[10-Sep-2026 03:10:32 America/Boise] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function add_action() in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/core.reviews.php:11 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/core.reviews.php on line 11 [10-Sep-2026 03:10:36 America/Boise] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function add_action() in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/plugin.bb-press.php:7 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/plugin.bb-press.php on line 7 [10-Sep-2026 03:10:37 America/Boise] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function add_action() in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/plugin.buddy-press.php:7 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/plugin.buddy-press.php on line 7 [10-Sep-2026 03:10:39 America/Boise] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function add_action() in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/plugin.tribe-events.php:7 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/plugin.tribe-events.php on line 7 [10-Sep-2026 03:10:41 America/Boise] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function add_action() in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/plugin.woocommerce.php:7 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/plugin.woocommerce.php on line 7 [10-Sep-2026 03:10:41 America/Boise] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function add_action() in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.attachment.php:11 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.attachment.php on line 11 [10-Sep-2026 03:10:42 America/Boise] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function add_action() in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.clients.php:11 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.clients.php on line 11 [10-Sep-2026 03:10:42 America/Boise] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function add_action() in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.post.php:11 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.post.php on line 11 [10-Sep-2026 03:10:43 America/Boise] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function add_action() in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.post_type.php:11 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.post_type.php on line 11 [10-Sep-2026 03:10:43 America/Boise] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function add_action() in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.services.php:11 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.services.php on line 11 [10-Sep-2026 03:10:44 America/Boise] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function add_action() in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.taxonomy.php:11 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.taxonomy.php on line 11 [10-Sep-2026 03:10:44 America/Boise] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function add_action() in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.team.php:11 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.team.php on line 11 [10-Sep-2026 03:10:45 America/Boise] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function add_action() in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.testimonials.php:11 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in /home3/peoplfk7/public_html/wp-content/themes/military/fw/core/type.testimonials.php on line 11 Uncategorized Archives - People's Climate Movement, Toronto and the GTA https://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/category/uncategorized/ Sat, 27 Jan 2024 19:28:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.7 https://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-PCM-512sq-TO-GTA-32x32.jpg Uncategorized Archives - People's Climate Movement, Toronto and the GTA https://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/category/uncategorized/ 32 32 To Chrystia Freeland: Make Canada a Climate Leader https://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/2024/01/25/chrystia-freeland-protect-canadians-consequences-climate-destabilization/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chrystia-freeland-protect-canadians-consequences-climate-destabilization Thu, 25 Jan 2024 04:02:05 +0000 http://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/?p=4864 Responding to Canada’s role during COP28, Fridays For Future Toronto members sent this letter to Canada’s Minister of Finance, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, calling for leadership in tackling the climate crisis. Peoples Climate Movement (GTA) applauds and supports these demands by F4F. Fridays for Future Toronto Website December 15, 2023 Dear Honourable Chrystia Freeland, We are members […]

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]]> Responding to Canada’s role during COP28, Fridays For Future Toronto members sent this letter to Canada’s Minister of Finance, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, calling for leadership in tackling the climate crisis.

Peoples Climate Movement (GTA) applauds and supports these demands by F4F.
Fridays for Future Toronto Website

December 15, 2023

Dear Honourable Chrystia Freeland,

We are members of a youth grassroots organization, Fridays for Future Toronto, and we are writing to you today to ask for leadership on the climate crisis.

Delivering a Message at Chrystia Freeland’s Toronto Office

On Sunday (December 10, 2023), we held a mini-rally at your office to draw attention to some of the issues that had been debated at COP28, as many of those discussed impact us, our family and friends, and our future. Our hope is that, as a result, you will introduce stronger legislation to protect all Canadians as the consequences of climate destabilization worsen.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change from the UN has stated that the world needs to cut the emission levels from 2019 by 43% by 2030. This will keep the Earth below 1.5 degrees of warming and avoid tipping points that will bring about irreversible climate catastrophe.

We need Canada to show that it is a leader on the climate front at this critical time by acting on four very important tasks:

  1. A stronger emissions cap. We understand that Canada has introduced a framework to cap greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector. While this is a commendable effort, this framework is fraught with loopholes. These loopholes ensure that Canada will not achieve its minimum fair-share target of a 60% emissions reduction of 2005 levels by 2030. We need a stronger emissions cap that will cut back on fossil fuel production, cover emissions from both production and use, and include accountability measures to enforce the cap.
  2. An end to fossil fuel subsidies. Billions of dollars must not continue to be poured into a dying industry. Instead, it should be invested into a booming clean energy industry. Otherwise, Canada will be outcompeted globally by other countries who are already heavily investing in the growing clean energy sector.
  3. Ensure Canada gives its fair share of contributions to the loss and damage fund from COP28. Currently, Canada has pledged $16 million to the loss and damage fund, yet we need over ten times this amount for the fund by 2030. Wealthier nations such as ours need to step in and take responsibility for the damage and trauma being inflicted by the climate crisis on countries in the Global South, countries which are the least responsible for climate change.
  4. Our energy sector must undergo a rapid transformation to 100% renewable energy by 2050. This transition must be fair for all currently employed by (or supporting their communities through) the oil and gas sector, and must uphold Indigenous sovereignty. Reports by the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty show that the world has the potential to provide 100% renewable energy to everyone, leaving no excuse to not begin the transition to clean energy now.

As the youth of the country, the policies you enact today and in the next few years will have immense impacts on how our world will look when we’re older. The world is running out of time, with millions already dying or being displaced by fossil-fuel driven climate disasters. It’s our sincerest hope that your government will think critically about how much attention it pays to the millions of people in Canada and around the globe who are deeply affected by your decisions instead of the interests of the fossil fuel lobby.

Sincerely,
Members of Fridays for Future Toronto

 

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]]> Platforms of Leading 2023 Toronto Mayoral Candidates https://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/2023/06/19/platforms-leading-2023-toronto-mayoral-candidates/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=platforms-leading-2023-toronto-mayoral-candidates Mon, 19 Jun 2023 16:10:18 +0000 http://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/?p=4814 Election day is June 26 for Toronto’s Mayoral Election of 2023. Guest Blog by Xia (Alice) Zhu. This year’s mayoral race features a staggering 102 candidates, all trying to show why they deserve to be the face of Canada’s largest city. There are many things at stake. Smoke from wildfires recently closed in on the […]

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]]> Election day is June 26 for Toronto’s Mayoral Election of 2023.

Guest Blog by Xia (Alice) Zhu.

This year’s mayoral race features a staggering 102 candidates, all trying to show why they deserve to be the face of Canada’s largest city.

There are many things at stake. Smoke from wildfires recently closed in on the city, creating air quality and visibility issues for residents. The fate of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT hangs in the balance. The incidents of police brutality and homeless encampment evictions are fresh on Torontonians’ minds. Skyrocketing housing prices are making it very difficult for individuals and families to find affordable housing. And we have yet to see how our future mayor will use the newly introduced “strong mayor powers” recently granted by Doug Ford’s government.

The Local’s Candidate Tracker 2023, The Globe and Mail, and CTV News Toronto have summarized the platforms and promises of leading mayoral candidates on major issues affecting Toronto today. Toronto Environmental Alliance has also compiled a great summary of each candidates’ stance on environmental issues including climate action, public transportation, and waste.

Below is a brief summary of information collected from the resources above.

Olivia Chow: a long-time politician and activist who served as a Toronto city councillor from 1991-2005 and NDP MP for Trinity-Spadina from 2006-2014, Olivia Chow is known to many as a a progressive voice, advocating for improved transit, rights for immigrants and refugees, and for children. If elected, Chow pledged not to use strong mayor powers to override the majority will of City Council. Chow has promised to fight the provincial government’s plans to construct a spa in Ontario Place.

Brad Bradford: the councillor for Ward 19 Beaches-East York since 2018, Bradford has a history of voting 93% of the time with John Tory. Earlier this year, Bradford voted against redirecting $900,000 from the police budget to the Shelter, Support and Housing Administration budget. In 2022, he put forward a motion to improve the city’s Vision Zero program by reviewing road safety criteria and considering the addition of more road safety improvements.

Josh Matlow: the city councillor for Ward 12 since 2010 and a TDSB trustee before that, Matlow promised to add a new 2-percent levy on property tax to help fix struggling city services.  Matlow consistently opposes expensive but politically advantageous projects including the Scarborough subway, Gardiner East, and SmartTrack. He was very critical of the City’s crackdown on unhoused people camping in parks. He advocates for improved supports for tenants and for introducing a commercial parking lot levy to fund Toronto’s climate policies.

Anthony Furey: Vice President of editorial and content at True North, a right-wing media outlet, Furey says he will focus on the treatment of people struggling with addiction, and attributes violence on the TTC in large part to drug use. He says he would remove encampments and increase police presence in all parks. Furey says he would tear up bike lanes on University Avenue and cancel plans for dedicated bike lanes on Sheppard, Eglinton, Bloor Street West, and Kingston Road.

Mitzie Hunter: the Liberal MPP for Scarborough-Guildwood since 2013 and Minister of Education from 2016-2018 with the Liberal government, Hunter says the safety of Torontonians would be her priority as Mayor if elected. Hunter said she would not use strong mayor powers if elected. Hunter has released a climate plan that focuses on protecting Torontonians from residential floods and extreme weather conditions.

Mark Saunders: a former Toronto Police Chief, Saunders was seen by many during his tenure as disregarding the concerns and needs of marginalized communities in the city, in particular Black and LGBTQ+ people. Saunders has previously defended the practice of carding, and did not meet with Black Lives Matter activists regarding numerous incidents of police brutality. Saunders says he would adopt a zero-tolerance policy for used needle disposal in areas around supervised injection sites. His TTC Safety Plan states that he will increase the number of special constables to at least 200.

Ana Bailao: the city councillor for Davenport from 2010-2022, Bailao was a central member of the Tory government and voted with John Tory 87.5% of the time. She has increasingly voted with Tory in recent years. In the past, she has voted against raising property taxes and reducing police budgets. Her platform mentions making a dedicated bus lane for Scarborough transit users, investing in a $2 million Community Partnership and Investment Program that will serve communities in need, and making vacant city spaces accessible for community gardens and food banks. Bailao says she will not use strong mayor powers to pass bylaws without support of majority of the council.

Who should our next mayor be? Which one of these candidates can protect our city, keep it healthy and just, and lead us out of the smoke? It’s up to us to decide. See you at the polls!

Photo from CTV. Left to right – above: Ana Bailao, Olivia Chow, Josh Matlow – below: Mark Saunders, Mitzie Hunter, Brad Bradford

Bio of author:
Alice (Xia) Zhu is a fourth-year PhD student at the University of Toronto studying plastic pollution and
climate change. She has been a member of People’s Climate Movement since 2015.

 

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]]> Solidarity with the Ukrainian people does not call for scaling up oil and gas production https://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/2022/04/06/solidarity-ukrainian-people-not-call-scaling-oil-gas-production/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=solidarity-ukrainian-people-not-call-scaling-oil-gas-production Wed, 06 Apr 2022 01:25:14 +0000 http://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/?p=4797 The oil and gas lobby is using the Russian invasion of Ukraine to promote scaling up oil and gas production and infrastructure. PCM adds our support to this letter from Climate Action Network Canada and to its call for action. The letter was signed by eighty-six civil society and grassroots organizations and sent on March 25, […]

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]]> The oil and gas lobby is using the Russian invasion of Ukraine to promote scaling up oil and gas production and infrastructure.

PCM adds our support to this letter from Climate Action Network Canada and to its call for action.
The letter was signed by eighty-six civil society and grassroots organizations and sent on March 25, 2022.
You can see the full letter, with signatures, here.

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,

We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and victims of war around the world, and urge you and your cabinet to resist the oil and gas lobby’s demands for short-sighted policies to scale up oil and gas production and infrastructure.

We call on you to redouble efforts to swiftly adopt the climate policies your government has promised that bring us closer to a 1.5°C compatible pathway, and to implement a windfall tax on soaring oil and gas profits and redirect that revenue to the communities and families who need it.

This crisis has reminded the world how vulnerable our dependence on fossil fuels makes us. Western countries’ addiction to fossil fuels has funded Russia’s invasion and created untold suffering in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the climate crisis has caused floods, droughts, heat waves and wildfires that are wreaking havoc on the lives of millions of people, as documented in the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The only way to achieve energy security and climate safety is to break our addiction to oil and gas and accelerate the global transition to stable, renewable energy.

Other Western countries are rapidly realizing that energy security requires an energy transition. The last thing European countries want to do is to increase dependency on volatile foreign fossil fuels. Plans from Germany, the European Commission, and the International Energy Agency, while imperfect, all recognize that the quickest, cheapest, and surest way to ensure energy security is to ramp up energy efficiency measures and renewable energy.  

Like Canada, the United States’ position as an oil- and gas-producing country (where production is at an all-time high) does not shield it from the price shocks of a turbulent global market. The Biden administration has so far resisted increasing its oil and gas production and loosening environmental regulations, rather emphasizing that “the way to avoid high gas prices is to speed up – not slow down – our transition to a clean energy future.”

Building more fossil fuel infrastructure – such as the Bay du Nord project – will not influence prices or supply today; it will only lock us into producing destructive fuels for decades after demand has peaked, risking stranded assets and driving the world toward further climate catastrophe. Industry lobbyists attempt to frame liquified natural gas (LNG) as a clean bridge fuel; however, not only can LNG be nearly as polluting as coal, but projects take years, often a decade, to come online.
Moreover, for Canada to extract more oil and gas simply cannot be positioned as ethical. Oil sands tailing ponds – sprawling waste pits almost twice the size of Vancouver – leach acutely toxic substances into groundwater, polluting Indigenous lands and drinking water. Resource extraction projects are linked with violence against Indigenous women and girls, as highlighted in the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Given the “brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all,” as the IPCC report reminds us, there can be no further delays for scaling down fossil fuel production.

We urge you to:

● Implement a windfall tax on skyrocketing oil and gas profits.
Rising fuel costs are driving up already-high grocery bills, threatening food security in remote and Indigenous communities.
Oil and gas companies must not be allowed to profiteer while people suffer the consequences.
A windfall tax on oil and gas such as the one proposed by the European Commission should redirect revenue to the communities and families most affected by the rising prices.

● Swiftly implement your COP26 commitment to cap the oil and gas sector’s emissions at
current levels.
Until now, Canada’s highest-emitting sector has polluted with impunity, leaving other sectors, workers, and consumers to compensate for oil and gas companies’ failure to do their fair share.
The oil and gas cap currently being developed must require the fossil fuel industry to take on their fair share of the climate effort by reducing emissions by at least 60% below 2005 levels by 2030.
For your promise to cap emissions at current levels to be credible, new extraction projects – which by definition add pollution to the atmosphere – like Bay du Nord must be rejected by your cabinet.

● Support workers and communities through a Just Transition.
Workers deserve certainty about their future. Research shows most oil and gas workers are interested in skills training for
jobs in the clean economy – but we need a plan to get there.
The Just Transition Act that has been promised by the government must set up an advisory working group of which trade
unions are stakeholders, and the funding that comes with the Act must be scaled up – the CAD 2 billion Futures Fund promised during the electoral campaign is a small start but amounts will need to be vastly increased to fund the transition.

The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine must not be used as a pretext to justify expansion of destructive extractive industries, or to further entrench imperialism, militarism, and nationalism. Rather, it must galvanize global cooperation and solidarity in the face of intersecting crises.
Like the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine has shown how quickly governments can act – and act together – in an emergency situation.
We call on you to apply that same urgency to the climate crisis, and do everything that’s necessary to keep people and our planet safe.

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]]> Carbon Offsets are a False Solution https://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/2021/10/06/carbon-offsets-false-solution/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=carbon-offsets-false-solution Wed, 06 Oct 2021 20:50:34 +0000 http://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/?p=4766 PCM supports the call to take Carbon Offsets off the table. The science is clear: we need to rapidly phase out fossil fuels and emissions-intensive agricultural practices like factory farming we need to protect forests, wetlands, and other natural carbon sinks.  Every delay means greater impacts on our climate and more pollution in historically overburdened […]

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]]> PCM supports the call to take Carbon Offsets off the table.

The science is clear:

  • we need to rapidly phase out fossil fuels and emissions-intensive agricultural practices like factory farming
  • we need to protect forests, wetlands, and other natural carbon sinks. 

Every delay means greater impacts on our climate and more pollution in historically overburdened communities.

Carbon offsets are a false solution.

Today PCM joins over 170 organizations around the world, including Amazon Watch, Food & Water Watch, Indigenous Environmental Network, Sunrise Movement, Friends of the Earth, issuing a statement opposing carbon offsets.

See the press release from Amazon Watch below.
Link for more information

Press Release

October 6, 2021, Oakland, CA
Today, a broad coalition of over 170 NGOs, advocacy groups, and grassroots organizations spanning the globe released a statement opposing the usage of carbon offset programs, declaring that carbon offset programs are false solutions that will not solve the climate crisis.

Carbon offset programs are increasingly prevalent in corporate and governmental climate change plans. United States Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY) proposed legislation last week to establish a nationwide reforestation effort that would involve the sale of carbon offset credits, while tech company Amazon recently announced its own offset program in the Amazon rainforest. Carbon offsets are expected to be a major point of discussion at the upcoming COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, and countries and firms are releasing “net zero emissions” commitments in the interim which forgo necessary emissions reductions in favor of offsets.

Policymakers and businesses alike must reject carbon offsets if they are committed to climate justice. Environmental and human rights groups across the world are opposed to carbon offset programs because:

  • Offsets cannot truly “offset” fossil fuel production: the latest science indicates that offsets cannot keep pace with large-scale carbon emissions.
  • Offsets perpetuate environmental injustice, allowing polluters to continue poisoning BIPOC and working-class communities.
  • Offsets are likely to increase greenhouse gas emissions by allowing polluters to pollute while sequestering carbon in volatile, impermanent reservoirs.
  • Offsets often result in violations of the rights of Indigenous and tribal peoples, as Indigenous lands are increasingly targeted by forest offset project developers.
  • Offsets undermine sustainable farming and increase consolidation in agriculture, further entrenching factory farms and monoculture at the expense of small farmers, including Black and Indigenous farmers and Tribal Nations.
  • Offsets markets create conditions for fraud and gambling, prioritizing profit-seeking traders and speculators over economic and climate justice.

“Carbon offsets give the worst polluters in the world a free pass to keep polluting and exploiting, so it’s no surprise that offsets are a favorite of corporations and the politicians they’ve bought,” said Roshan Krishnan, Climate Finance Campaigner at Amazon Watch. “Offsets are a disaster for climate justice and Indigenous rights in the Amazon and across the world. As COP26 approaches, we demand immediate emissions drawdown and protection of Indigenous land rights, not market-based delay tactics and deception.”

“As pressure builds on financial institutions, consumer brands, and governments to act on climate, they are turning to carbon offsets as opposed to enacting real changes to reduce real emissions from their business activities,” said Pallavi Phartiyal, Deputy Executive Director at Rainforest Action Network. “For example, many corporations that are the biggest polluters in the fossil fuel sector are looking to use forest offsets to achieve their net zero targets. This has not worked and will not work.”

“Carbon offsets are a distraction, not a solution,” said Gar Smith of Environmentalists Against War. “Picture a massive, offshore oil spill. The proper response is to stop the leak at its source. The “offset” solution is to deploy oil-trapping booms and coastal clean-up crews—all while the oil continues to pour into the ocean.”

“Offsets are nothing short of a scam that corporate interests push, allowing them to continue polluting our climate and frontline communities with impunity. The harm does not end there, as these offset schemes displace indigenous communities and prop-up corporate agriculture and factory farming,” said Jim Walsh, Senior Energy Policy Analyst at Food & Water Watch. “Addressing the climate crisis means keeping fossil fuels in the ground, rather than pursuing these scams that harm our communities and climate for nothing other than corporate profits.”

“Politicians in cahoots with polluting multinational corporations on false solutions like carbon offshoots are shameful,” said Maura Stephens, a cofounder of the Coalition to Protect New York in the USA. “They are selling out their own people. And that’s foolish, because the effects of climate change will hit them personally, and those they care about, if they haven’t already, and they won’t be able to buy their way safe. No one can.”

“More and more people are learning about the scam behind carbon offsets, which are nothing more than a literal industry smokescreen,” said Mary Finneran, a cofounder of Frackbusters in the United States. “The people will not be fooled. Stop this deadly spin and implement immediate action to stop all new fossil fuel projects, phase out existing ones, and ensure a just transition for affected workers and communities. Period. No more phony distractions.”

“Carbon offsets are just the latest version of commoditizing and outsourcing negative externalities,” said John Peck, Executive Director of Family Farm Defenders. “These ‘pay to play’ schemes mean that poorer marginalized communities will be dumped on by richer privileged ones. U.S. family farmers particularly resent being used by transnational corporations as supposed “beneficiaries” of these “false solutions” to climate change. Small farmers already feed the world and cool the planet through our agroecological practices for which we do not get paid from some rigged pollution market. We do not want to be part of any neo-colonial project that shifts the burden of climate injustice onto folks in the global south in order to line the pockets of wealthy elites in the global north.”

“Banks need to reduce their financed emissions by categorically phasing out financing for fossil fuels and taking action on other big emitters like industrial agriculture – not by using deceitful accounting tools like carbon offsets to back their net-zero commitments without actually reducing emissions,” said Marília Monteiro Silva, Forests and Biodiversity Campaigner at BankTrack.

 

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]]> Canada’s Financial Industry fuels Climate Change and Financial Insecurity https://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/2021/08/29/canadas-financial-industry-lot-answer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=canadas-financial-industry-lot-answer Sun, 29 Aug 2021 17:04:41 +0000 http://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/?p=4638 Guest blog by Joe Davidson.  Ali Wines contributed an article to the Toronto Star in July with the headline: As the heat dome takes lives, Canadian banks must acknowledge their role in climate change   In it she wrote: In 2016, Canada joined 197 countries around the world in signing the Paris Agreement. Since then, our Big Five […]

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]]> Guest blog by Joe Davidson. 

Ali Wines contributed an article to the Toronto Star in July with the headline:
As the heat dome takes lives, Canadian banks must acknowledge their role in climate change  

In it she wrote:
In 2016, Canada joined 197 countries around the world in signing the Paris Agreement. Since then, our Big Five banks have given over $500 billion to fossil fuel projects. That’s equivalent to $1.4 million dollars a day, for the last 1,000 years. Every one of Canada’s major banks is in the top 25 highest funders of fossil fuels globally. At the current rate of financing, it will not be possible to meet our commitments under the Paris Agreement, or halt catastrophic global warming. (article link)

Ali Wines is rightly concerned about Canada’s financial sector impeding nationwide efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. She is also correct in fearing for Canadians’ financial security, given that we are so heavily invested in the precarious fossil fuel industry.

Worse yet, the same financial industry players who have exposed us to these volatile, environmentally toxic holdings have set about writing the rulebook on measuring and disclosing the risk associated with them.

Created by the federal government in May, the Sustainable Finance Action Council (SFAC) has been mandated to design finance industry best practice.

SFAC members have consistently proven their willingness to prioritize short term profit over the imperative to dramatically reduce our greenhouse gas output. By essentially allowing the financial sector to establish its own sustainability standards, the Canadian government is ceding to an industry which is anything but green.

We need leadership on this issue. Canada can and must do much better as we rapidly approach our global carbon budget limit.

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]]> Canada’s climate action plan. https://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/2021/02/02/five-years-time-ambitious-canadian-contribution-cop26/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=five-years-time-ambitious-canadian-contribution-cop26 Tue, 02 Feb 2021 19:36:58 +0000 http://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/?p=4509 Five years are up! It’s time for a more ambitious Canadian Contribution to COP26. Guest blog by Xia (Alice) Zhu. In this blog, I detail why it is important for Canada to step up and tackle climate change and I ask our government to commit to these 6 actions so that we can submit a […]

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]]> Five years are up! It’s time for a more ambitious Canadian Contribution to COP26.

child holding sign "I don't want another mass extinction"Guest blog by Xia (Alice) Zhu.

In this blog, I detail why it is important for Canada to step up and tackle climate change and I ask our government to commit to these 6 actions so that we can submit a more ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to COP26: 

  1.     Stop introducing new subsidies for fossil fuel companies
  2.     Do not extend the lifespan of current subsidies
  3.     Be transparent about the amount of money spent on subsidies each year
  4.     Invest in renewables
  5.     Work together with provinces and territories to develop and implement an ambitious federal carbon tax across the country
  6.     Fully support the transition of workers from the fossil fuel industry to clean energy sector jobs

Please read on for the full blog.
See ways to get involved at the end.

Canada’s emissions reduction targets: where we are, where we need to be, and how to get there

Where we are

Canada’s “Net-Zero Emissions Plan”: Bill C-12

Photo by Graham Hughes/Canadian Press

I felt hopeful as I read through Canada’s newest climate plan released in December of 2020 The plan laid out how the Government of Canada would theoretically meet a target they claim to be “more ambitious” than their current target of 30% below 2005 levels by 2030, instead aiming for a predicted 32-40% reduction. The plan mentioned striking a “Net-Zero Advisory Body” to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, working with local organizations and Indigenous communities to mitigate and adapt to climate change, cooperating with provinces to achieve reductions beyond those of federal policies, planting two billion trees, raising the federal carbon tax, investing in clean energy, and more. This was all music to my ears at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that there were serious flaws in the plan.

First, although the plan mentions that the federal government will foster cooperation with provinces and territories to fulfill its goals, this is easier said than done. I wish the plan outlined in more detail how the federal government will actually get provinces and territories on board with its pollution pricing scheme, taking into consideration the different economic, ethical, political dimensions of each province or territory and the hardships they are facing at this moment. Secondly, although the plan includes a timeline for specific actions to be accomplished – for example raising the federal carbon tax to $170 a tonne by 2030, creating a Net-Zero Advisory Body in 2020-2021, or planning long-term infrastructure starting in 2021 – there are no penalties for not meeting these deadlines. 

 This makes it difficult to hold the government accountable to its timeline in the first place. To add to this problem, several of the milestones mentioned in the plan exceed this government’s  period in office, meaning that it could in theory not act on climate change and yet still be abiding by the plan. Thus, I must take this plan with a grain of salt.

“To add to this problem, several of the milestones mentioned in the plan exceed this government’s period in office, meaning that it could in theory not act on climate change and yet still be abiding by the plan.”

I also find some of the statistics in the plan hard to believe: for instance, the plan states that in December of 2019, it was predicted that Canada’s GHG emissions in 2030 would be 227 megatonnes lower than had been projected for 2030 before the Pan-Canadian Framework, making it sound as if we are on track to meeting our target. Other sources, however, calculated in December 2019 that Canada is set to miss its current target by roughly 35%.

At the end of the day, a plan is still a plan, and whether it is successful or not really depends on the government’s commitment to act on its promises.

And now I get to the final glaring problem I found in the plan. It does not shine a spotlight on the problem of fossil fuel subsidies and how to lift ourselves out of a carbon-intensive society. In my opinion, this should be a central focus of the plan. We know big oil is being bailed out during COVID with no strings attached and this runs contrary to all of the actions the plan is suggesting we take. Ignoring this problem threatens to leave Canada behind on the global front in tackling climate change.  

Where we need to be 

Canada is a heavy emitter and more needs to be done to meet (and surpass) its Paris Climate Summit targets. 

Brief history from Paris Climate Summit to now

In 2015, over 200 countries submitted their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) or their emissions reduction pledges to the twenty-first installment of the Conference of the Parties (“COP21” or the Paris Climate Summit). However, the aggregate of these NDCs does not limit global average temperature rise to 2oC above pre-industrial levels.

This is because, firstly, NDCs depend on the current ability of each country to allocate funds to tackling climate change, in the context of other social, economic, and political circumstances within the country itself. Countries that are struggling with other issues may have difficulty contributing higher emission reductions to the agreement, such as countries being ravaged by war or those struggling with poverty. Secondly, these were voluntary contributions submitted by countries heading into the Paris Climate Summit. They were not made more ambitious by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in order to achieve a successful agreement.

As with other international agreements, participation in the Paris Agreement is voluntary and the UNFCCC cannot force governments to sign on. Thus, it was important for the President of COP21 to accept each country’s NDC as presented in order to prevent countries from backing out, which had happened at the fifteenth installment of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) in Copenhagen. Shamefully, six countries including the US drafted an agreement by themselves – infamously known as the Danish text – in back-door meetings at COP15 without consulting the rest of the participating countries, creating animosity and resulting in a very weak deal. So it is no surprise that going into COP21, countries were still skeptical about whether a deal could be reached. Although the Paris Agreement is lacking in ambition, having a binding agreement as a result is a real achievement.  

Nationally Determined Contributions

You might wonder then, what will we do about these dreadfully low NDCs? The answer lies in a mechanism described in the Paris Agreement as the ratchet mechanism. This mechanism essentially involves countries submitting new NDCs every 5 years, each one more ambitious than the previous, until we achieve the 1.5oC target – that means 2020, 2025, 2030, and so on. But the responsibility for ratcheting up these emission reduction targets falls on the shoulders of countries themselves. 

Canada: emission reduction target, responsibilities, commitments

Have we been meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement thus far? Unfortunately not. Instead, several countries – including Canada – prepared multi-million dollar packages to bail out big oil. Some of this money came from taxpayers; some from stimulus funding for economic recovery from COVID-19. But no bailout is big enough for an industry already in permanent decline even before the pandemic started (e.g. one and two). The more money we pour into big oil now, the more of it will become stranded assets, meaning that it will not benefit our society in the future in any way. At this time, the government should be funding industries that will usher in a new era of prosperity and sustainability after the pandemic: specifically, the clean energy industry. If we had just taken a tiny fraction of the love we are pouring into big oil and poured it into clean energy instead, who knows just how much carbon we could have already kept in the ground!

“Instead… Canada – prepared a multi-million dollar package to bail out big oil… But no bailout is big enough for an industry already in permanent decline even before the pandemic started”.

Bailing out big oil

The Paris Agreement also recognizes the importance of providing incentives for emission reduction, including domestic policies and carbon pricing2.

Canada, like many other countries, is heading in the wrong direction. According to the most recent Climate Transparency Report on G20 countries, Canada’s mitigation target is “inefficient”. Instead of providing incentives for emission reduction, we are further incentivizing pollution. For the 2016-2018 period, Canada provided over 10 billion USD of public financing annually for fossil fuel companies. This was second only to China, which provided 24.8 billion USD. The report found that the majority of G20 members are still supporting fossil fuels with public money and subsidies. This, of course, is completely inconsistent with a 1.5oC target as per Paris Agreement objectives.

Also, according to the UN’s 2019 Emissions Gap Report, Canada is on route to exceeding its emission reduction target by 15% or more. The longer Canada delays purging itself of fossil fuels and transitioning to clean energy, the more we will be missing out on reaping the immense rewards of a blooming clean energy industry. The sooner we help oil workers transition to clean energy jobs, the less damage Canada’s economy will sustain and the sooner we will benefit from the expertise and skills of oil & gas sector workers in the renewable energy sector.  

“The sooner we help oil workers transition to clean energy jobs, the less damage Canada’s economy will sustain and the sooner we will benefit from the expertise and skills of oil & gas sector workers in the renewable energy sector.”

Polluters Pay Principle

The idea behind switching subsidies from fossil fuels to renewables is to keep carbon in the ground and to prevent it from making climate change worse. The other action that needs to go hand-in-hand with ending fossil fuel subsidies is making polluters pay. Both of these actions are necessary to disincentivize carbon: the former to prevent further extraction of carbon, and the latter to discourage the use of carbon that has already been extracted.

Despite the myths about how carbon taxes are just governments robbing people of more money, carbon taxes are actually revenue neutral, meaning that the dollars earned from the program go back to taxpayers through other channels. Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act in 2018 enforced carbon pricing across all provinces and territories by December 2019. And in 2020, Canada announced that its new carbon tax will exceed the necessary value stated by Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer of $117 per tonne in 2030, so there is hope that we will be able to close the emissions gap through this method. Will it become a reality? That is very difficult to ascertain. We must continue to hold Canada accountable to its promise of implementing this tax.

Summary

All in all, we missed a big opportunity in the past five years to stimulate the green sector and grow clean jobs, and instead we took a big step backward. Instead of decarbonizing the system, fulfilling our commitments under the Paris Agreement, and moving ourselves towards a clean energy future, the government has bought out fossil fuel companies and poured millions of dollars into a dying industry. By doing this, we are making it harder for us to escape carbon lock-in. 

Canada and its importance

Canada is a developed country and its GHG emissions are not insignificant – in fact, in 2017, with only 0.48% of the total world population, Canada accounted for 1.6% of global GHG emissions, making it the ninth most polluting G20 member that year. Because we are a developed nation, and we are contributing heavily to the problem, it is our responsibility to take a leadership position in tackling climate change.

“Canada is a developed country and its GHG emissions are not insignificant – in fact, in 2017, with only 0.48% of the total world population, Canada accounted for 1.6% of global GHG emissions, making it the ninth most polluting G20 member that year”

How to get there

COP26 and a more ambitious NDC

Canada still needs to submit a more ambitious NDC for the twenty-sixth installment of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) in the UK at the end of 2021. But it is clear that without addressing the elephant in the room – the problem of fossil fuel subsidies and the ever-strong influence of big oil on the federal government – achieving a more ambitious NDC or even our current target is going to be very difficult. Fossil fuel subsidies were completely left out of Canada’s latest climate plan. Without addressing them, the plan cannot be achieved.

Call to action

If our federal government truly cares about the future of Canadians, it will end all subsidies for fossil fuel companies now, or at least impose conditions on subsidized companies. We should be making fossil fuels more expensive, not cheaper. Canada committed to phase out “inefficient” fossil fuels back in 2009, but now the deadline has been pushed to 2025. Time is running out and we need to act now. 

In order to propose a more ambitious NDC for COP26, fulfill our federal climate plan, and be a climate leader on the international stage, I call on the government to commit to these actions immediately: 

  1.     Stop introducing new subsidies for fossil fuel companies
  2.     Do not extend the lifespan of current subsidies
  3.     Be transparent about the amount of money spent on subsidies each year
  4.     Invest in renewables
  5.     Work together with provinces and territories to develop and implement an ambitious federal carbon tax across the country
  6.     Fully support the transition of workers from the fossil fuel industry to clean energy sector jobs

All of the actions listed above make polluters pay and are critical to Canada achieving its current emissions reduction target, not to mention its more ambitious one. Many of these actions were left out of Canada’s newest climate plan, but should be ignored no longer. COP26 has been postponed to 2021, but it remains the deadline for countries to submit new NDCs. Canada has not submitted our emission reduction target to COP26 yet. It is  absolutely critical that we submit a more ambitious target and take the lead on tackling climate change.

It is more crucial now than ever before for Canada to step up and invest in a sustainable future for all Canadians.

#Get involved!

If you are interested in taking action, have a look at these campaigns: 

  1. Sign the “Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty”: https://fossilfueltreaty.org/ 
  2. Support the “For Our Kids” campaign to strengthen Canada’s Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act or Bill C-12: https://www.forourkids.ca/climate_accountability_act 
  3. Toronto350.org also has a campaign to Strengthen Bill C-12 https://www.toronto350.org/strengthenbillc12 that involves sending a letter to your MP and members of the Standing Committee on Environmental and Sustainable Development

About the author

Xia (Alice) Zhu

Alice is a PhD student at the University of Toronto studying the sources, transport, and fate of plastic pollution in the environment. She is also interested in the interconnections between plastic pollution, carbon cycling, and climate change. Alice was a student delegate at the Paris Climate Summit (COP21) from the University of Toronto.
Contact information: alicexia.zhu@mail.utoronto.ca, @AliceXiaZhu

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]]> COVID-19 Economic Recovery: let’s move forward to a low-carbon future. https://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/2020/05/28/covid-19-economic-recovery-lets-move-forward-low-carbon-future/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=covid-19-economic-recovery-lets-move-forward-low-carbon-future Thu, 28 May 2020 21:20:41 +0000 http://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/?p=4416 Guest blog by Sue Craig. Governments can make this happen! Especially if we start now. There’s no going back to the old ways. What the new ways are and who benefits from them has to be top priority for government. There is no time like the present to be thinking big. About the author Sue […]

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Guest blog by Sue Craig.

Speeding down the road to electric vehicles.

One way to create jobs for a low-carbon recovery from COVID-19.

The Canadian government will have to spend a great deal of taxpayer money to help the economy recover from the COVID-19 crisis. How that money is spent will determine whether we all move forward — or backward.

More public ownership is one approach I’d like to see in the whole COVID-19 recovery process. But rather than giving you a whole laundry list of projects, let me highlight just one way I think we could get some real traction towards a future we all deserve.

I’d like to see mothballed factories, including the GM plant in Oshawa, but others as well, tooled up to produce electric motors for installation into existing vehicles. This could work as a nationalized industry or on a subsidized worker/consumer co-op model.

What are the advantages?

Reduced Waste, Increased Efficiency

  • There are many, many cars on the road with bodies and frames that could survive for many more years. For example, I recently acquired a 2005 Toyota. Still running, no rust, the passenger cabin is nice and clean, everything works.
  • Many of the cars, trucks and buses on the road, though superficially different, are almost identical under the hood, so the mass production of electric engines for retrofitting should be feasible.
  • A plant that makes only the motors can obviously turn out more units per day than a string of factories manufacturing, shipping and assembling all the components for a whole car.
  • Manufacturing an engine requires much less energy than manufacturing entirely new vehicles from scratch. This process would conserve energy, helping to keep prices affordable.
  • Retrofitting older but still viable vehicles will also conserve a great deal of energy that would otherwise be expended in junking the old vehicles: reclaiming whatever can be salvaged from them and dumping what cannot be reclaimed — plastic dashboards, seats, and so forth.

Jobs

  • Laid-off auto workers would be back at work.
  • This would provide work not only in factory towns but in communities everywhere as traditional auto mechanics with their own shops or working in dealerships would be retrained to retrofit old cars with the new electric motors and to maintain electric cars.
  • Viable traded-in gasoline-powered vehicles could also be sent to a large central facility for retrofitting.
  • Gas stations would gradually convert to charging stations.
  • Jobs would be maintained or increased producing parts for the ongoing maintenance of older vehicles, and for the mechanics and body-shop workers who install them.

Consumers and the Environment will benefit

  • Buying an electric car would be much cheaper for the consumer. The car owner could potentially drive to the auto repair shop in a gasoline-propelled vehicle one day and drive away the next day in a newly electric vehicle
  • This could accelerate the transition to electric vehicles tremendously

The benefits would be spread throughout the economy, with workers, small business owners and consumers all better off for it. The environmental benefit of reduced greenhouse gas emissions and less waste could be huge.

Not for (much) profit

  • Clearly, although there will be great benefits to society as a whole, there will be less profit, as we think of it now, in this approach. Big business will oppose it (to put it mildly).
  • This is why only government can make it happen, either by nationalizing and running factories or (probably better) by funding co-ops dedicated to providing good products and good jobs, with profits allocated to improving both.
  • Let’s not forget that the tar sands project could never have come into being or survived as long as it has without enormous amounts of ill-advised government subsidy. Let’s start spending smart!

Car retrofits: Not just a pipe dream!
Internal combustion engines out – electric engines in!

This Toronto businessman retrofits classic cars with electric motors.
The CBC did a report about Davinder Singh and his company, Epic Car Conversions in 2019.

In France, a company called Transition-One helps make the leap to electric.
Transition-One explains:
Turn your small petrol or diesel car into an electric one. You can immediately save money on fuel, maintenance and CO2 emissions.
Transition-One supports you in your transition to electric mobility for a cleaner planet.
Retrofit or electric conversion is now authorized in France

Garage Converting Classic Cars to Electric Vehicles
is a 6 minute Youtube video about EV West, a San Diego-based shop that has been converting cars since 2012 and offers conversion kits for vehicles ranging from vintage Karmann Ghias to Volkswagen buses.

Owner Michael Bream says, “Every single car we have converted here, we have made more powerful…” The shop is powered by solar panels, which also charge the batteries for their vehicles.

Governments can make this happen! Especially if we start now.
There’s no going back to the old ways.
What the new ways are and who benefits from them has to be top priority for government.

There is no time like the present to be thinking big.

About the author

Sue Craig is a long-time activist in politics, the union movement and the environmental movement. She is a retired member of the Ontario Public Service and is a former journalist.

 

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]]> “Six Principles for a Just Recovery” endorsed by hundreds of Canadian groups https://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/2020/05/27/six-principles/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=six-principles Wed, 27 May 2020 16:37:15 +0000 http://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/?p=4392 PCM is among hundreds of civil society organizations calling on all levels of government for a new direction as we recover from the pandemic. Below is the press release. Here is the website, Just Recovery for All.  Here is the list of endorsers. Put People First, Demand Over 150 Canadian Organizations with the Launch of Six […]

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]]>

PCM is among hundreds of civil society organizations calling on all levels of government for a new direction as we recover from the pandemic.
Below is the press release.
Here is the website, Just Recovery for All. 
Here is the list of endorsers.

Put People First, Demand Over 150 Canadian Organizations with the Launch of Six Principles for a Just Recovery

  | by Laura Bergamo 

1. Put people’s health and wellbeing first, no exceptions.
2. Strengthen the social safety net and provide relief directly to people.
3. Prioritize the needs of workers and communities.
4. Build resilience to prevent future crises.
5. Build solidarity and equity across communities, generations, and borders.
6. Uphold Indigenous Rights and Work in Partnership with Indigenous Peoples.
“Indigenous rights and sovereignty must be the foundation upon which every aspect of Just Recovery is built. Throughout the recovery process, Indigenous Peoples must be at the table, as should voices from all structurally oppressed communities,” said Lindsey Bacigal of Indigenous Climate Action. “Prior to the pandemic, Indigenous communities were already in crisis due to a lack of infrastructure, health and social services and the current situation will only deepen these inequalities. To address this historical injustice, it is essential that Indigenous Peoples have access to adequate resources that revitalize the health, well-being and sovereignty of our communities.”
Endorsing groups will pursue specific policy recommendations, aligned with the Principles.
The huge collaborative effort that brought these principles to life over many weeks of rich, challenging discussions exemplifies the kind of action we expect of political leaders as we move through this crisis,” explained Catherine Abreu of Climate Action Network Canada. “It’s going to take a massive and diverse community of voices to encourage governments to be bold in the face of corporate lobbies, and to put people and communities first,” Abreu continued. “Our goal was to capture the immense amount of care work happening throughout Canadian civil society right now and present a vision of a Just Recovery that leaves no one behind. We know this is a vision the majority of Canadians support, and millions of people are ready to take action.”Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Canadians asked by EKOS Research earlier this month [1] supported a “broad transformation of our society” resulting from COVID-inspired reformations.“We recognize the enormous challenge and responsibility facing governments. We also see a critical opportunity for leaders to seize the courage required to lead us through this moment to a better world. We’ll be doing our part to ensure the people are behind them,” said Claire Gallagher, from the independent citizens’ advocacy group, Leadnow.Today’s launch marks the beginning of independent and collaborative efforts by participating organizations to urge all levels of government to deliver a transformational Just Recovery for all people. For a growing list of endorsers, please visit justrecoveryforall.ca.

-30-

Media contact:
Max Mosher (based in Toronto)
647-888-6453 | media@leadnow.ca

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]]> Oil Industry bail-out? Make it work for Canada’s Future. https://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/2020/03/31/oil-industry-bail-make-work-canadas-future/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=oil-industry-bail-make-work-canadas-future Tue, 31 Mar 2020 16:48:16 +0000 http://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/?p=4373 Guest blog by Sue Craig. We are hearing about a possible big bail-out of the oil industry. I find it heartening that some members of the federal Liberal caucus have dared to question the agenda of Big Oil without being ostracized. Perhaps this means government is willing to listen to the following. I urge the […]

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]]> Guest blog by Sue Craig.

We are hearing about a possible big bail-out of the oil industry.

I find it heartening that some members of the federal Liberal caucus have dared to question the agenda of Big Oil without being ostracized. Perhaps this means government is willing to listen to the following.

I urge the government to do what U.S. President Obama should have done in the big financial meltdown, what Canada ought to have done in the auto industry bailout:

  • Provide a bailout but take an equity position and corresponding membership on the boards of directors in the industry.

and then:

  • Use the bailout funds to support workers in transition to sustainable jobs while at the same time winding down the industry in the public interest.
  • Reopen a few mothballed refineries and ensure that an ever-dwindling supply of oil is refined in Canada and used here (creating jobs, albeit for maybe only 20 years or so) as we move to electric transportation powered by renewable energy.

Quite seriously, the oil industry really ought to pay us for the unbelievable damage it has done to our environment while sucking out the resources.

We know government is ultimately going to pay for its short-sightedness in subsidizing (for years) an industry that was rendering our planet uninhabitable. We are going to pay. So let’s face the music now, at a time when Canadians are showing tremendous resilience and willingness to pull together in the face of emergency.

I think if the government were to take the oil industry before a truly impartial international tribunal of business and environmental experts, we would be told we are entitled to repossess the industry’s assets altogether — in other words, nationalize it — without further compensation to the corporate interests that own the industry. But that could happen retroactively: that is, after we have employed the leverage we currently have with an oil industry that is on its knees, although not, unfortunately, in humility.

About the author

Sue Craig is a long-time activist in politics, the union movement and the environmental movement. She is a retired member of the Ontario Public Service and is a former journalist.

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]]> A call for Support for Workers during the Covid-19 Crisis https://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/2020/03/24/call-support-workers-covid-19-crisis/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=call-support-workers-covid-19-crisis Tue, 24 Mar 2020 19:23:18 +0000 http://www.peoplesclimatemovement.ca/?p=4352 People’s Climate Movement has signed on to this letter. See the full letter (English & French) below the press release. For Immediate Release March 24, 2020, Ottawa No New Money For Oil and Gas Companies—Give It To Workers—Say Large Collection of Groups Representing More Than One Million Canadians  A large collection of health, faith, environmental, […]

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]]> People’s Climate Movement has signed on to this letter.
See the full letter (English & French) below the press release.


For Immediate Release March 24, 2020, Ottawa
No New Money For Oil and Gas Companies—Give It To Workers—Say Large Collection of Groups Representing More Than One Million Canadians 

A large collection of health, faith, environmental, labour and social justice groups, representing one million three hundred thousand Canadians, have sent a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau and his cabinet asking that in the federal bailout to the oil and gas industry, expected later this week, no more money be given to companies, only to workers.

“The fossil fuel industry is counting on Canadians being too occupied coping with an ongoing health crisis to register that our country is considering a massive transfer of public funds to support the very industry most likely to cause the next health crisis,” says Dr. Courtney Howard, Board President of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE). “This is a crucial tipping point, and climate change must factor into all of our decision making,” she added. “The policies we pass now must benefit all Canadians and set us up for a post-COVID future we can step into with confidence.”

The letter states:

The federal government has the opportunity with this stimulus package to immediately and directly support workers in Alberta and across the country while also investing in what is needed to grow and support a low carbon economy, and the kind of economy that can weather storms.

The Federal government should not provide a bail out to oil and gas companies in the form of share purchases or loan guarantees, said groups.

“Governments must prioritize investing in Canadians, not corporations,” said Julia Levin, Climate and Energy Program Manager at Environmental Defence Canada. “This means not offering a multibillion dollar gift to already highly-subsidized oil and gas companies. The federal government should be focused on the health and resilience of workers and their families in the immediate and beyond – in this sector and all the impacted sectors across the country – who require urgent financial support in this unprecedented time.”

Groups laid out three critical measures for the stimulus package, including money for orphan well cleanup should be administered by an independent fund with representation from Indigenous communities, local governments and landowners who can ensure it is used to reclaim wells where the company is bankrupt and its remaining assets have already been spent for this purpose.

Groups pointed out that the federal government has committed to the Just Transition Act and now is the time to put in place a recovery program with measures to hasten a just transition and protect workers as oil and gas production declines.

“There is no better time than right now for the federal government to provide immediate financial support, as well as funding, retraining and education so that oil and gas workers can have long-term, stable jobs now and into the future,” said Steve Moran, National Coordinator of the Green Economy Network, which represents a number of organizations including labour.

March 23, 2020

To the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, 

Cc: Federal Cabinet Ministers 

COVID-19 is presenting real and immediate risks to people’s health and livelihoods. It is appropriate and necessary for the federal government to make major interventions to keep people safe and healthy, to keep food on our tables and roofs over our heads. What is clear in these unstable times is how much we need economic resilience. Any federal government intervention to protect health and livelihoods must build an economy that’s ready to weather any crisis. Oil and gas workers and their families, like many others across Canada, urgently need financial support. 

The conflict between Saudi Arabia and Russia was enough to devastate Canada’s oil and gas industry before COVID-19 forced the economy-wide slowdown. Now, oil prices have reached historic lows and they may never reach levels that support Canadian production again.

The federal government has the opportunity with this stimulus package to immediately and directly support workers in Alberta and across the country while also investing in what is needed to grow and support a low carbon economy, and the kind of economy that can weather storms.

Decades of the impacts of colonialism including government neglect in healthcare in Indigenous communities has led to an overall lack of pandemic preparedness. The two key public health measures recommended to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are hand-washing and social distancing. Neither can be effectively carried out in the majority of Indigenous communities with non-potable water and substandard, overcrowded housing, deepening the impact of the burden of illness at the community level. There is consistent evidence that Indigenous people in particular are at increased risk of severe outcomes and health status disparities during outbreaks, demanding equitable distribution of human and material resources.

Giving billions of dollars to failing oil and gas companies will not help workers and only prolongs our reliance on fossil fuels. Oil and gas companies are already heavily subsidized in Canada and the public cannot keep propping them up with tax breaks and direct support forever. Such measures benefit corporate bottom lines far more than they aid workers and communities facing public health and economic crises. 

We, a collection of labour organizations and health, environmental, faith and social justice organizations, representing more than 1.3 million people across Canada, are asking the Federal government, which has committed to the Just Transition Act, to put in place a recovery program with measures to hasten a just transition and protect workers as production continues to decline in the coming years. Instead of providing a bail out to oil and gas companies in the form of share purchases or loan guarantees, the Federal government must create an economic stimulus package that includes three critical measures: 

  • Oil and gas workers, like all workers from all sectors, need to be able to immediately access income support in order to preserve personal and public health. This support includes increased access to employment insurance and paid emergency leave as needed for all workers, regardless of immigration status, as well as income security. This applies to migrant and undocumented workers.
  • Stimulus money should offer immediate relief directly to workers and provide opportunities for training, education and employment in existing and emerging low-carbon sectors like energy efficiency, technology, healthcare and renewable energy. A program styled on the bailout of automakers in 2008 will unfortunately put the public at similar risk of having spent billions of dollars with little to show for it in a decade.
  • Money for orphan well cleanup should be administered by an independent fund with representation from Indigenous communities, local governments and landowners who can ensure it is used to reclaim wells where the company is bankrupt and its remaining assets have already been spent for this purpose. It should also be tied to regulatory change in Alberta to ensure the province puts in place a polluter-pays program so the public is not left with these liabilities in the future.


Signed,

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), Climate Action Network Canada, Nature Québec LeadNow, Équiterre, Wilderness Committee, Environmental Defence, Council of Canadians, Greenpeace Canada, 350 Canada, Stand.Earth, ENvironnement JEUnesse, North99, SumofUs, Climate Strike Canada,The WaterWealth Project, Shift, Burnaby BROKE,  R.A.V.E.N. Trust, Sierra Club BC, Georgia Strait Alliance, Leap Montreal, Friends of the Earth – Canada, Canadian Engaged Buddhism Association, West Kootenay EcoSociety, Trinity St Paul’s United Church, PIPE UP Network, CREW, Glasswaters Foundation, Mississauga Climate Action, Ecologos, Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice, Earth Day Canada / Jour de la Terre, Centre de ressources sur la non-violence, Gazoduq, parlons-en! Green Wave West, ClimateFast, Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique (AQLPA), Le Pacte pour la transition, Green 13, MediCorner, Équipe de la Déclaration d’urgence climatique – DUC, Extinction Rebellion Québec, Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition, Extinction Rebellion Ville de Québec, Les Pollués de Montréal-Trudeau, Parkdale High Park for Climate Action, Mouvement écocitoyen UNEplanète, Eau Secours, Oil Change International, Transition Capitale-Nationale, Fridays for Future Guelph, Climate Justice Montreal // Justice climatique Montreal, L’Assomption en transition, Climate Justice Edmonton, MistEarth, Divest UVic, Noor Cultural Centre, Sustainabiliteens Vancouver, La Planète s’invite au Parlement, Fridays For Future Whitby, Sustainable Durham, Coalition Fjord, Climate Justice Saskatoon, Climate Justice Ottawa, Creating Healthy and Sustainable Environments, Coalition Anti-Pipeline Rouyn-Noranda, Sipekne’katik Grassroots Grandmothers Circle,  Solidarity with Alton Gas Resistance, Extinction Rebellion Vancouver, Toronto Environmental Alliance, Extinction Rebellion Nova Scotia, Sierra Club Canada Foundation, Ontario Clean Air Alliance, Fondation Rivières, People’s Climate Movement (Toronto and GTA), MiningWatch Canada, La planète s’invite en santé (LPSS), Coalition solidarité santé, Green Economy Network / Réseau pour une économie verte, TerraVie, Association pour la Taxation des Transactions financières pour l’Aide aux Citoyens (ATTAC), Canadian Interfaith Fast for the Climate, The Healthy Forest Coalition, Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain-CSN, KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, GMob, New/Mode, Coalition Étudiante pour un Virage Environnemental et Social (CEVES), Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, Concordia Students for Climate Justice, Creating Healthy and Sustainable Environments (CHASE), Mouvement d’éducation populaire et d’action communautaire du Québec (MÉPACQ), GASP – Grand(M)others Act to Save the Planet, Réseau québécois des groupes écologistes, Mobilisation environnement Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Divest McGill, Comité des citoyens et citoyennes pour la protection de l’environnement maskoutain (CCCPEM), Rising Tide North America, The Climate Reality Project Canada /Le Projet de la réalité climatique Canada, Regroupement vigilance hydrocarbures Québec (RVHQ), Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain, Citizens for Public Justice, Alerte Pétrole Rive-Sud, Above Ground, Foire ÉCOSPHÈRE 

23 mars 2020

Au très honorable Justin Trudeau

Cc: Aux membres du cabinet fédéral

 Le COVID-19 présente des risques réels et immédiats pour la santé et pour les moyens de subsistance des personnes. Il est approprié et nécessaire que le gouvernement fédéral fasse des interventions majeures pour assurer la santé et la sécurité, de la nourriture sur nos tables et un toît au-dessus de nos têtes. Ce qui est clair, en ces temps instables, c’est à quel point nous avons besoin de résilience économique. Toute intervention du gouvernement fédéral pour protéger la santé et les moyens de subsistance doit contribuer à bâtir une économie prête à affronter toute crise. Les travailleurs et travailleuses du secteur pétrolier et gazier ainsi que leurs familles, comme bien d’autres au Canada, ont un besoin urgent de soutien financier.

Le conflit entre l’Arabie saoudite et la Russie a suffi à paralyser l’industrie pétrolière et gazière du Canada avant que COVID-19 ne force le ralentissement de l’économie. Les prix du pétrole ont atteint des creux historiques et ils ne remonteront peut-être jamais assez afin d’atteindre des niveaux qui soutiennent la production canadienne. Donner des milliards de dollars à des sociétés pétrolières et gazières en faillite n’aidera pas les travailleurs et travailleuses et ne fera que prolonger notre dépendance aux énergies fossiles. Les sociétés pétrolières et gazières sont déjà fortement subventionnées par les gouvernements au Canada et le public ne peut pas continuer à les soutenir éternellement avec des allégements fiscaux et un soutien direct. De telles mesures profitent beaucoup plus aux bilans financiers des entreprises qu’elles n’aident les travailleurs et travailleuses et les communautés confrontés à des crises de santé publique et économique.

Plusieurs décennies d’impacts du colonialisme, dont la négligence du gouvernement dans les soins de santé aux communautés Autochtones, ont conduit à un manque général de préparation à une pandémie. Les deux principales mesures de santé publique recommandées pour prévenir la propagation du COVID-19 sont le lavage des mains et la distanciation sociale. Aucun des deux ne peut être réalisé efficacement dans la majorité des communautés Autochtones avec de l’eau non potable et des logements surpeuplés de qualité inférieure, ce qui aggrave l’impact du fardeau de la maladie au niveau communautaire. Il y a des données claires indiquant que les peuples Autochtones font face à un risque accru de conséquences graves et de disparités de l’état de santé durant les épidémies, ce qui  exige une répartition équitable des ressources humaines et matérielles.

Avec ce plan de relance, le gouvernement fédéral a la possibilité de soutenir immédiatement et directement les travailleurs et travailleuses de l’Alberta et de tout le pays, tout en investissant dans ce qui est nécessaire pour soutenir et faire croître une économie sobre en carbone et le type d’économie qui peut affronter les tempêtes.

Nous, un regroupement de syndicats et d’organisations du milieu santé, de protection de l’environnement, de religion et de justice sociale, représentant plus d’1.3 million de personnes à travers le Canada, demandons au gouvernement fédéral d’inclure, dans son plan de relance économique pour l’industrie pétrolière et gazière, ces trois mesures critiques :

  • Tout travailleur ou travailleuse qui a besoin d’un soutien à son revenu afin de préserver sa santé personnelle et la santé publique doit pouvoir y accéder immédiatement. Ce soutien comprend un accès bonifié à l’assurance-emploi et des congés payés d’urgence au besoin pour tous les travailleurs et travailleuses, quel que soit leur statut d’immigration, ainsi que la sécurité de leur revenu. Cela s’applique aux travailleurs et travailleuses migrant.e.s et sans-papiers.
  • Au lieu d’offrir des achats d’actions ou des garanties de prêt aux sociétés pétrolières et gazières, les fonds de renflouement devraient être alloués pour offrir un soulagement immédiat directement aux travailleurs et travailleuses et leur offrir des possibilités de formation, d’éducation et d’emploi dans les secteurs émergents à faible émission de carbone comme l’efficacité énergétique, la technologie, les soins de santé et les énergies renouvelables. Un programme comme celui du renflouement des constructeurs automobiles en 2008 exposerait malheureusement le public au même risque, soit celui d’avoir dépensé des milliards de dollars avec peu de résultats en dix ans.
  • L’argent pour le nettoyage des puits orphelins devrait être administré par un fonds indépendant avec une représentation des communautés Autochtones, des gouvernements locaux et des propriétaires fonciers qui peuvent s’assurer qu’il est utilisé pour récupérer des puits lorsque l’entreprise est en faillite et que ses actifs restants ont déjà été dépensés à cette fin. Cet argent devrait également être lié à des changements réglementaires en Alberta pour s’assurer que la province mette en place un programme de pollueur-payeur afin que le public ne se retrouve pas avec ces responsabilités à l’avenir.

Le gouvernement fédéral, qui s’est engagé à une Loi sur la Transition Juste, devrait mettre en place un programme de relance avec des mesures pour accélérer une transition juste et protéger les travailleurs et travailleuses alors que la production continuera à décliner au cours des prochaines années.

SIGNÉ PAR : 
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), Climate Action Network Canada, Nature Québec LeadNow, Équiterre, Wilderness Committee, Environmental Defence, Council of Canadians, Greenpeace Canada, 350 Canada, Stand.Earth, ENvironnement JEUnesse, North99, SumofUs, Climate Strike Canada,The WaterWealth Project, Shift, Burnaby BROKE,  R.A.V.E.N. Trust, Sierra Club BC, Georgia Strait Alliance, Leap Montreal, Friends of the Earth – Canada, Canadian Engaged Buddhism Association, West Kootenay EcoSociety, Trinity St Paul’s United Church, PIPE UP Network, CREW, Glasswaters Foundation, Mississauga Climate Action, Ecologos, Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice, Earth Day Canada / Jour de la Terre, Centre de ressources sur la non-violence, Gazoduq, parlons-en! Green Wave West, ClimateFast, Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique (AQLPA), Le Pacte pour la transition, Green 13, MediCorner, Équipe de la Déclaration d’urgence climatique – DUC, Extinction Rebellion Québec, Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition, Extinction Rebellion Ville de Québec, Les Pollués de Montréal-Trudeau, Parkdale High Park for Climate Action, Mouvement écocitoyen UNEplanète, Eau Secours, Oil Change International, Transition Capitale-Nationale, Fridays for Future Guelph, Climate Justice Montreal // Justice climatique Montreal, L’Assomption en transition, Climate Justice Edmonton, MistEarth, Divest UVic, Noor Cultural Centre, Sustainabiliteens Vancouver, La Planète s’invite au Parlement, Fridays For Future Whitby, Sustainable Durham, Coalition Fjord, Climate Justice Saskatoon, Climate Justice Ottawa, Creating Healthy and Sustainable Environments, Coalition Anti-Pipeline Rouyn-Noranda, Sipekne’katik Grassroots Grandmothers Circle,  Solidarity with Alton Gas Resistance, Extinction Rebellion Vancouver, Toronto Environmental Alliance, Extinction Rebellion Nova Scotia, Sierra Club Canada Foundation, Ontario Clean Air Alliance, Fondation Rivières, People’s Climate Movement (Toronto and GTA), MiningWatch Canada, La planète s’invite en santé (LPSS), Coalition solidarité santé, Green Economy Network / Réseau pour une économie verte, TerraVie, Association pour la Taxation des Transactions financières pour l’Aide aux Citoyens (ATTAC), Canadian Interfaith Fast for the Climate, The Healthy Forest Coalition, Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain-CSN, KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, GMob, New/Mode, Coalition Étudiante pour un Virage Environnemental et Social (CEVES), Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, Concordia Students for Climate Justice, Creating Healthy and Sustainable Environments (CHASE), Mouvement d’éducation populaire et d’action communautaire du Québec (MÉPACQ), GASP – Grand(M)others Act to Save the Planet, Réseau québécois des groupes écologistes, Mobilisation environnement Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Divest McGill, Comité des citoyens et citoyennes pour la protection de l’environnement maskoutain (CCCPEM), Rising Tide North America, The Climate Reality Project Canada /Le Projet de la réalité climatique Canada, Regroupement vigilance hydrocarbures Québec (RVHQ), Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain, Citizens for Public Justice, Alerte Pétrole Rive-Sud, Above Ground, Foire ÉCOSPHÈRE

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