the right conversations around where does each responsibility start and stop and where does it overlap,' Newton said.
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'We would look to other municipalities and try to figure out other areas in North America and see what fits best with all the players at the table, and ensure we're taking the right strides in terms of advocacy, education initiatives and maybe different incentive programs.'
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The recommendations also included having Mayor Jyoti Gondek pen a letter to the provincial government to implement a provincial grant program to support low-income households with their hail damage-related costs. The letter would also advocate for changes to the Municipal Government Act, allowing for hail protection upgrades to be included in the city's Clean Energy Improvement Program.
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Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The lawsuit came hours after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered sweeping changes to law enforcement policies in the city and said a Trump administration official should assume all duties and responsibilities of the police chief, drawing immediate legal pushback from Schwalb and Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D). Schwalb called it the 'gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced.' 'By declaring a hostile takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its limited, temporary authority under the Home Rule Act, infringing on the District's right to self-governance and putting the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk,' Schwalb said in a statement. 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This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'That's a huge betrayal of our values as D.C. residents,' D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) said in an interview. Smith's order retained restrictions on helping ICE with immigration arrests or inquiring about people's immigration status while in their custody – limitations that reflect D.C. law. But by Thursday night, Bondi rescinded Smith's new order and suspended the existing D.C. police policies that had placed guardrails on cooperation with ICE – a dramatic policy shift in a deep-blue District that, during Trump's first term, the mayor proudly called a 'sanctuary city.' Trump has repeatedly targeted Democratic cities with sanctuary-city laws that restrict or prohibit local law enforcement from aiding immigration authorities. He said of D.C. on Monday that 'this city will no longer be a sanctuary for illegal alien criminals. We will have full, seamless, integrated cooperation at all levels of law enforcement and will deploy officers across the District with an overwhelming presence.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Justice Department said Bondi believed Smith's order would allow D.C. to continue with some of its sanctuary-city policies. In the order she issued Thursday night, Bondi rescinded Smith's 2024 order limiting police inquiries into the immigration status of residents and one from 2023 that stopped police from making arrests solely for immigration violations. 'D.C. will not remain a sanctuary city actively shielding criminal aliens. It will not happen,' Bondi told Fox News's Sean Hannity in an interview Thursday evening. 'You must comply. You must give the information to our ICE – to our homeland security – officers. If they have information on an illegal alien living in D.C., they must give us that information.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Multiple D.C. lawmakers immediately condemned Bondi's order Thursday night. 'This order is a patently unlawful power grab that represents a break-the-glass moment for our democracy. It cannot and will not stand,' Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) said in a statement, arguing that Bondi did not have the power to change D.C. laws and policies. Like Trump's asserted takeover of the D.C. police department, Bondi's order has no modern precedent. The Home Rule Act says that the president may 'direct' the mayor to provide police services for federal purposes and that the mayor 'shall provide' them to him. On Monday, Trump sent a letter to the mayor saying he was directing her to 'submit to the President, through the Attorney General, the services of the Metropolitan Police force for federal purposes.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But in part because the law is untested, confusion reigned in the immediate aftermath of Trump's executive action about the chain of command at the D.C. police department. D.C. officials have interpreted the Home Rule Act to mean that they are providing law enforcement services to the president while retaining ownership of the department – not surrendering total control. The provision is titled 'Emergency control of police,' and the White House made clear Tuesday they saw the president as the one in control. In his executive order he delegated his authority to Bondi. But in his letter to Smith, Schwalb argued that the plain language of the Home Rule Act in no way allowed Bondi's orders and that the act did not say anything about allowing a federal official to rescind or change D.C. police policies or to remove the chief of police. 'Members of MPD must continue to follow your orders and not the orders of any official not appointed by the Mayor,' Schwalb wrote. D.C.'s law limiting cooperation with ICE – known as the Sanctuary Values Amendment Act of 2020 – has recently drawn attention from Congress. Earlier this year, the Republican-controlled House voted to nullify D.C.'s sanctuary-city law and mandate full cooperation with the federal authorities, part of a steady drumbeat of bills GOP lawmakers have taken up that intervene in D.C. policy. The bill's chances are unclear in the Senate, where the filibuster would require support from Democrats. But if Bondi's order were carried out, it would achieve the same end. Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA Columnists
