Mayor Corrigan honoured with 2011 FCM Green Champion Award – Individual
by Federation of Canadian Municipalities

July, 2011 - With a long history of championing innovative policies and providing committed leadership towards sustainable development in Burnaby, Mayor Derek Corrigan was recognized with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Green Champion Award – Individual at the Federation’s Awards of Excellence ceremony that took place during their 74th Annual Conference in Halifax in June.

In a press release issued by the City of Burnaby, Corrigan said, “I am honoured and delighted to be the recipient of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Champion Award – Individual. The City of Burnaby has long been a leader in municipal sustainability initiatives and I am proud of our city’s many achievements. I hope that we will serve as a model for other cities as we continue to focus on developing innovative environmental policies and initiatives.”

The FCM Green Champion Awards, which include both an individual and a municipal category, were developed to promote and reward municipal champions, inspire municipal governments and showcase and encourage the exchange of best practices among Canadian communities. The winning municipalities from the 2011 Sustainable Community Awards provided the pool of eligible municipalities for the Green Champion Awards program with a panel of municipal officials making the final selection in each category.

Hans Cunningham, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, congratulated Corrigan and said, “I applaud Mayor Derek Corrigan’s commitment to promoting sustainable community development and the leadership he has demonstrated over his many years of service. My sincere congratulations to Mayor Corrigan on being selected for this award.”

Corrigan was first elected as a Burnaby City Councillor in 1987. Combined with his leadership as Mayor since 2002, a long list of key achievements have contributed to his selection as recipient of the FCM’s 2011 Green Champion Award – Individual, including:

• 25% of City land preserved for park, conservation/green space – over 5,500 acres

• Explicitly incorporating environmental considerations as a strategic direction in the City’s Official Community Plan

• One of the first communities in BC to adopt a State of the Environment Report and hire on-staff an Ecosystem Planner

• An extensive environmental community stewardship program

• $20.5M (including $10M from Province of British Columbia) Burnaby Lake rejuvenation project to protect Burnaby Lake and its 400 plant, bird and fish species. The project removed 185,000 m3 of contaminated sediments, enhanced aquatic/wildlife habitat.

• LEED and/or green building standards for civic buildings

• Award-winning $6.8M Urban Trail projects

• First community to declare BC/World Rivers Day

• Canada’s first Blue Community (awarded by the Canadian Union for Public Employees for water conservation and protection initiatives and policies)

• Comprehensive invasive plant management and habitat restoration strategy

• Award-winning sustainable remediation of chafer-affected lands

• Integrated stormwater management plans for City watersheds

• First Lower Mainland municipality to introduce used electronic goods collection/recycling

• Food Scraps program to reduce residential-sector garbage

• High-density Town Centres on SkyTrain routes, reducing auto-dependence

• Pesticide Use Bylaw to prohibit cosmetic pesticide use

• Rain garden project to restore a paved area to natural state, including multi-use trail and daylighting of storm sewer system

• Award-winning $5.8M energy performance contract that reduced electricity use by four million kWh per year and natural gas use by 24,000 gigajoules per year in City facilities

• 2011 FCM Sustainable Community Award (won in partnership with the Simon Fraser University Community Trust) for Integrated Neighbourhood Development.

• Municipal and regional champion to create and implement the Greater Vancouver Regional District’s “Livable Region Strategic Plan”, 1996.

• BC Minister’s Environment Award for Cities, 1996.

• Fraser Basin Council – Overall Sustainability Award, 2002.

• Director of Sustainable Cities International, founded in 1993 to catalyze action on urban sustainability around the world.

• Presenter - II Annual Meeting of International Regions: Barcelona, Spain, (Creative Cities), 2009.

• Presenter – World Economic Forum, Dalian, China, 2009.

• Presenter – United Cities and Local Governments World Congress, Mexico City, Mexico, 2010. (Congress resulted in the greenhouse gas reduction initiative - Mexico City Pact.)

• Chair of Metro Vancouver Regional Planning Committee and the Sustainable Region Initiative 2011 – (Regional Growth Strategy: Metro Vancouver 2040 Shaping Our Future)