A Dangerous New Chapter

This week, Carney’s Billionaire Budget passed by a narrow margin.

This budget is part of a dangerous pattern of disregard for people and the planet. A pattern that attracted international attention this week at the UN climate negotiations in Brazil, where Carney’s absence and agenda earned Canada the dubious dishonour of being named the “Fossil of the Day.”

Here’s a list of the most alarming developments in Canadian climate politics in the last week:

Make no mistake, Carney just passed a budget for the billionaires:
We suffer, they profit: By cutting $57 billion in public programs over 5 years, slashing 40,000 jobs, and expanding military spending to unprecedented levels, Carney has ensured that our communities will suffer while weapon manufacturers soak up our public dollars.^{^¹}Bye bye climate action: Carney’s budget scraps the pollution cap on the fossil fuel industry, rolls back anti-greenwashing legislation, winds down the greener homes program, and allocates no new funding to climate mitigation.² So much for “generational investment…” The fossil fuel industry, on the other hand, is cashing out, with new subsidies for LNG and tax breaks for unproven carbon capture schemes.³
Major Projects Office Fast Tracks American LNG Project:
Carney is fast tracking a project backed by Trump’s billionaires donors. Ksi Lisims LNG project is one of the projects that Carney is expediting through his new Major Projects Office. Under the guise of “nation building” the government will now bulldoze ahead with this American-owned project that needs government grants and tax breaks to survive, and that chains us to the toxic and volatile gas industry.⁴ Seems more like a “nation-burning” project if you ask us. But it’s what we should expect considering that the MPO is headed by the former CEO of Trans Mountain.⁵New Grid Infrastructure? Although that same announcement included the North Coast Transmission line, this project is not a win for ordinary people. Instead of delivering more affordable and reliable electricity to Canadians and helping expedite the energy transition, it seems like this project will only power the LNG facility… No thanks!⁶
Carney is in backroom negotiations about dangerous new pipelines
It is seeming increasingly likely that Carney will soon announce a deal with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to make Big Oil’s dream of a tar sands pipeline to the northern coast of BC a reality.⁷ We know what’s down this road. Billions of public dollars wasted, more fossil fueled climate chaos, and the violation of Indigenous rights and Free, Prior and Informed Consent.

But all hope isn’t lost. Remember: this government is unstable. This budget passed with just two votes — Carney only barely dodged an election. But Elizabeth May and the NDP have made it clear that they won’t continue propping Carney up if he continues on this course. Cracks are even showing within Carney’s own caucus with Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith calling out this budget for advancing a “progressive conservative” agenda.⁸

Our voices matter more than ever.

Let’s demonstrate that people across Canada support bold investment in projects that safeguard the planet and improve people’s lives.

Here’s the first step: sign our joint petition with Sacred Earth to demand a People’s Power Grid that uplifts Indigenous sovereignty, democratizes our energy system, and brings clean, affordable energy to communities everywhere.

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Photo Credit: Kashmiri Kage