Calgary has never been a city that got stronger by pretending risks were smaller than it is.

We build for winter. We build for floods. We build for growth, drought, hail, wildfire smoke, aging infrastructure and the uncomfortable reality that tomorrow’s city will face harder tests than yesterday’s.

City council has now voted to end Calgary’s climate emergency declaration. Some will see that as a political win. Others will see it as a step backward.

But whatever one thinks of the wording, the practical challenge before us has not changed.

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The climate emergency declaration may be gone. The work is not.

A declaration can signal priorities, organize reporting and make climate risks harder to ignore. But it was never the thing that made those risks real. Ending it does not make summers cooler, hailstorms cheaper, wildfire smoke less harmful, infrastructure less vulnerable or growth easier to manage.

The real test now is whether council can move beyond the politics of the label and show that it is serious about the work.

Scrutiny of public spending is fair. Every department and business unit should be able to explain what it is doing, what outcomes it is achieving and how........

© Calgary Herald