| City of Calgary passes ethical and environmental purchasing policy
Calgary city council has approved a new purchasing policy that emphasizes buying products and services that are environmentally friendly and ethically produced. City administration will begin applying the policy first to chemicals, clothing and food and beverages and then will report back to city council at the end of the year with an estimate on how much it would cost to apply the policy to all products and services.
The goal of the new policy, called the Sustainable, Ethical and Environmental Procurement Policy (SEEPP), is to "support the purchase of goods and services that will enhance and protect the environment, protect the welfare of workers and represent best value for the corporation." There’s also a new Suppliers Code of Conduct that specifies what new standards suppliers of goods and services will have to meet in order to do business with the city. Some of the standards include the right of employees to join a union and to collectively bargain and for employers to provide a healthy and safe work environment. On the environment front, companies are expected to "strive continually towards minimizing the environmental impact of their operations and the goods and services provided."
The city will investigate all complaints of abuses of the Supplier Code of Conduct.
Vibrant Communities Calgary, a non-profit group that advocates for poverty reduction, requested that a living wage for city employees and employees of city contractors be included in the new policy. However, city council voted to have administration study the impacts of including a living wage first. Administration will come back with a report to council in November.
Aldermen Joe Ceci and Druh Farrell were the first on council to push for the new policy. "I think it means good things in terms of the city joining others in setting standards for what products are purchased and supported," says Ceci. "It’s making a statement." He describes it as "a use of purchasing power to affect positive social change."
Ald. Farrell says the new policy will require the city to carefully examine all the services and products it buys and ask "who makes it and under what conditions?" She predicts that in the future buying environmentally friendly and ethically produced products will become the norm. She says she hopes that provincial and federal governments will also implement such policies.
Women in Politics Forum
The Sheldon M. Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, the Famous Five Foundation and Winning Women: A Political Skills Group are hosting a forum on women in politics on February 6 from 5:30 to 9 p.m.
The forum will delve into why there are so few women in municipal, provincial and federal politics. Currently only 20 per cent of MPs are women and 16 per cent of MLAs are women.
Topics at the forum will include the possible need for an all-women political party, minimum gender quotas for legislatures and no taxation without representation. The forum takes place at the McDougall Centre (455 6 St. S.W.). |
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