UN World Environment Day More Relevant Than Ever

The Green Party of Canada celebrates the UN’s World Environment Day (WED) today along with nations and citizens around the globe.  Founded in 1972, this annual event is designed to promote positive environmental action among governments and individuals alike.  It is now one of the main mechanisms the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) uses to expand ...

Greens Mark UN Peacekeeping Day with Warning to Canadians

The Green Party of Canada today marks UN Peacekeeping Day by warning Canadians that their once-proud role in international peacekeeping has been systematically whittled away. According to the latest information released by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the UN, as of April 30th, 2013, Canada is sending 19 armed peacekeeping troops to the UN, ...

What is the meaning of ‘defence’ in the 21st Century?

We continue to discuss defence without first posing some essential questions: will we be at war? With whom? And what are the real security threats to Canada? It should be clear that, since the Second World War, we have seen millions of lives lost in the Cold War through the proxy conflicts of the large ...

Green Party Marks International Day for Biodiversity

The Green Party today celebrates the UN International Day for Biodiversity (IDB), designed to promote and protect the diversity of our ecosystems, species, genes, even our landscape. The IDB was first celebrated on December 29 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on Biodiversity in 1993.  Canada played a leading role countering George Bush’s ...

Emergency Debate – The Situation in Syria

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, my question to the hon. member for Mississauga East—Cooksville is this. We have seen a disturbing trend in statements by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in relation to the United Nations. It is a kind of contempt for the United Nations, the idea of multilateralism and diplomacy, the idea that we ...

Emergency Debate – The Situation in Syria

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, I wish to congratulate my colleague, the hon. member for La Pointe-de-l’Île. She is very eloquent, and I am always impressed by her work. What does she think needs to happen in order for all the countries in the world to find a political solution? Which country is most important? I ...

Greens Mark Soil Conservation Week; Criticize UN Convention Withdrawal

The Green Party marks Soil Conservation Week, April 21-28, which is especially relevant in light of the Harper Conservatives’ recent withdrawal from UN efforts to combat desertification. “Soil is key to our ability to feed ourselves and survive on this planet,” said Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, MP Saanich-Gulf Islands. “If we are going to ...

International Cooperation

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister told this House that Canada legally withdrew from the treaty to combat drought and desertification because it was “…not an effective way to taxpayers’ money”. The cost of the treaty, $300,000 a year, is roughly equivalent to half the cost of a G8 gazebo or 109 days ...

Canada Goes Rogue

I am frequently asked how I maintain a positive attitude when confronted by Stephen Harper’s destructive agenda—dismembering our environmental laws and policies. Honestly, I can respond that most days I am encouraged by the ability of one MP to make a difference. That was not the case last week as, sitting late in the House ...

“Where Will Harper’s Isolationist Agenda Take Us?”

In the wake of the recent withdrawal by Canada from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Green Party of Canada condemns the Canadian abandonment of three other international organizations: the UN World Tourism Organization, the International Exhibitions Bureau and the International Tropical Timber Organization. “Harper’s Conservatives have a clear bias against multilateral institutions, ...