In Defense of Mother Nature
SYSTEM CHANGE , NOT CLIMATE CHANGE! WE HAVE A RIGHT TO LIFE!
Oct. 25, 2019 Sustainabiliteens Rally in Vancouver, Canada. Photo Taken from Coast Protectors Facebook.
By Alison Bodine “We made a decision to move forward on the pipeline because it was in the interest of Canada to do so because the environment and the economy need to go together. We will be continuing with the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.” – Prime Minister elect Justin Trudeau, during his first post-election press conference, October 23, 2019
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s quick promise to complete the disastrous Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX) project is no surprise. During the 2019 federal election, he always maintained that there was no contradiction between using $4.5 billion tax-payer dollars to buy a dirty tar-sands oil pipeline, while at the same time claiming to be a “climate leader” on the international stage and declaring a “national climate emergency” in Canada. However, although they are no surprise, Trudeau’s superficial justifications to continue pouring public money into destroying the climate are a near-perfect illustration of the level of debate about climate change and its devastating impacts during the 2019 federal election. Despite what they wanted people in Canada to believe, all the major political parties – the Liberals, Conservatives, the NDP and the Green Party – had little to nothing to offer for the changes that the government of Canada needs to implement urgently in order to fundamentally address the impending climate catastrophe. Canada’s Federal Election and Climate Change: The Issue That Wasn’t
When people in Canada went to the polls on October 21 for the 2019 federal election there was increasing discussion – and a growing international movement – demanding big changes to “business as usual” to save humanity and the planet. On September 27, 2019, 9
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million people protested around the world as part of the Fridays for Future movement led by 16-year old climate activist and leader Greta Thunberg. On this day, 1 million in Canada came out to protests in every Province – including 250,000 people in Vancouver.
This mass mobilization made sure that the climate became front and centre as an issue in the election – however, in response, the Liberals, Conservatives, the NDP and the Green Party all continued to put forward platforms and policies that did little to alter the status quo of climate destruction in Canada. Although each mainstream political parties running in the federal flection promised more comprehensive and efficient climate solutions than all the others – none of them provided a plan of the scope and scale to make the changes required to bring Canada in-line with even the modest climate targets that the government committed to during the 2015 Paris Climate Agreements.
For example, the Liberals, NDP, and the Green Party all promised net-zero emissions by 2050, but boiled down to the basics, their plans were all rhetoric with no blueprint of how to achieve the target. From bad to worse, all the parties stood in the same line, among other climate change policies: - The NDP promised to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2005 by 2030 - Green party -promised to cut emissions by 60% from 2005 by 2030
- Bloc Québécois – promised to support policies in line with the tougher 1.5C goal of the UN climate agreements
- The Liberal Party made promises to plant 2 billion trees to help cover-up their commitment to build the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. However, after 4-years of Trudeau, Canada is nowhere closer to
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meeting its UN climate commitments then in 2015
- The Conservative Party put their hopes and dreams into businesses coming up with technological solutions. A study by Clean Prosperity, found that their plan would increase Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions However, no party provided the “how” to achieve their promises in enough detail to give any confidence that the greenhouse gas reduction targets would be met.
In the end, what might be most indicative of the lack of political will to discuss climate change is that there wasn’t even the push from any party for a Canada-wide climate debate. When one was scheduled, it was cancelled after the Conservative party was unable to find a candidate to participate – effectively squashing a discussion all the parties were claiming was significant. On top of this, 48,000 people signed a petition calling on the CBC host a climate debate with the party leaders – but the supposedly public broadcasting network declined to plan a debate – while that the same time insisting that climate was a critical issue in the election, a clear practice of hypocrisy. Thus, climate change became the election issue that wasn’t an election issue. If the 2019 federal election showed anything it was that elections and campaigning do not address climate change – but people through mobilization and organizing will. Vancouver Discusses - The Federal Election and the Climate Crisis What are Our Expectations, and What Do We Do the Day After the Election?
When organizers in Vancouver’s grassroots climate justice coalition Climate Convergence took a look at the political landscape in the weeks leading up to the federal election, it was clear how important it was for the climate justice movement to look at the federal