MONTREAL—U.S. President Donald Trump was the target of criticism at a conference on the growing role of cities at which municipal leaders were urged to take up the fight against global warming.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre opened the Metropolis World Conference thanking the American president and his “nonsense” decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate change treaty, saying that it has spurred other levels of government into action.

“President Trump has weakened his own presidency,” Coderre said at a later roundtable discussion with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

In an interview with the Star, Toronto Mayor John Tory, who participated in a panel discussion and had a front-row seat for the Trump bashing, was a little more prudent than his Montreal counterpart.

“You can’t say it doesn’t matter, but at the same time you can also say it’s not going to shut down legitimate common-sense efforts to clean up our own environment in the cities which are the contributors of most of the greenhouse gas emissions, in terms of the cars and the buildings and so on.”

Canada itself is an example of the strides that can be made in the absence of federal leadership, Trudeau said.

“We only have to remember where we were two years ago here in Canada. We had a Conservative government that refused to talk about climate change, that rejected Kyoto,” he said. “For 10 years it was the provinces and the big cities that led the charge and demonstrated leadership in the absence of the federal government.”

He said that lower levels of government understand that protecting the environment is no longer “a question for future generations, but also a question of good jobs right now, of economic success, of innovation.”

The Prime Minister said that it is increasingly important in Canada that the federal government listen to and respect the demands of its municipal partners which know better than higher levels of government the needs of its citizens.

Tory said the federal Liberals have been an “excellent partner” for Toronto in terms of money for public transit and housing, whereas the Ontario Liberal government of Premier Kathleen Wynne has been stingy with its support.

“When it comes to our provincial relationship, it feels much like the old days of 1867 where cities really didn’t represent much of the population and didn’t matter much in terms of their priorities and their future needs,” he said.

During his brief visit to Montreal, the Toronto mayor also met privately with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and Coderre to discuss forming a common front that will lobby the U.S. Congress not to pass the proposed funding reduction for the Great Lakes.

“This is a huge step backwards. It is something that is totally contrary to the interests of present and future generations and we’re going to fight on it. We’re going to go and persuade people of the importance of the investment that has been made and continues to be made in clean water,” Tory said.

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