Ask-The-Contestants!

Thank you for this excellent question.

We know that many Canadians are, right now, finding that there is ‘more month than money’. Canadians are needing to decide what they will give up. Will they pay their rent late and risk being evicted? Or will they personally skip meals so they can feed their kids? Will they go without internet at home, or wear plastic bags under their old winter boots this year, to keep their feet dry?

We also know that the climate crisis is already hitting Canadians in their pocket books: when a hurricane blows through, when the basement floods, or when a heatwave sets in, it disrupts our lives and the businesses in our community. It costs money and time to get things back to normal. People are already feeling the financial pinch of the climate crisis, and there is a deep sense that it needs to be addressed.

In fact, people vote for parties promising climate action every election. It’s a real shame those governing parties are not achieving results. It’s up to Greens to hold government to account.

To connect climate and economic concerns, I believe that we can follow the lead of the ‘Green New Deal’ campaigners. They are showing us how to connect climate justice and economic justice. Author Naomi Klein has been talking about this for years.

She’s said: “you shouldn’t have to choose between caring about the end of the month and caring about the end of the world. We’re pretty sure everyone cares about both, on some level. So let’s design policies that will radically reduce our emissions, but have these concrete bread-and-butter benefits for working people.”

“The only responses to the climate crisis that their governments have ever proposed have been ones that increase the cost of living for working people, that make their energy bills go up, that make the price of the pump go up. Meanwhile, they see the wealthiest people receiving tax breaks, they don’t see any serious regulation being enforced on the oil and gas companies,”

The platform priorities that Chad and I have put together ( https://www.keenanwalcott.ca/platformpriorities ) have emphasized benefits for working people. We have intentionally sought out climate solutions that respond to the pressing needs and concerns of voters today (especially the cost of living), thus having potential to expand the audience of our party.

These are win-win proposals, advancing both short-term wellbeing, and long-term sustainability, hand in hand.

Some examples of the intersectional policies that we support:
* A firm regulatory environment for coal, oil and gas companies, to meet carbon budgets. If they cannot, then bringing these companies under public ownership, for the public good.
* Supporting workers & frontline communities through transition, including by offering free higher education in trades and healthcare, to address industry shortages.
* Huge investments in public and active transportation in our municipalities, and high-frequency inter-city electric bus routes, so that more people can get where they need to go, without the expense of owning a private vehicle and having no option but to pay ever-escalating gas prices.
* Enabling everyone – even renters – to benefit from energy upgrades, by requiring landlords to deliver minimum efficiency standards, and labelling all rental properties for their energy consumption, as is standard in Europe.
* Financial support for farmers who successfully build soil carbon and reduce nitrogen fertiliser use, or who reforest retired agricultural land.