SC Sue Big Oil

03/02/2026

Yikes! I have fallen way behind on sharing updates with you about the Sue Big Oil campaign. And we have some good news - some old, some new.

On the Sunshine Coast, the District of Sechelt committed to join the Sue Big Oil campaign on June 19, 2024, becoming the 8th municipality to join. Thank you to everyone who supported our efforts! https://r.pebmac.ca/https://www.coastreporter.net/local-news/sechelt-joins-sue-big-oil-campaign-9120511

A week later, on June 24, 2024, Cumberland voted to join.

On April 15, 2025, Pemberton agreed to join.

On May 6, 2025, Nelson made the commitment.

And finally, on February 23, 2026, New Westminster joined! That makes 12 municipalities committed. Here are the details, as summarized by Chris Hatch of Canada's National Observer:

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New Westminster, BC is the latest city to join a proposed class action lawsuit to recover expenses from fossil fuel companies. The city’s decision was catalyzed by the delightfully named Monkey Rebel club at New West Secondary and the New West Climate Action Hub.

“We are reaffirming our conviction that those who profited from creating the climate disaster are held accountable for those costs, instead of those costs being downloaded on local residents and businesses already struggling in this fractured global economy,” said Mayor Patrick Johnstone.

New West is the twelfth BC municipality to join the effort, spearheaded by West Coast Environmental Law. Cities join by putting $1 per resident towards the costs of the case into the municipal budget.

Commits a contribution of $1 per resident for class action lawsuit

05/24/2024

It's been a busy and exciting month at the Sue Big Oil campaign, with two cities committing to participate in the lawsuit!

On May 13, the City of Burnaby voted to support the lawsuit, with Councillor Tetraul saying that Burnaby could be spending millions in the future as a result of climate change and noting that climate concerns are one of the biggest concerns he hears from kids.

On May 23, the City of Port Moody voted to join, with Mayor Lahti saying "Fossil fuels have contributed to climate change in a significant way and, as we work to implement Port Moody’s Climate Action Plan, it’s important that we recover costs so that we can reduce the financial burden placed on our residents."

You can see a full list of the communities that have committed to the lawsuit here: https://www.scsbo.ca/

03/05/2024

Momentum is growing!

The Council of the Village of Slocan voted unanimously on Monday February 12, 2024, in favour of joining the lawsuit.

Slocan is the first municipality in BC’s interior to make such a pledge and the fifth municipality in the province.

Meanwhile, other municipalities are considering the lawsuit, including Burnaby, Saanich and Capital Regional District.

03/03/2024

On February 7th, 2024, the Town of Qualicum voted 4-1 in favour of working with other municipal governments in BC to bring a class action lawsuit against select global fossil fuel companies to recover the costs related to climate change.

Learn more here: https://suebigoil.ca/qualicum-beach-is-fourth-local-government-to-vote-to-sue-big-oil/

03/01/2024

On November 16, 2023, the SCRD's electoral services committee heard from a delegation of SC Sue Big Oil representative Dawn Allen and Andrew Gage from West Coast Environmental Law.

According to the Coast Reporter, "Support was voiced by a number of directors for seeing major fossil fuel companies be held responsible for costs of damage to local government infrastructure caused by climate change."

The committee directed staff to reach out to Capital Regional District (CRD), a larger RD who are investigating whether participating in the Sue Big Oil lawsuit is within the jurisdiction of a regional district. CRD has agreed to share with SCRD what they discover.

02/28/2024

Re.Climate is hosting a free webinar at 9am PST today. (Sorry for the last minute notice!) Read on for the description. If you're interested in the material, but not available at that time, you can register online and you'll receive a recording afterwards.

From Fringe to Foreground: How Far-Right Politics is Influencing Canada's Climate Conversation

February 28 at 12 - 1 pm ET (9 - 10 am PST)

DESCRIPTION

Join us to explore the influence of far-right politics on Canada’s climate conversation and what this means for communicators.

This discussion and Q&A session will follow the evidence to disentangle the far-right’s financial ties to the oil and gas industry, the messaging strategies employed by Canada’s anti-climate influencers, and the media and networks that move anti-climate politics from the fringe to the mainstream and what this all means for Canadian politics and journey to net-zero.

REGISTER AT THIS LINK
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qePlsxgBQDq55gmt5Uqp-A #/registration

PANELISTS

Geoff Dembicki | Investigative Climate Journalist | DeSmog

Geoff Dembicki is an investigative climate journalist based in NYC. He is a regular contributor to DeSmog and his work also appears in outlets like the Guardian, New Republic and VICE. He is author of The Petroleum Papers, which was named a best book of 2022 by the Washington Post.

Tanner Mirrlees | Associate Professor | Ontario Tech University

Tanner Mirrlees is an Associate Professor in the Communication and Digital Media Studies program at Ontario Tech University, and a founding steering committee member of the Centre on Hate, Bias & Extremism (CHBE). His research focuses on the political economy of communications, energy, the Internet and the far-right, and work and labor in the digital media and tech industries.

Chris Russill | Academic Director | Re.Climate

Chris Russill is an Academic Director at Re.Climate and Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University. His work focuses on political action around climate change and its effects.

01/09/2024

The global movement to sue 'big oil' for the costs of climate change continues.

We've added two new articles to the NEWS of our website, where you can keep up with the progress: https://www.scsbo.ca/category/news/

- Pacific Northwest Tribes are taking Big Oil to Court

- Capital Region of BC will Study Joining Class-Action Lawsuit against ‘Big Oil'

Pacific Northwest Tribes are taking Big Oil to Court January 3, 2024 The Makah Indian Tribe and Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe are the latest to join dozens of communities across the United States that have sued oil companies to make them pay for their climate deception and destruction. (Article on Cen...

01/09/2024

On December 7, 2023, the Watershed Sentinel hosted a Sue Big Oil webinar, which was well-attended, lively, and informative. They’ve posted a recording of the webinar – along with PDFs containing the slides from each presenter:

- Andrew Gage: lawyer for West Coast Environmental Law, the organization that is organizing the Sue Big Oil lawsuit
- Duncan Smith: a core member of the Sunshine Coast Sue Big Oil team, who were successful in encouraging the Town of Gibsons to vote to join the lawsuit
- Jenna Stoner: the District of Squamish Councillor who introduced the successful motion for Squamish Council

Watch the video if you’re want to know how the Sue Big Oil campaign works, which municipalities have signed on, and how to get your local government involved.

https://www.scsbo.ca/sue-big-oil-webinar-from-watershed-sentinel-available-online/

01/09/2024

On December 7, 2023, the Watershed Sentinel hosted a Sue Big Oil webinar, which was well-attended, lively, and informative. They've posted a recording of the webinar - along with PDFs containing the slides from each presenter:

- Andrew Gage: lawyer for West Coast Environmental Law, who are organizing the Sue Big Oil lawsuit
- Duncan Smith: a core member of the Sunshine Coast Sue Big Oil team, who were successful in encouraging the Town of Gibsons to vote to join the lawsuit
- Jenna Stoner: the District of Squamish Councillor who introduced the successful motion for Squamish Council

Watch the video if you're want to know how the Sue Big Oil campaign works, which municipalities have signed on, and how to get your local government involved.

Video and PDF presentations on the campaign for a class action lawsuit to help BC municipalities face the costs of climate-caused damage

01/09/2024

On December 7, 2023, the Watershed Sentinel hosted a Sue Big Oil webinar, which was well-attended, lively, and informative. They've posted a recording of the webinar - along with PDFs containing the slides from each presenter.

Presenters were:

- Andrew Gage: lawyer for West Coast Environmental Law
- Duncan Smith: a core member of the Sunshine Coast Sue Big Oil team, who were successful in encouraging the Town of Gibsons to vote to join the lawsuit
- Jenna Stoner: the District of Squamish Councillor who introduced the successful motion for Squamish Council

Watch the video if you're want to know how the Sue Big Oil campaign works, which municipalities have signed on, and how to get your local government involved. If you're inspired to volunteer with us here on the Sunshine Coast, contact us through our website! https://www.scsbo.ca/contact-us/

https://watershedsentinel.ca/articles/sue-big-oil-webinar/

Video and PDF presentations on the campaign for a class action lawsuit to help BC municipalities face the costs of climate-caused damage