Mayor Appointed to National Organization

Sechelt Mayor John Henderson has been asked to join the Green Municipal Fund (GMF) Council, a national organization that funds and invests in innovative and effective sustainability initiatives undertaken by municipalities across Canada.

“I am honoured to be joining the GMF Council,” says John Henderson, Mayor of Sechelt. “For a smaller west coast community to be recognized on a federal scale speaks volumes. Sechelt has always been a leader in green initiatives, devising creative solutions to environmental issues and protecting the resources we have.”

A program of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the GMF mandate is to provide funding, resources and training to help municipal governments build resiliency in energy, transportation, water, waste and land use projects.

“The District congratulates Mayor Henderson on his appointment,” says Andrew Yeates, Chief Administrative Officer of Sechelt. “This really is a feather in Sechelt’s hat.”

The District of Sechelt is no stranger to the GMF, having received at least $8.6 million in grants and loans over the last ten years for several projects including:

• Field testing to evaluate a method for removing hormones, pharmaceuticals and other compounds from treated wastewater
• Preparation of Sechelt Sustainable Community Action Plan (SCAP); and
• Design and construction of the award-winning Sechelt Water Resource Centre.

In 2014, the District was granted a $7.4 million low interest loan plus a $1 million grant from the GMF to help fund the construction of the Water Resource Centre. The loan and grant were important contributions in enabling the Water Resource Centre to be built to the highest levels of sustainability and treatment standards in Canada.

GMF is a $1.65 billion endowment from the Government of Canada and delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which proudly supports municipalities of all sizes across Canada in bringing their sustainability projects to life. Since its inception two decades ago, GMF has invested in 1,931 projects, helped avoid 2.82 million tons of CO2 and helped create 12,179 person-years of employment.