OPEN LETTER RE: “Elbows Up for Climate” mayors/councillors’ Manifesto

Misrepresentations to the Public on Climate Change

July 07, 2026

• Hon. Premier Danielle Smith
• Hon. Dan Williams, Minister of Municipal Affairs

Dear Premier Smith and Minister Williams,

OPEN LETTER RE: “Elbows Up for Climate” mayors/councillors’ Manifesto – Misrepresentations to the Public on Climate Change, Wildfire and Breach/Betrayal of Electoral Mandate by Mayors

As reported in the National Observer,[1] just prior to the recent Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Edmonton, there was a meeting of some 300 mayors and councillors who claim to represent half the population of Canada, and who promoted an exotic 5-part “Elbows up for Climate” plan. The ‘plan’ has no cost-benefit analysis, and based on the National Observer report, the mayors are putting forward much dis/misinformation on climate change and wildfire.

Breach of Municipal Governance, Betrayal of Electorate, Extortionary Demands, Climate and Energy Mis/Disinformation from Mayors

This activity, and the sending of these demands to the federal government[2] is in breach of published mandates for city mayors and the Alberta Municipal Governance Act, which has no provision for “climate change action,” as well as not aligning with the priorities of Canadian municipal citizens and taxpayers.  For the past several years, the main priorities of citizens, nationally[3] or municipally,[4] or as parliamentary priorities,[5] have been housing affordability, cost of living, jobs, abatement of crime/poverty/homelessness, economic development/trade. Climate change (or environment) did not feature as a top priority on any of these lists.

Source

Indeed, a recent set of IPSOS polls shows that Canadians are exhausted by living through the “Endurance Economy”[6] and are ready to build big projects.[7] Most people understand the national economic benefits of exporting Canadian resources to the world to earn back revenues from a world suffering a huge energy deficit, especially in light of the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine.

By contrast, all of the projects advocated for by the “Elbows Up…” mayors[8] will consume trillions in tax dollars and not bring additional revenues to Canada, where our burgeoning debt is in danger of collapsing our national economy.[9]

Voters, especially in Edmonton, have been betrayed, as have major industries by the claim of “Elbows Up…” mayors that “We are asking the federal government to stand with us: to reject fossil fuel projects that divide us, and get to work on practical and popular projects that won’t burn down our country – but build us up, Canada Strong.”

Fossil fuel projects like oil pipelines don’t “burn down our country” or cause forest fires. The trend of Canada’s forest fire numbers and burned area in downward over the last many decades (see our report), while CO₂ emissions are greening the planet and are contributing to higher crop yields.

Thousands of people work in oil, gas, and transportation/distribution in the Edmonton region, which is the “Gateway to the North” – only possible with fossil fuels.

Further, the “Elbows Up…” mayors are demanding a ‘windfall’ tax on oil and gas companies, which are only benefitting due to geopolitical situations beyond their control. Most of them suffered tremendously under the unchecked ENGO activism of the “Tar Sands Campaign” against Alberta’s resource industry – those companies did not get a government funded relief then; why should they be extorted now, simply because “Elbows Up…” mayors have grandiose ideas, but no way to finance them?

It is not fossil fuels that have divided Canadians, but rather the ~30 year, multi-billion dollar, foreign-funded/strategized “Tar Sands Campaign” [10] [11] [12]– the actors of which still have tremendous sway in Ottawa policy-making.[13] None of the projects promoted by the “Elbows Up…” mayors could be said to be ‘popular or practical’ as a quick overview cost-benefit analysis above shows; likewise, none of the mayors and councillors were elected on this platform!

Please review our report which is an analysis of the “Elbows Up Mayors Climate Manifesto”, which they sent as a joint statement to Ottawa, and please take appropriate action concerning Mayors not consulting with constituents on such lofty, uncosted notions, and former mayors and councillors claiming to represent phantom constituents.

Sincerely,

Ron Davison, P. Eng.

President, Friends of Science Society

[1] https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/06/08/news/canada-city-mayors-climate-action# https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/06/08/news/canada-city-mayors-climate-action#

[2]  Joint Statement by mayors, councillors and local elected leaders across Canada at the June 4 Elbows up for Climate Summit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QM_C2WopHm-48xYtZteMDQMTifrLltk0ZQdwvpZCR5o/edit?tab=t.0

[3] https://leger360.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Leger_-Municipal-Issues_V2.pdf

[4] https://abacusdata.ca/abacus-data-poll-edmonton-voters-focused-on-stability-and-affordability-as-mayoral-race-heats-up/

[5] https://nanos.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2025-2961-CTV-Dec-Populated-Report-House-of-Commons-priorities.pdf

[6] In what Ipsos describes as the Endurance Economy, customers are making decisions under sustained constraint. Price is a big factor—and the Forces of Customer Experience (CX) become a heightened filter. Risk tolerance is lower. Expectations of brands are more pragmatic. …Customers are asking:

• Is this affordable?
• Is this predictable?
• Will this work the way I expect it to?

Only after those questions are resolved do other experience elements begin to come into play.  https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/customer-experience-endurance-economy [City residents are customers of civic services; 2 million people visit food banks every month, unemployment is up as is homelessness.  Climate change is not foremost in people’s minds.]

[7] https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/webinar-canada-ready-build-navigating-public-sentiment

[8] Herein after the collection of mayors and councillors and former councillors will be referred to as “Elbows Up…” mayors

[9] https://www.pbo-dpb.ca/en/publications/RP-2627-002-S–economic-fiscal-outlook-june-2026–perspectives-economiques-financieres-juin-2026

[10] https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/3176fd2d-670b-4c4a-b8a7-07383ae43743/resource/dd08f41e-ad5e-4b0d-b45d-8ad8a1b63957/download/energy-report-public-inquiry-anti-alberta-energy-campaigns-sched-a-rbf-doc.pdf

[11] https://friendsofscience.org/assets/documents/Fear&Loathing.pdf

[12] https://blog.friendsofscience.org/2021/07/28/can-you-believe-it-protest-vs-green-trade-war-debunking-engo-tar-sands-climate-catastrophe/

[13] https://blog.friendsofscience.org/2019/05/07/environmental-charities-a-compilation-of-reports-on-their-finances-power-and-implications-for-canada/