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National Observer
21 hours ago
- Politics
- National Observer
Misinformation-laden website almost convinces Alberta town to abandon climate program
Patrick Wilson, a councillor in Cochrane, Alta., let a website he'd found do the talking for him. "This website I'm quoting from, I don't know a whole lot about," he told council on Monday night. "But I just thought their words were better than mine." Wilson used those borrowed words to introduce a motion that would make Cochrane the first Alberta municipality to withdraw from Partners for Climate Protection, a national net-zero framework the town had been part of for over two decades. The website Wilson was quoting is part of a troubling trend in local politics. It belongs to KICLEI (Kicking International Council out of Local Environmental Initiatives) – a group using an AI chatbot to craft talking points aimed at persuading local politicians to abandon net-zero programs. The chatbot is instructed to emphasize 'local decision-making' and 'non-partisan civic engagement,' while downplaying emissions targets and international cooperation. KICLEI is not a reliable source of climate information, according to scientists at NASA, the US National Centre for Atmospheric Research and the University of Melbourne, who told Canada's National Observer that the group has spread misinformation about their research. Yet its messaging came within a whisker of spurring policy change in Cochrane. Only a last minute intervention by Mayor Genung halted the town's exit from the PCP program until a review by an environmental task force. KICLEI was founded in 2023 by former Freedom Convoy activist Maggie Hope Braun. Its campaign in Cochrane began in February 2025, when local resident Ron Voss presented a letter from KICLEI to the council that described Alberta as a "net carbon sink" and warned that the Partners for Climate Protection program imposes "unnecessary costs and external controls." 'This website I'm quoting from, I don't know a whole lot about… but I just thought their words were better than mine.'— Alberta councillor, citing a wedsite with an AI chatbot pushing towns to quit net-zero programs These arguments are not new. They echo conspiracy theories popularized by the US Tea Party that claim that the climate crisis was invented by the UN to establish a "one world government" and erode private property rights. In 2010, dozens of US municipalities left the international sustainability network ICLEI because it promoted UN agendas. The same network ICLEI now administers the Partners for Climate Protection program with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, making it a natural target for a Canadian revival of the US movement. Canada's National Observer 's recent investigation found that KICLEI is explicitly importing US Tea Party tactics into Canada. In August 2023, its founder Maggie Hope Braun told councillors in Douro-Dummer, Ontario that they were enabling "an act of treason" by allowing the creation of "UN city states." However, the group has since moderated its language, with the help of its AI chatbot. When Wilson brought forward his motion, he acknowledged receiving an email warning councillors not to 'abandon their net-zero commitments to carefully crafted conspiracy theories" – quoting our investigation. But Wilson pushed back, arguing that the council should take a role in approving any "externally-driven" initiatives. He expressed his 'shock and surprise' that Cochrane had been a member of the climate protection program since 2004. Wilson's reasoning resonated widely. At least three other councillors supported the motion to leave the program, with Councillor Marni Fedeyko reassured by staff that they could always rejoin later, after a pending local election, if needed. The motion seemed certain to succeed until, at the last minute, Mayor Genung raised concerns about potential 'ripple effects' on environmental progress in other municipalities. He also warned that Cochrane could lose access to grants from the Federation of Municipalities' Green Municipal Fund, which are available to members of the program. The final decision was postponed until September, when the town's environmental task force will report back on Genung's concerns. As Genung suspects, the stakes of this decision may ripple far beyond Cochrane. So far, Thorold, Ontario is the only municipality that KICLEI has convinced to leave the Partners for Climate Protection program and it is frequently used as an example to legitimize the campaign. KICLEI is a "very small group, trying to make a case that it is a national movement," said Fenwick McKelvey, an expert in Information and Communication Technology Policy at Carleton University. McKelvey is skeptical that many elected officials will be persuaded by KICLEI's AI-powered campaign. 'It's going to come across as bullshit,' he said. Yet, at least one man disagrees. In a recent council meeting, Councillor Wilson waxed poetic, saying that KICLEI expresses his concerns 'much better and more eloquently than I could.'
National Observer
18-06-2025
- Politics
- National Observer
A US climate conspiracy has spread to Canada — and local politicians haven't been warned
In a crowded room in Ottawa in April 2024, a woman stands in front of a screen displaying a bill from Tennessee. 'This is what we're aiming for,' she says, pointing at the text. 'We have their original resolution … and now we're making a Canadian version.' The Tennessee bill is uncompromising: it bans any city, municipality or school district from implementing climate policies traceable to the United Nations' Agenda 21, Agenda 2030 or net-zero goals if they in any way impact private property rights. A man in the crowd calls out that the UN is creating a 'one-world government' under its 'total control.' The woman onstage, Maggie Hope Braun, agrees and begins promoting the toolkits of Tom DeWeese, a US Tea Party influencer who claims that climate change is a hoax designed to usher in global socialism. Five months later, in September 2024, Maggie Hope Braun stood in front of the Peterborough County Council in Ontario and gave a far more polished speech. This time was different: she didn't mention Tennessee, provincial bans, a UN-takeover or a one-world government. Instead, she focused on fiscal responsibility, recommending that Peterborough County leave Canada's flagship local net-zero program. Mayor Carolyn Amyotte of North Kawartha was in the chamber that day. She said that Braun sounded 'reasonable, credible, legitimate and totally evidence-based. There's a lot of people I think that could be susceptible to it.' It wasn't until Amyotte came across Canada's National Observer's investigation into Braun's group KICLEI in May 2025 that she realized the full scope of what she had witnessed. Multiple councillors have told Canada's National Observer that they did not receive warnings from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities about KICLEI's misinformation campaign, even though it knew politicians were being exposed. Our investigation found that KICLEI – named to mimic the sustainability network ICLEI – is using an AI chatbot to turn climate misinformation into reasonable-sounding and convincing speeches, reports and letters to target 8,000-plus elected officials across Canada. The goal is to get municipalities to abandon net-zero policies. Three scientists at NASA, the US National Centre for Atmospheric Research, and University of Melbourne told us Braun's group KICLEI misrepresented their research. On June 4, Amyotte introduced a motion to share Canada's National Observer's investigation with all elected officials in Peterborough County. But there are signs that her warnings are not reaching everyone. As this Tea Party-inspired misinformation campaign continues, the institutions responsible for the targeted net-zero program appear to be avoiding giving it oxygen. Multiple councillors told Canada's National Observer that they did not receive warnings from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities about KICLEI, even though our reporting has found it knew that politicians across the country were being exposed to its misinformation. They still are. Last Monday, Patrick Wilson, a councillor in the town of Cochrane, Alberta, introduced a motion to leave a national climate initiative, which will be voted upon on June 23. He quoted extensively from KICLEI's website, saying that it expresses concerns 'much better and more eloquently than I could.' 'Make it so they don't know which side it's coming from' KICLEI was created in 2023 by Braun, an erstwhile Freedom Convoy activist, with the aim of convincing municipalities across Canada, like Cochrane and Peterborough, to leave a voluntary net-zero framework called Partners for Climate Protection. The framework was developed by ICLEI Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to help municipalities transition to net-zero (through a process covering emissions inventories, target-setting, action planning, implementation, and monitoring), based on international climate agreements, including the UN's Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. But those UN ties got the conspiracy gears turning, just as they did 15 years ago in the US. Dozens of US cities left ICLEI around 2010 due to a Tea Party backlash against the UN's Agenda 21, which they saw as threatening property rights. Campaigns in small rural municipalities eventually snowballed into state-level legislation. KICLEI is explicitly trying to replicate the Tea Party's American blueprint in Canada. In a YouTube video recorded in Ottawa in April 2024, Braun displays Tennessee's bill banning UN-linked climate policies and announces plans to 'do what they've done here.' 'They're tapping into conspiracist sentiments, which have been long-held beliefs in far-right circles in the US,' said Wes Regan, a researcher at the University of British Columbia investigating how conspiracies impact municipal planning. But they face an uphill battle. In its 2010 heyday, the movement failed to spread to Canada, which Regan suspects is because Canadian audiences are more moderate and less receptive to US Tea Party terms like 'climate hoax,' 'UN takeover' or 'one-world-government.' The movement has adapted. At a bustling information session in Pembroke, Ontario, Braun advised supporters to 'remove every triggering word — make it so they don't know which side it's coming from.' This tactic is streamlined by KICLEI's AI chatbot, which uses language like 'local consultation' and 'environmental stewardship' over overt ideological signals. Regan is troubled by this shift toward outward moderation while the underlying ideology hasn't changed. 'They're taking the right-wing conspiracist, anti-globalist playbook and using language that's friendly, positive and empathetic,' he said. Braun disagrees. 'There's nothing deceptive about using language that connects,' she told Canada's National Observe r in her written response to questions. For her, avoiding terms like 'Agenda 21' is simply good communication. She denied importing US laws. Braun published a blog post with detailed answers but refused to give an interview with Canada's National Observer. 'I actually thought they were an environmental group' To find out whether elected officials are falling for KICLEI's campaign, we attended the annual conference of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) – a body that represents over 2,000 councils across Canada. FCM organizes many environmental programs, including the Green Municipal Fund and the PCP program, which has been targeted by KICLEI. Canada's National Observer sent its findings by email to FCM three weeks before the conference, which started May 29. That afternoon, FCM hosted a workshop on misinformation, attended by hundreds of elected officials. Multiple councillors told Canada's National Observer that AI was mentioned only in passing and KICLEI's misinformation was not addressed. Councillor Mara Nagy from Pickering, Ont. said that she expressed concerns about KICLEI during the workshop because her colleague had fallen for it. The panel did not directly answer that part of her question. 'I would've liked for KICLEI to be addressed head-on,' said Nagy. She explained that the confusion is causing frustration among elected officials. 'I've not heard from FCM since,' she added. This silence was 'out of respect' for ICLEI, according to Ewa Jackson, managing director of ICLEI Canada. Jackson explained that they try not to amplify KICLEI's misinformation, instead providing support to municipalities who reach out with concerns. ICLEI has known about the campaign for almost two years – they stated that they have warned members and that it was raised by elected officials during a recent Sustainable Communities Conference. Jackson accepts that the campaign has caused confusion. When she introduced herself to elected officials in the misinformation workshop, she was mistaken for a representative of KICLEI. Another attendee of the workshop was James Leduc, mayor of Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ont., who started receiving KICLEI's correspondence after the town adopted its climate plan in November. 'I actually thought they were an environmental group,' he said. According to Chris Russill, an expert in climate communication at Carleton University, this confusion provides 'opportunities' to shape the opinions of elected officials. Russill also warned that AI has caused an 'exacerbation' of long-standing democratic vulnerabilities, including the lack of resources for local governments to fact-check correspondence. Faced with this, elected officials like Leduc look towards institutions like FCM for guidance. 'We really need their support,' he said. In a written response to Canada's National Observer, FCM acknowledged that 'disinformation campaigns have caused frustration for some members' but said that they have only received a 'small number of inquiries' about KICLEI's campaign. FCM's annual conference now appears to be a missed opportunity to set the record straight. In attendance at the event were multiple elected officials from Cochrane, Alta. – the same town that will vote next Monday on whether to leave the PCP program. During a press conference at the event, FCM President Rebecca Bligh said that FCM is 'alive to the issue' and that fighting AI-generated misinformation is an opportunity to partner with the federal government, which launched a new ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation in May 2025. But for now, it appears that councillors like Amyotte and Nagy are left scrambling to warn their colleagues before more municipalities abandon their net-zero commitments to carefully crafted conspiracy theories.
