From Vision Green to Mission : Possible

The Green Party of Canada foundational policy book, Vision Green, sets out our vision for Canada rooted in six core values:

  • Social Justice
  • Ecological Wisdom
  • Respect for Diversity
  • Grassroots Democracy
  • Peace and non-Violence
  • Sustainability

Distilling that extensive policy book into a clear call to action for the climate crisis we face, resulted in Mission: Possible – The Green Climate Action Plan

It incorporates all the requirements for economic justice, just transition, the guarantee of meaningful work, while also respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. It recognizes that we cannot achieve climate security in the absence of equity. It is a commitment to achieve all 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to which the Government of Canada claims to have also committed. All 17 will be achieved by 2030.

We must, as a community of nations, ensure that global average temperature does not rise more than 1.5 degrees C over pre-Industrial Revolution levels. The October 8, 2018 report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change makes it clear that 2 degrees is far too dangerous. Somewhere below 2 degrees is the tipping point that plunges us into runaway global warming – a self accelerating, irreversible spiral of positive feedback loops leading to the loss of our hospitable biosphere and the potential extinction of most species on earth, including us. Holding to 1.5 degrees is not negotiable. It is do or die.

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Our 20-step Climate Action Plan

If Greens are elected in sufficient numbers to either form government or exert significant influence in a minority parliament, Green MPs will:

    • Declare a Climate Emergency
      Accept, at every level of government, that climate is not an environmental issue. It is the gravest security threat the world has ever seen.
    • Establish an inner cabinet of all parties
      Modelled on the war cabinets of Mackenzie King and Winston Churchill, parties will work together to ensure that climate is no longer treated like a political football. It requires all hands on deck.
    • Set stringent new targets
      Establish our new target and file it as Canada’s Nationally Determined Contribution with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change: 60 per cent GHG reductions against 2005 levels by 2030; zero emissions by 2050.
    • Assume leadership
      Attend the next climate negotiation in Chile this year and press other countries to also double their efforts.
    • Respect evidence
      Restore funding of climate research within the Government of Canada and in the network of universities that received financial support before 2011.
    • Maintain carbon pricing
      Revenue neutrality will be achieved through carbon fee and dividend and we will eliminate all subsidies to fossil fuels.
    • Ban fracking
      No exceptions. It destroys ecosystems, contaminates ground and surface water, endangers our health and it’s a major source of GHGs.
    • Green the grid
      By 2030, remove all fossil fuel generation from our national east-west electricity grid.
    • And modernize the grid
      By 2030, rebuild and revamp the east-west electricity grid to ensure that renewable energy can be transmitted from one province to another.
    • Plug in to EVs
      By 2030 ensure all new cars are electric. By 2040, replace all internal combustion engine vehicles with electric vehicles, working with car makers to develop EVs that can replace working vehicles for Canadians in rural areas. Build a cross-country electric vehicle charging system so that drivers can cruise from St. John’s, NL to Prince Rupert, B.C. – with seamless ease.
    • Get Canada back on track
      Modernize VIA Rail, expand service and ensure trans-modal connections across Canada to light rail and electric buses, so that no one in rural and remote areas of Canada lacks efficient, affordable and safe public transit.
    • Complete a national building retrofit
      Create millions of new, well-paying jobs in the trades by retrofitting every building in Canada – residential, commercial, and institutional – to be carbon neutral by 2030.
    • Turn off the tap to oil imports
      End all imports of foreign oil. As fossil fuel use declines, use only Canadian fossil fuels and allow investment in upgraders to turn Canadian solid bitumen into gas, diesel, propane and other products for the Canadian market, providing jobs in Alberta. By 2050, shift all Canadian bitumen from fuel to feedstock for the petrochemical industry.
    • Switch to bio-diesel
      Promote the development of local, small scale bio-diesel production, primarily relying on used vegetable fat from restaurants. Mandate the switch to bio-diesel for agricultural, fishing and forestry equipment.
    • Create new partnerships for renewables
      Form partnerships with Indigenous peoples, providing economic opportunities by ramping up renewables on their lands. Harness abandoned deep oil wells, wherever feasible, for geothermal energy, using workers who drilled the wells to manage the renewable energy generation.
    • Call for all hands on deck
      Engage every municipality and community organization, as well as every school and university to step up and plant trees, install solar panels, heat pumps, assist in retrofitting buildings to maximize energy efficiency.
    • Prioritize adaptation
      Invest significant resources in adaptation measures to protect Canadian resource sectors such as agriculture, fishing and forestry from the ravages of climate change. Review all infrastructure investments for adaptation to climate change. Map flood plains, tornado corridors and other areas of natural vulnerability and adjust land use plans accordingly.
    • Change planes
      Cancel the purchase of F35s and buy more water bombers to protect communities from forest fires. Cut standing dead timber to establish fire breaks and save lives.
    • Curtail the “other” GHG sources
      Address the fossil fuel use that falls outside the Paris Agreement – emissions from international shipping, aviation and the military.
  • Restore carbon sinks
    Launch a global effort to restore carbon sinks, focusing on replanting forests and restoring the planet’s mangrove forests as quickly as possible.

It is possible to build an equitable society.

It is possible to shift workers with transferable skills to well-paid jobs in the new Green economy.

It is possible to achieve reconciliation and justice with First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.

It is possible to stop using fossil fuels and save all life on Earth from our own greed and folly. 

It is our mission, to make these things a reality.

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