On February 5, Allan Murphy, Vice-President of Government Relations and CPA regional staff met with Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) senior staff to discuss opportunities and advantages that propane can provide for local governments across Canada as they look to reduce their respective carbon footprints.
The meeting came about as a result of an exchange of communications in December between CPA Chair Nancy Borden and FCM President Garth Frizzell. Borden indicated that she believed, “there are exciting opportunities for our industry members to work with local governments to help make the air, land and water in our communities cleaner. Whether that’s reducing toxins and emissions in school bus, police or municipal fleets or helping folks switch from carbon intense fuels such as heating oil and diesel, low-emission propane checks all the boxes.”
At the February meeting, CPA staff reviewed the advantages of propane for a multitude of applications such as home energy and transportation. The CPA also addressed the important application of propane in Indigenous and remote communities.
Discussions also focused on the federal government’s $1 billion Rapid Housing Initiative which is designed to fund, among other things, retrofitting of existing municipal facilities. The CPA pointed out the important opportunities for municipalities to use propane, especially in those parts of the country where carbon intense heating oil is prevalent.
The FCM then shared its recommendations to the federal government for a post-pandemic plan for recovery at the municipal level. Included in that plan were several recommendations that are applicable to propane as a low-emission energy source such as housing refits and investment in Indigenous and remote communities.
The CPA will continue discussions with the FCM as well as reaching out to individual municipalities and provincial municipal associations to further discuss the advantages of propane for their low carbon strategies.