Five years after the deadly B.C. heat dome, multiple groups are calling for change.
The multi-day extreme weather event saw temperatures up to 40 C across the Lower Mainland.
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Authorities reported 619 deaths in the province, connected to high temperatures and heat exposure.
Advocates and health-care workers are using the anniversary to call for action to better deal with high-temperature anomalies and to prevent heat domes from worsening.
They say concrete steps include setting maximum temperature bylaws to protect renters from excessive heat and phasing out fossil fuels.
“The hard truth is that these were preventable deaths. The vast majority died indoors, in homes that couldn’t keep them safe,” said Agnes Black on Monday, spokesperson for the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment.
“We are here to honour those lives when we pursue solutions to extreme weather, whether that’s indoor heat bylaws, public cooling centres, or planting trees.”
Earlier this month, New Westminster City Council approved a new bylaw amendment that requires landlords and property owners to maintain a safe indoor temperature in rental units.
Black also calls on the provincial government to reconsider its investment in LNG terminals.
“I call on the B.C. government to honour the lives lost in the heat dome by recommitting to the health of all British Columbians, by turning away from LNG and other fossil fuels, which are the root cause of climate change, and toward clean energy.”
A gathering outside Vancouver City Hall on Sunday remembered the people who died by erecting 619 paper and bamboo fans, representing each life lost during the heat dome.
“Every residence should have a room that does not exceed 26 C,” said David Quigg, organizer of the event.
“So, no landlord can say ‘sorry you can’t put in that AC unit, or an older building can’t be retrofitted or upgraded.’”
Quigg personally remembers how he and his family experienced the heat during those days in late June and early July 2021.
“I just remember the nights, especially not being able to get cool at night, my whole family huddled together on the floor of our basement, basically sleeping on the laminate floor as close as we could to transfer heat through our bodies,” he told 1130 NewsRadio.
“And then hearing sirens, more, more ambulances than I would normally hear. And thinking some people are probably really in danger if not dying.
He also calls on different levels of government to invest in renewable energy and prepare the country for future heat waves to come.
“We hear about nation-building projects. We could have hundreds of thousands of people employed retrofitting buildings, electrifying, getting solar panels on roofs, getting heat pumps into homes. It would be fantastic,” he said.
The 2021 heat dome is considered to be the deadliest weather event in Canada, setting new temperature records across the western part of the country.
– With files from Raynaldo Suarez and David Nadalini.
