The mayor of the city leading the push for municipalities in British Columbia (BC) to file a class action lawsuit against energy companies for climate damages recently announced that she no longer believes climate lawsuits are the best way to deal with climate change. The announcement from Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps marks another major setback for the West Coast Environmental Law Centre's (WCEL) years-long push to get local municipalities on board to sue as local officials realize the monetary and reputational costs such lawsuits pose to their communities.
Victoria made news early this year when they became the first city in Canada to call for a class action lawsuit and asked for the provincial association of municipalities, the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM), to look into the possibility of initiating the lawsuit.
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