Tickets for Sylvan Lake available at riseupalberta.com
Tickets for Calgary www.cognitoforms.com/ProjectYYC/KICLEI
Tim Hoven (00:01)
Welcome to everyone for tuning in and watching this. This is Tim Hoven. My website is timhoven.com. That takes you right to my sub stack. And today we are very lucky. We've got Maggie Braun from KICLEI, Canada. She is here to talk about what KICLEI is all about and her upcoming Alberta tour, which just starts in a couple of days. Maggie, welcome.
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (00:23)
Thank you for having me, Tim. I'm excited to be on here with you today and to come to Alberta tomorrow.
Tim Hoven (00:31)
Well, it's beautiful weather, so you're timing it perfectly. So Maggie, why don't you tell us bit about yourself? How did you get involved in all this?
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (00:42)
So I traveled with my family quite a bit when I was younger to countries like Papua New Guinea and St. Lucia. They were actively involved in community building and development. I probably took an interest in environmental issues and of course naturally the United Nations at a young age. Ended up doing ecosystem management in college and started
asking some more critical questions about climate change and then discovering the agenda behind that. And after college, when I moved out to British Columbia, one of the first things I saw in the paper was an advertisement about the official plan in the area. And when I took one look at it, I could see that it was filled with United Nations sustainable development goals and language and started speaking out at that time.
And really it wasn't until after the lockdowns and my participation in the Freedom Convoy that I realized Canadians really needed local solutions to counter the global agenda that's being implemented across the country. And I started digging into my old research and putting the pieces together and discovered that essentially
Everything that's happening in Canada at the local level that's related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is being done voluntarily. And we can do a lot to counter that and redirect our councils. So that's what I started doing and having success with that and wanting to take that message across the country.
Tim Hoven (02:34)
Do you have an example of something that is going on here in Alberta that illustrates how the United Nations and some of these multinational global organizations are getting involved in our local politics?
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (02:47)
Well, the focus of my work right now, I've discovered a program that was initiated in 1994. It's called the Partners for Climate Protection Program. It's administrated by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in partnership with ICLEI, the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives. And they have about 25 of your Albertan municipalities signed up for the program.
And this is a climate change action plan program that I'll be discussing on the tour. And we've had success here in Ontario in challenging this program. Our first effort resulted in the council in Thorold withdrawing from the program. And then I did a cost analysis going into the budget season of 2024 in the fall and our first attempt to have the program.
reviewed by a local council was accepted our recommendation and they will be reviewing it. So two Canadian first in histories and just our first attempt at this. So I'm really excited to kind of share these strategies in Alberta so we can uproot, I would say one of the most impactful.
UN Directive Program that's happening behind the scenes in our councils that we can easily do something about.
Tim Hoven (04:21)
Could you give us an example of one of the things that the councils are being pressured or bribed to do that might not be good for the local people living in that area?
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (04:33)
Yeah, so municipal councils have certain responsibilities under their jurisdiction, community safety, infrastructure, economic development, affordable housing, environmental stewardship. And what's happening with the climate action plan programs is they're coming in and inserting themselves under environmental stewardship and then redirecting funds and
administrative duties towards the climate action plans and it's pulling funds from the other municipal priorities. So we start to see our community programs being, their funding being cut or, you know, these big expenses towards green municipal fleets or active transportation or 15 minute city models in rural.
you know, rural towns and cities. So it's really a matter of redirecting the local councils to recognize that these programs are adopted voluntarily and they're being told from someone, the staff or the international lobbyists, that by adopting them, they're going to assist with the Paris Accord or
the federal legislation towards net zero or Albertan provincial legislation about the environment. But when we actually look at all of those agreements and acts, none of them are binding on the municipality. it's a matter of providing information to the councils because the people just haven't been doing that. We haven't been in their...
countering the international lobbyists' reports and agendas and surveys. So what I've done with Kikli is create a counter to that.
Tim Hoven (06:23)
When I was on municipal council, we had to deal with Y2Y to why Yellowstone to Yukon. We live right on the Eastern slopes. And so this is when the NDP were in power. They had why to why come out and do a series of local consultations. And you could see the script that they were following. And when I attended this meeting, Caroline, you could see the script and they deliberately said things to provoke some of these gentlemen in the room.
to get them angry. And as soon as they were angry, these people made a big scene about how threatened they are and you're threatening my life. And they stormed out of the room after they looked at each other and got that verbal approval. Yeah, now it's time to act. And then they went to Edmonton and said the group is being, I believe it was like unruly and uncooperative, just to get the permission to ignore what the local people wanted. And for those of you that don't know,
Y2Y is an organization that goal is to have a wildlife corridor all the way from Yellowstone all the way up to Yukon. And when they say they want a wildlife quarter, they want it for nature and not for people. So one of their goals is to get people out of that entire Eastern slope corridor, which would be devastating. It'd be horrible. But they wrap it up in roses and rainbows and make it sound all beautiful. And you're a Nazi if you disagree.
but it is a real anti-human, anti-wholeness of life agenda that these groups are bringing to us.
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (07:57)
Yes.
When we look at the origin of sustainable development, where did that term come from? It originated within the United Nations and in the 70s, they held a conference called the Brentland Commission and they defined sustainable development and they articulated their land use policy and
basically stated that land can't be treated like an ordinary asset controlled by individuals and that government control over land use was indispensable for their development schemes. And what we see is that along with sustainable development and the official plans that are being proposed to our municipalities is
is a constant drive of population growth away from rural small towns and directing the population growth towards urban areas and to high density housing. So one of the arguments I make is here in Canada, we have so much land and this development scheme doesn't suit the Canadian landscape where, you know,
as a matter of national security, we want to populate the country and the rural regions and to spread out. And we have all this land, think 89 % of it is completely uninhabited already, and yet they want to drive us further off the land. they pass all of these, sneak all of these policies in front of the councils.
bit by bit and the long-term effect is the devastation of small towns and rural communities.
Tim Hoven (09:49)
So tell us more about your organization, KICLEI. First of all, where did you get the name?
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (09:56)
So, so KICLEI was, you know, I did my first deputation to my, I'm in Peterborough. So I spoke first in, the city of Peterborough and then Peterborough County. And it was the first time anyone had heard of Ickley in, in the broader Canadian sphere. And my friend who is from here, she.
She just one day, a few days after my first deputation, she sent me the logo with KICLEI. And I can show you on my backyard, KICLEI. So we took Ickley's logo and we put a K in front of it because we want to kick the international council out of local environmental initiatives. And we want to have some fun with this.
Tim Hoven (10:32)
Okay, we can see it.
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (10:47)
too, we found something that can work for one thing. And what's really happened is KICLEI kind of took on, it always has taken on a spirit of its own. And it just keeps moving all across the country and inspiring people to act within their councils and to perpetuate and share the knowledge that I'm researching and.
and putting together in reports and deputation scripts. so the idea of the kicking is we're kicking it from one municipality to another and expecting people to see this information and take it from there and do what they can with it and kick it over all across the country. So it's kind of a bit of a game idea that we're gonna have, instead of being all serious all the time about this,
let's focus in on something that works and have some fun with it and have some wins in our councils across the country and give the people back their power and inspire local councils to step up and lead this country because we're lacking leadership in our country at the federal level for sure. So we want to inspire local councils that they hold a sacred position and that they can
They can make decisions. They're the only ones who can make decisions in that council regarding these policies. And it's not up to the staff. It's not up to the consultant. It's up to them whether to approve or disprove these policies. And we want to inspire them to step up and be the leaders that Canada needs them to be today.
Tim Hoven (12:23)
would agree with you, there is definitely a lack of leadership at all levels of government in Canada. So your Alberta tour starts tomorrow. said, tell us more about it. Do you know where are you speaking? When are you speaking?
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (12:37)
So I'll fly in tomorrow and then on the 14th, on Monday, thank you. On Tuesday the 14th, I'm doing a strategy workshop. So there's a registration for that and just bringing together about 30 people and teaching them civic engagement strategies.
Tim Hoven (12:41)
That's Monday for everyone watching this.
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (13:02)
that follow the KICLEI strategy. So we'll go over the KICLEI report, we'll brainstorm how to make that report a made in Alberta KICLEI report. So I'm sure I've missed a few things and just spending time hearing what the group's concerns are, we can really localize the report that I will give to Alberta when we're completed this tour. And then I wanna teach them how to take local,
relevant current issues that they see in their newspaper or on their local council and turn that into reports to their council about their concerns, deputation presentations that they can do to their councils regarding that, petitions, open letters, press releases. I want to show them how to make all those tools and just
solidify in their mind the many different tools that are available to us and when and how to use each one and how to create those in a professional way. So that'll be the workshop and then we'll go to Sylvan Lake where you are and that will be on the 15th from seven to nine if you want to give a bit more details on that.
Tim Hoven (14:25)
It's at the Nexsource Centre in Sylvan Lake from 7 till 9. And the tickets are available $10 in advance at riseupalberta.com and $15 at the door for that event.
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (14:37)
Perfect. And then on the 16th, I'm going over to Castor, Alberta. And this is a small town, I think 800 people. But I really want to do an example of these presentations in a small town because Canada is made up of mainly rural small towns and townships, geographically speaking. So I hope to inspire
small towns like Castor to be empowered to know that they can watch their agendas. Anything that's related to UN SDGs are voluntary and that they can professionally speak out against those and mobilize a sustainable development goal, sorry, or anything related to net zero by 2050.
Tim Hoven (15:22)
Maggie, what's an SDG?
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (15:30)
should be watch words on the agenda. And so over in Castor, I'm really looking forward to that. Ron Clark is organizing that. We've met at different events related to the Freedom Convoy and he's been speaking out in his council. So I'm looking forward to speaking alongside him and inspiring his small town to...
to protect their geographical region from the implementation of.
any UN SDGs that aren't in alignment with their communities priorities and preferences. And then over back to Calgary on the 19th for a large city gathering. And I hope to present the Made in Alberta KICLEI report after having that wonderful workshop and learning more from everyone. As I travel, I have a feeling we're going to have a
really great report that will be the basis of a kickly campaign in Alberta. And like I said, there's 25 municipalities directly impacted by the Partners for Climate Protection program and the climate action plans related to it. I'm sure we'll find a lot more because consultants can do this plan, NGOs can do this plan. So we'll teach people across the province what to watch for and
how to effectively challenge them.
Tim Hoven (16:54)
Wonderful. It sounds like it's going be an exciting week. So what's the one thing that you want people who attend these sessions to leave with? If you could put one idea in their head that's going to stick with them and change them, what is that?
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (16:57)
Yeah.
I want them to leave with hope and genuine hope. Just the knowledge that despite what is happening on the international stage or the federal circus or whatever is happening at the provincial level even, that they have the ability to organize even just a small core group within their municipality that can effectively
launch campaigns and keep the local council in check, especially when it comes down to the direct implementation of these voluntary frameworks. I want to, going back to the hope, have them realize that all of these directives are completely voluntary, are non-binding. This isn't being enforced on us. It's being adopted without
public pushback and that we can push back in a way that's calm and diplomatic. We don't need to stoop to their level. We can keep that true Canadian spirit in our advocacy and that's how we're going to win this. So I hope to share with them the spirit of KICLEI and that winning approach that we're having results with.
Tim Hoven (18:26)
Awesome, awesome. So if people want to find out more information about you and Kikly, where should they go? Besides the tour events coming up this upcoming week, where should they go online to find more information?
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (18:36)
Absolutely, all across Canada. And if you can't make it to the events in Alberta, go to kiclei.ca and you're going to find there on our take action page, more information about the origins and impacts of these programs, about our petition, which is nationwide. And that will really come in handy when there are deputations and presentations in your area.
There's a survey there, so we want to get an idea from Canadians when it comes to municipal priorities, where do they place global sustainable development goals?
in priority compared to say other municipal priorities like affordable housing and economic development and accountability and there's a whole list there. So what we wanna show councils, and this is where our data will really come in handy because councils need to rely on some data and we want that data to be really good surveys that are really non-biased and gathering from
their residents, what their priorities are. And I think what we're going to find when that survey is done is that most Canadians, if they were to pick, would prioritize pretty much every municipal priority above global sustainable development goals, because it simply isn't a municipal priority. So that we want local governments to focus on their local responsibilities.
Tim Hoven (19:59)
Well, the theme for the Wednesday night event in Sylvan Lake is keep local politics local. We don't need to have federal money being dumped into our local politics. We don't need international money. We have to do locally what's best for the local people. And if every community adopted that, this province could turn around pretty, it would start to turn out pretty quick. But when people in local municipal councils want to align with some federal
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (20:05)
Yeah.
rate.
Yes.
Tim Hoven (20:24)
objective or international objective, it puts our local people second or third or fourth or fifth.
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (20:32)
It does and the councils end up spending a lot of time on this stuff in council, in committee. They have staff collecting all this data on an annual basis on our energy consumption and waste patterns and none of that is mandatory. They don't have to be doing that. So there's a lot of money and time going into this.
And we're in a state of nationwide local crises when it comes to homelessness and opioid addiction and housing and affordability. Most people can't afford to buy and own a vehicle and drive it, let alone trying to transition us all to EV vehicles by 2050, right?
Tim Hoven (21:19)
I know so many people who are struggling to buy groceries right now, let alone an EV.
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (21:22)
Yes.
Yes. So we just want to get our priorities in order, get our house in order.
Tim Hoven (21:31)
Wonderful. Maggie, thank you so much for your time this afternoon and I'm looking forward to seeing you when you get out here at Alberta on this tour. Thank you so much.
Maggie Braun KICLEI Canada (21:40)
Me too. And thank you for all your efforts organizing in Sylvan Lake. Looking forward to it.
Tim Hoven (21:46)
Awesome. Bye.
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