亚洲天堂 Lake Mayor Chris Beach will soon be travelling to Vancouver to take part in a climate action training for elected officials.

The 2017 Climate Leadership Institute will be held on Nov. 1-3, 2017 at the Hilton Vancouver Airport.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 good for 亚洲天堂 Lake that we take part in this,鈥� said Mayor Beach during a recent council meeting. 鈥淭his is an area of interest for me - I鈥檓 a light turner-offer, I don鈥檛 like idling, it bothers me.鈥�

鈥淚 respect if council feels that I shouldn鈥檛 go to this, but I think it鈥檚 a good thing for the town,鈥� he added. 鈥淚 know I鈥檝e done quite a bit of travelling this year.鈥�

Earlier this year, Mayor Beach used council鈥檚 annual travel budget to attend a conference in Ottawa, and most recently he spent about a week in Victoria while attending the .

Although Mayor Beach did not answer specifically how much his travels have cost taxpayers so far in 2017, he said council as a whole has only used approximately 50 per cent of their travel budget.

鈥淭otal travel expenses for council will show up when we do year end, so likely March [2017],鈥� Beach told Lakes District 亚洲天堂 last week.

As a councillor, , even though Beach resigned in October 2016 in order to run for mayor. His expenses in 2016 were also higher than former Mayor Luke Strimbold, who resigned in September.

During a recent council meeting, councillor Susan Schienbein said that if council decides that climate change will be a priority, then council should include it on their objectives.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 on our goals and objectives for 2018,鈥� said Schienbein. 鈥淚f we think this is important, maybe we should think about amending our strategic plan to incorporate some goals around this issue, and have a legitimate reason for participation [in the climate action event],鈥� she said.

Councillor Kelly Holliday reminded council of their budget decision to no longer be a member of the B.C. Municipal Climate Leadership Council, which is composed of mayors and councillors from across B.C. representing communities who are committed to climate action.

鈥淲e had a budget decision to no longer be a member of this organization, and now you鈥檙e going to this conference鈥� are we going to revisit whether we should be a member and what are the benefits?鈥� asked Holliday.

To that, Mayor Beach said that going to this event will be a good way to make that assessment.

鈥淢aybe I鈥檒l go to the conference and then report back to council if there is value in being a part of that organization,鈥� said Beach.

In the end, council voted to allow Mayor Beach to attend the 2017 Climate Leadership Institute.

Beach added that the B.C. Municipal Climate Leadership Council has offered him $250 toward travel expenses to attend the event, and that the $275 registration fee has been waived.

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