NANAIMO — Environmental activists say Nanaimo’s recent badges of honour, awarded for its action on climate change, should be rescinded immediately.

The badges were awarded by the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) Canada as a way to recognize municipalities that are working to lower greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for a changing climate.

The awarded badges depict a farting mallard duck and a dead moose on a windshield.

But the award is patently offensive, says a spokesperson from the Nanaimo Action on Microclimate Bionetworks of Land Association (NAMBLA).

“It’s disgusting, frankly,” explained Nathan Poe. “I don’t care how many plastic bags they ban. Nanaimo’s inaction on waterfoul flatulence and unsafe moose crossings should make them ineligible for this.”

Indeed, the City has not yet passed any ordinance relating to either of those two specific issues, and no action is scheduled on any upcoming committee or Council meeting agenda.

In a news release, the City said it was proud to receive the badges and has no plans to return them.

In fact, the badges have be permanently sewn to Mayor Leonard Krog’s only suit. (Krog has difficulty fitting suits, given the sheer scale of his impressive and internationally renowned pectoralis major and serratus anterior muscles.)

The badges have already come with controversy. Owing to a typographical error, the City originally received two badgers instead of badges. They were humanely euthanized.

Adopted by Council in 2020, the City’s Climate Change Resilience Strategy outlines how Nanaimo will adapt to climate change over the coming decades. The Strategy looks at what actions the City will need to take to prepare the climate change affecting City infrastructure, park management, land-use planning and emergency planning.