The District of Squamish in British Columbia has voted 5-2 to support the Sue Big Oil campaign, a class action lawsuit seeking to hold fossil companies accountable for their fair share of local climate damages.
“We need bold action and leadership,” city councillor Lauren Greenlaw told the Squamish Chief last month, citing municipal reports that one metre of sea level rise could displace nearly 60% of the Squamish population and generate more than C$400 million in damages. “This is the most important moment in human history, and we need action.”
Squamish’s buy-in—which still needs to be ratified—comes around 18 months after West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL) launched its appeal for support from B.C. communities to help fund the suit. WCEL is asking communities to contribute $1 per resident. For Squamish, that means $25,000.
There has been “a solid legal basis” for Canadian governments to sue carbon majors for a fair share of the cost of the harms of climate change since 2019, environmental lawyer Stepan Wood, Canada Research Chair in Law, Society and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia, said last year at the campaign’s launch. Wood co-authored a letter to that effect, signed by 28 leading legal experts. Since then, he said, “the case for climate accountability legislation has only grown stronger,” as climate disasters have worsened, climate science has grown ever more robust, legal recognition of the right to a healthy environment has advanced, and the evidence of fossil companies’ climate accountability has mounted.
The Squamish council was unanimous in its decision to obtain a legal opinion from the Vancouver-based law firm Arvay Finlay, an opinion first crafted in 2019 to help municipal governments understand their options when suing fossil fuel companies.
Mayor Armand Hurford voted in favour of the motion to join Sue Big Oil, but cautioned council against making financial decisions based on a delegation’s request, writes Squamish Chief.
Hurford said he hoped Arvay Finlay would confirm the wisdom of supporting the class action suit, describing it as “a bit of a leap of faith.”
“But I do think it’s an important initiative, so I’ll take that leap.”
If Squamish’s decision is ratified, it will join Gibsons, on the Sunshine Coast, and Royal View, a town on the outskirts of Victoria, in the Sue Big Oil lawsuit. The City of Vancouver signed on to Sue Big Oil almost immediately after the initiative launched, but the newly-elected Ken Sim administration reneged on that promise less than a year later.
With Squamish onboard, the class action funding pool will sit at about $40,000. Speaking at the Squamish council meeting, WCEL lawyer Andrew Gage said such lawsuits typically need to raise about $500,000 before a court will consider certifying that the suit may proceed as a class action.
Salt Spring Island is currently deliberating whether to join.
