NDP must push minority Parliament to accelerate transition to a green economy
The federal election results suggest that the first priority of the NDP must be electoral reform to bring to an end the politics of fear and the strategic vote, which favours the Liberals and Conservatives alike.
By some estimates, “the price of oil could permanently plummet to $25 a barrel by the mid-2020s. Only the cheapest oil in places like Saudi Arabia could be economically produced. Canada's oil sands, where most projects need an oil price of $60 to $80 a barrel just to break even, would cease to make financial sense.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he heard loud and clear the message Canadians sent in the federal election for him to be bolder about climate change action.
Now young Canadians want him to prove it.
Twenty-seven youth with the group Our Time were arrested in the House of Commons on Monday morning after attempting to stage a sit-in to demand a Canadian "green new deal" be the first priority of all 338 MPs elected last week.
Amani Khalfan gives a hearty laugh when she's asked what she thinks of Canada’s election results.
As a coordinator for Extinction Rebellion (XR) in Ottawa, Khalfan finds it difficult to see much daylight between the promises made by Canada’s federal political parties — even between those on the left.
“No political parties, even the NDP or Greens, have committed to acting as quickly as needed to reduce global emissions, and (ban) new fossil fuel infrastructure,” she told National Observer.
The second On Fire book club conversation: Labour Organizing, Strikes, and the Green New Deal. Yesterday, we were joined by Meredith Whittaker, Lauren Burke, Raj Patel, and Deena Ladd for a captivating conversation about building worker power across silos: from bridging the divide between unionized and non-unionized workers, to connecting climate justice with other struggles.
With a crowd of 500,000, Montreal’s march for the climate was the largest in the world during the September 20-27 week of climate action. Yet it was also noteworthy for another reason.
Despite provincial labor laws preventing unions from striking over political issues, 11 locals representing 7,500 workers formally voted to go on strike for a day.
Both veteran legislators and newly-elected Members of Parliament would have stood to learn a great deal from the recent C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen, where participants shared best practices for fighting global warming while ensuring that workers whose livelihoods depend on fossil fuels aren’t left out in the cold, former Toronto mayor David Miller writes for the Globe and Mail.
