Oct 15 2018

Today, after hearing from hundreds of people, Canada’s Speaker of the House approved a request from three Members of Parliament – Elizabeth May, Guy Caron and Nathaniel Erskine-Smith – to hold an emergency debate on last week’s critical Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on limiting climate change to 1.5ºC. Click here to tune in.

I want to say thank you. This happened because of the thousands of people who signed last week’s petition to federal party leaders calling for this debate, and the hundreds of people who picked up the phone today and called the speaker, urging him to allow it.

Now that we have a debate, it’s time to hear what our politicians are going to do.

The IPCC report made it clear, we have 12 years to take drastic action if we hope to constrain global warming to a 1.5ºC limit – the limit that Justin Trudeau and Catherine McKenna both championed at the Paris Climate talks and the limit that Indigenous peoples and communities in the Global South have called an absolute red line for survival.

So, as you watch tonight’s debate, here are four things to look for:

• A recognition that we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground. The IPCC made it clear, we need to stop expanding fossil fuel projects and get off fossil fuels entirely by the middle of the 21st century. That means we shouldn’t build massive new fossil fuel projects like the TransMountain pipeline, offshore oil rigs in the Atlantic, the Teck Frontier tar sands mine, or the gargantuan new fracked gas facility planned for Northern BC.

• A commitment to build a 100% renewable energy economy that works for everyone — and upholds Indigenous rights. We can rise to the challenge the IPCC report lays out for us, but to do that, politicians need to get serious about building a 100% renewable energy economy that works for everyone. That means ignoring what the big oil billionaires want and finding ways to ensure that every single worker, family and community is able to make the shift from fossil fuels to a 100% renewable economy that works for people,planet and takes leadership from Indigenous peoples.

• Who leaves their talking points at the door. We’ve all heard Justin Trudeau and his ministers echo their line that the environment and the economy go together, but the IPCC report makes it crystal clear that their plan isn’t enough. Catherine McKenna herself admitted it last week when she told the Canadian Press that “we all know we need to do more” when it comes to climate change. This emergency debate is a chance for our government to be bold and be honest, that means leaving their talking points at the door.

• Who shows up. It’s sad to say, but we want to know who is going to skip this emergency debate. Will Catherine McKenna show up? Will Justin Trudeau end the climate silence he’s been practicing since the IPCC report came out? Will any of the Conservatives who are attacking climate action day in and day out make an appearance? We’ll be keeping track of who shows up and who doesn’t.

Onwards,

Cam Fenton