GASP Post Election Issue Urgency, Collaboration and Hope
#1. Urgency message conveyed by Lorraine’s letter published in the Hamilton Spectator on September 18
#2 - Need for Urgency and Collaboration GASP Op Ed in the Hamilton Spectator
Full Text of the GASP Op Ed is shown below:
In the last federal election, October 2019, Grandmothers Act to Save the Planet (GASP) called on politicians of every stripe in Canada to team up and create the boldest and most inclusive Climate Emergency Action Plan of any country in the world.
The UN’s top climate scientists had issued a shocking special report on global warming that included this stark warning: If the global temperature rose by just 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, humans would face unprecedented climate-related risks and weather event.
We at GASP were alarmed and frightened that the world we would be leaving our grandchildren could well be uninhabitable — unless there was unprecedented action to put the brakes on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).
So, we called for that newly elected 2019 government — a Liberal minority as it turned out — to immediately establish a ‘survival cabinet’ composed of climate champions from all parties. They would lead the transition to a just economy with a comprehensive, transformational Climate Action Plan.
Fast forward: Over the last two years there has been some fairly significant progress on the climate front. We now have a carbon tax that will kick-start our transition to a green economy, the ‘Climate Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act’ and increased GHG emission targets.
But today we have even less time to keep global temperatures below 1.5ºC. The latest UN climate report, released in early August, is unequivocal about the calamities we face without urgent action: “The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable,” warned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, calling the findings nothing short of a ‘code red for humanity.’
During this 2021 election campaign, detailed GASP interviews with Halton candidates from all parties did not express the urgency we need to combat the existential threat of the climate crisis. Good but not nearly enough.
The COVID pandemic has given us a trial run on how to handle a collective problem. Canadian politicians initially did a great job of working together across party lines and at all government levels. However, this collaboration began breaking down along partisan lines with devastating and deadly results. Today we are in a fourth wave of the pandemic and, as with every emergency, drastic actions are necessary. Mandated measures are called for like ‘proof of vaccination’.
During this summer of climate disasters, we have even learned some new language: who had ever heard of a ‘heat dome’ before that torrid BC heat wave that killed over 500 people? Wildfires, droughts, and floods brought the climate emergency home to every one of us.
Thankfully, GASP interviews of Liberal, Green and NDP candidates demonstrated fairly considerable agreement on ending fossil fuel expansions and the need for a ‘just transition’ to help Canadian oil and gas workers train for the expected growth of new green jobs.
Most Conservative candidates declined our interviews. Only two candidates participated. One was a long time ‘climate advocate’ and admitted he had been a lone voice for climate within his party. He committed to continue his climate advocacy. The other candidate spoke to the Conservative platform supporting expansion of fossil fuels and pipelines and focused on carbon capture technology getting to market before transitioning workers.
The Peoples Party of Canada candidates disagreed with the very premise of a climate emergency. “The world needs more Canadian oil and more pipelines to move our ‘ethical’ oil.”
In an emergency, such as a world war or a pandemic, we need more government support, not less. We need to spend what it takes as we did with CERB. Canadians stepped up in the Second World War when they were led by a war cabinet. All parties, and all Canadians jumped into action to defeat a common enemy and we ‘punched above our weight’ in this endeavour.
Without urgent action, the current climate emergency will be even more devastating than a war or pandemic. Science tells us we still have a little time before we reach irreversible climate tipping points — but very little. Even if they can’t yet vote, the voices of youth, the Greta Thunbergs of the world, have shown much more responsibility than most adults, imploring governments to rise to this unprecedented challenge.
GASP hears our grandchildren. On Monday, let’s vote for them. Our 2021 GASP statement, much like our original declaration, is about renewed commitment and energy, all MPs working across the partisan divide, still more urgency, and mobilizing every Canadian in the fight for the lives of future generations.
Let’s vote for the Party with the best Climate Action Plan. Political Parties who are serious about the climate emergency need to come together after the election to govern in a Climate Accord to ensure that our country has an ambitious plan based on science, including a budget, policies, laws, and new Crown Corporations to address the climate crisis we are facing.
Grandmothers are ready!
Collaboration for an effective minority government
Excerpts of Grant Linney's excellent Op Ed:
The climate and its closely connected biodiversity crisis, along with the exceptionally short time frame within we must act, demands that our politicians behave differently this time around. Consider the following:
Last month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) must peak by 2025 and then significantly drop.
The decrease in global diversity is nothing short of precipitous and it will profoundly impact the biosphere upon which we all depend.
Governments agree that 2030 must be regarded as a hard deadline for nations to drop their GHG emissions by at least 50 per cent if not more.
With our recent election resulting in our second successive minority government, it should be clear that Canadians now expect four years of productive co-operation leading to measurable and substantial steps on the single greatest issue to ever face humankind — climate change. The price for yet another possible snap election would indeed be high.
The next four years (2021 to 2025) constitute a critical period during which we must effectively address what we have in words acknowledged as a “climate emergency.”
The NDP has elected 10 MPs that various non-governmental organizations (Canada 350, Leadnow and GreenPac) identify as “climate champions.” They are Taylor Bachrach, (Keena — Bulkley Valley); Richard Cannings, (South Okanagan—West Kootenay); Laurel Collins, (Victoria); Blake Desjardins (Edmonton Griesbach); Lee Gazan (Winnipeg Centre); Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre); Lori Idlout (Nunavut); Gord Johns (Kootenay — Alberni); Peter Julian (New Westminster — Burnaby) and Heather MacPherson (Edmonton Strathcona).
The Liberals have also elected nine climate-concerned MPs: Terry Beech (Burnaby North—Seymour); Julia Dabrusin (Toronto-Danforth); Terry Duguid (Winnipeg North); Kristy Duncan (Etobicoke North); Karina Gould (Burlington); Steven Guilbeault (Laurier Sainte-Marie); Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra); Peter Schiefke (Vaudreuil-Solanges) and Jonathan Wilkinson (North Vancouver).
So, what if these individuals formed a “climate caucus” within their respective parties — a group that co-ordinates with each other and with their caucus as a whole, a group that shows up together for announcements and press releases, with different members taking turns as the spokesperson? If this is truly a climate emergency, then why are we stuck with the old practice of having only one lone person as the party spokesperson on a particular file or issue? Surely a mini-caucus idea would raise the profile of this truly existential, non-partisan and time-sensitive global issue. Surely it would more readily convert words into deeds.
One thing is overwhelmingly clear: we must change the way we conduct business in our elected parliament. We must act in the national interest. We must shed partisan posturing in the face of the greatest crisis to ever face us. We must adopt a common approach to our common problem.
What can you do about this as an elector or young person nearing voting age? Write your MP. Demand this new approach. Please, don’t squander this once-in-a lifetime opportunity. This may well be our last chance.
The good news is that Canadians voted for climate, and the parties were competing with one another for who had the strongest plan,” Climate Emergency Unit team lead and strategy director Seth Klein told The Energy Mix. “So we have a mandate.”
Klein said he would prefer to see that happen through a “formalized agreement” between the Liberals and New Democrats, with the NDP bargaining harder than it did two years ago to make its support conditional on climate emergency action.
“What you want in any cooperative government is for everyone to put their best ideas forward,” he said. “The Liberals do have some good ideas, but so do the NDP. They were prepared to spend more. They talked about embedding these climate goals in the mandates of all Crown corporations, as well as the Bank of Canada. They had an idea for a civilian conservation corps. And they talked about carbon budgets.
Trudeau wanted stability and a longer mandate.
Collaborative leadership puts people ahead of party power
Canada’s multi-party system is good for diversity and democracy, and has been our reality for generations. Now, leaders need the courage to leave paternalistic “father knows best” ways of governing in the past and build a stable government through co-operation. A “real progressive leader” is a collaborative one.
Trudeau can secure a longer term mandate and protect Canada from another unnecessary election during a devastating pandemic if he has genuinely received the message from the majority of voters to set aside partisanship and focus on the bold action we need. He can demonstrate what the leadership we need today looks like: collaborative leadership that puts people ahead of party power. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/09/23/opinion/trudeau-wanted-stability-longer-mandate-he-can-still-have-it
HOPE: Preparing for COP26
World leaders urged to turn off the tap on fossil fuel subsidies -
COP26 will be test of Trudeau’s climate commitments
Fossil fuel financing, and the financing to support a net-zero economy, are expected to be major themes at COP26. “Canada really is already known for how outsized its oil and gas industry is,” said Oil Change International global public finance analyst Bronwen Tucker. “There will definitely be a transition — that part is inevitable — it will just depend how fast and who wins and loses. And without planning, it will be workers and communities that lose out,” she said.
The United Nations climate change conference — also known as COP, short for Conference of the Parties — brings countries together to negotiate agreements to reduce global warming. This year, COP26 will take place in Glasgow, Scotland. Given that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned, at least partly, on ending public financing for fossil fuels, COP26 could be the first major test of his climate commitments in his third mandate. On average, Export and Development Canada (EDC) pumps more than $13 billion annually into the fossil fuel industry, but money flows from the Business Development Bank of Canada, provincial governments, and other agencies, too.
and this Canadian is putting them front and centre at COP26
Helen Watts’ light-bulb moment came to her as a young adult — a realization that energy, and the problems around it, permeated every aspect of humanity. “There's no way (to not) interact with energy to some degree. We've just kind of embedded it so completely in our society,” she said. “It’s how people are able to stay safe and keep the lights on and take care of themselves. It’s inextricable from quality of life.”
It’s why the 26-year-old landed her first “real job” as senior director of global partnerships for Student Energy, which she says is a group all about pushing through barriers that typically hold back young people — striving to draw youth together and uplift them. It’s an NGO connecting more than 50,000 young people from over 120 countries to work towards youth-led energy solutions, and its most recent project Global Youth Energy Outlook (GYEO) is set to debut at this year’s United Nations climate conference, COP26.
Annual review of G20 countries’ climate action towards net zero - How does Canada compare? A few highlights:
The Climate Transparency Report - the world’s most comprehensive annual review of G20 countries’ climate action towards net zero – shows climate actions of countries in a comparable form. The review is based on 100 indicators for adaptation, mitigation and finance. Developed by experts from 16 partner organisations from the majority of the G20 countries, the report informs policy makers and stimulates national debates. The link for the full report on Canada’s performance:
Climate crisis makes 4 in 10 young people
hesitant to have children
Four in 10 young people around the world are hesitant to have children as a result of the climate crisis, and fear that governments are doing too little to prevent climate catastrophe, a poll in 10 countries has found.
Nearly six in 10 young people, aged 16 to 25, were very or extremely worried about climate change, according to the biggest scientific study yet on climate anxiety and young people, published last Tuesday. A similar number said governments were not protecting them, the planet, or future generations, and felt betrayed by the older generation and governments.
The poll of about 10,000 young people covered Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Portugal, the U.K. and the U.S. It was paid for by the campaigning organization Avaaz.
HOPE: Youth need to hear stories of hope and solutions
Students are taking action to improve
climate change education in schools
Students across Canada are back in class this month, but some say there’s a critical topic missing from their lesson plans: climate change.
Sophia Bi, a Grade 12 student at Lord Byng Secondary in Vancouver, and Aishwarya Puttur, a Grade 11 student at Bluevale Collegiate in Waterloo, Ont., are working to change that. Both are involved in campaigns to improve climate curriculum in Canadian public schools.
Ellen Field, an assistant professor in the faculty of education at Lakehead University in Orillia, Ont., said climate change education is uneven from province to province. “When Canada signed the Paris climate agreement, we agreed to Article 12, which within it says that as a signatory, we agree to enhance climate change education,” Field said. “To date, ministries of education have not released policy statements that guide climate change education.”
Field’s previous research reveals almost half of students from Grades 7 to 12 believe climate change is happening and think it’s caused by humans, but don’t believe that anything can be done to solve it. Field said this has an impact on young people's mental health.
“The overall focus is on understanding, mostly, the climate science, and less on climate solutions or on taking climate actions,” Field said.
“Climate education really needs to be one that not just explains the issue thoroughly, but also inspires hope within young generations,” said Puttur. “This is my future, this is my Earth, and now I know the severity of [climate change]. But I also know that there are beautiful solutions.” https://subscriptions.cbc.ca/newsletter_static/messages/whatonearth/2021-09-23/
HOPE: Let's get Reading!
Halton Climate Collective is excited to announce this year’s book “Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World“ by Katharine Hayhoe, an educational and inspiring book to bring everyone together to act on climate.
To get a copy of “Saving Us” by Katharine Hayhoe. Visit us at a location near you!
A Different Drummer Bookstore, 513 Locust Street, Burlington
IndigoSpirit, 280 Guelph Street, Georgetown
IndigoSpirit, 1180 Steeles Avenue East, Milton
IndigoSpirit, 485 Trafalgar Road, Oakville
Social Justice
Lheidli T’enneh First Nation has a simple message for Enbridge:
Get out
Lheidli T’enneh First Nation Chief Dolleen Logan says she has lost her patience and wants Enbridge to reroute its pipeline out of the nation’s land near Prince George, B.C.. Photo courtesy of Lheidli T’enneh First Nation (LTFN). As the three-year anniversary of a pipeline explosion on their territory marches closer, Chief Dolleen Logan says she is tired of “being put on the back burner” by Enbridge and wants the company out. LTFN’s lawyer Malcolm Macpherson said the nation is pursuing a strategy of trying to compel the B.C. government to revoke Enbridge’s permits, citing public safety.
In advance of next week's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the Town of Oakville is presenting a free, outdoor film series over the next two weekends at various locations. According to a press release, films in the program were selected "to commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.”
Tell Party Leaders
Cooperate to make progress on climate and inequality
We just witnessed an incredibly tight election. The Liberals won the most seats, but they can’t maintain government without the support of other parties.The Liberals, NDP, and Greens combined have enough seats to form a stable majority. They’ve committed action on important issues the Leadnow community cares about, including bold action to tackle the climate crisis and inequality. It’s a huge opportunity to make progress on the biggest of our time. The next 48 hours will set the tone for what’s possible. Sign the petition.
Join Shift Action and healthcare workers from across Ontario to learn how you can help protect your HOOPP pension and tackle the climate crisis. Learn more about HOOPP’s approach to the financial risks of climate change and fossil fuel investments, and what it means for your retirement savings.
“You are here for a reason. Wherever you go, you must speak for our Mother Earth and for our children.”
Renee Thomas Hill, Grandmothers Voice, in the documentary “Grandmothered”
Documentary "Grandmothered" celebrates women who use their voice to make a difference
The 19-minute documentary celebrates grandmothers in Halton region who have been fighting for justice, equality, and the environment for over half a century. Presented by Grandmother's Voice, "Grandmothered" looks at the work the profiled women are doing to make the world a better place for everyone.
GASP founders Lorraine Green and Carole Holmes are featured for their commitment to climate activism. Linda Middaugh, a GASP activist in Milton, talks about her work with Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan and Bev Lefrancois, another GASP gem, talks about her 50 years of fighting for women’s equality.
Carole mentions in the video how she learned from Indigenous culture that Grandmothers have a role as Wisdom Carriers and plan their actions thinking seven generations ahead.
