20:20 hind sight - the Climate Emergency

Ottawa City Council declared a climate emergency on April 24, 2019, through an eight-part motion proposed by Councillor Shawn Menard. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor, described across sources as passing with strong majority support (Mayor Jim Watson noted around 19 or 20 yes votes out of 24 councillors).

A full roll-call list of every individual "yes" vote isn't detailed in public reports (as the vote wasn't close or highly divided overall), but the councillors explicitly identified as supporting the declaration (voting yes on the core motion or expressing strong approval) include:

• Mayor Jim Watson (supported and highlighted links to recent flooding, tornadoes, and scientific consensus)
• Shawn Menard (proposed the motion and led advocacy for it)
• Jenna Sudds (Kanata North; emphasized intergenerational responsibility and youth voices)
• Catherine McKenney (compelled by youth rally voices and youth speakers at committee)
• Keith Egli (compelled by youth voices; stated the city should listen to young people)
• Riley Brockington (compelled by youth voices and rally participants)
• Glen Gower (explicitly supported the declaration)
• Theresa Kavanagh (Bay ward; noted this generation's responsibility to fix environmental issues for future ones)

Other councillors who spoke positively or were part of supportive discussions include those later involved in the resulting Council Sponsors Group (e.g., references to Councillors Nussbaum, Brockington, and Chernushenko in follow-up climate work, indicating alignment).The motion passed after being split into parts for separate votes on contentious elements (like the sponsors group), but the core declaration of a climate emergency received broad backing from most of the 24-member council (2018–2022 term).Opposition was limited to:

• George Darouze (voted against the entire motion)
• Allan Hubley (voted against the entire motion)
• Rick Chiarelli (opposed the declaration itself and the sponsors group)

Jan Harder supported the declaration but opposed only the sponsors group creation.