Perhaps unexpectedly, I am starting this morning’s letter with memories of that awful September 11th, 25 years ago. My step-son was living in New York, and worse, worked in the office of the New York Department of Justice as an assistant D.A. That building was only a block or so from the World Trade Centre. From his office window he watched in horror as people jumped. The blow by blow of that day is fresh in my mind. Incredibly, my godfather, actor Cliff Robertson, was in a small plane that morning and saw the whole thing unfolding. He phoned my mom in Cape Breton to tell her of his experience. He was flying his Cessna from Long Island into Manhattan. He saw a large black cloud ahead, and thought it must be an unexpected thunderstorm. Then he looked down just in time to see the second plane fly into the second tower. He immediately thought “we are under attack.” And almost as soon as he thought it, he was contacted by the FAA. He was ordered to follow a new flight path and land in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. Once on the ground, he was there for two weeks.

Years later, I heard directly from the decision-maker who had told the FAA to get all the aircraft in the skies over North America on the ground immediately. The Navy Captain who made that call is a friend from Sidney by-the-Sea Rotary, Mike Jellinek. As is normal in the shared North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), leadership is shared between US and Canadian armed forces. It was a Canadian in control that morning. I had asked Mike if they had considered shooting down the hijacked planes? He explained that whatever they might have considered, the first problem was the hijacked planes were invisible. Once the terrorists took control of the cockpit, they shut off the transponders. Looking at North American radar and the crowded airspace of the eastern seaboard, there were just thousands of dots in the air. The only way to sort out the clogged image was to get the legitimate flights out of the sky immediately. I find it incredible that any bureaucracy, even military or the FAA could move so fast that my Uncle Cliff was re-routed within minutes.

The whole tragedy remains unbearable. Every day around the world, lives are lost in wars, by blockades and cruelty, yes, in horror after horror. But this one day traumatized those directly involved and those watching on television. People say that day “changed everything.” I do not think so. It shattered many things. It gave the US the illegitimate excuse to launch an illegal war on Iraq. But we still live in that fragile world where all that can pull humanity through is the rule of law, international law and a deep commitment to world peace. That commitment remains shaky. But we have to keep trying. As feeble as that sounds, Canada must re-engage for world peace, diplomacy and nuclear disarmament – and do it with renewed vigour.

Next, an apology for an error in last week’s letter. Looking at media coverage, failing to go to original sources (which I always try to do), I had wrongly credited the Canadian Climate Institute with a new climate report.

Actually the Climate Institute was commenting on a much more substantive and significant scientific update from Environment Canada. It is the most impressive work of science I have seen from Environment Canada in years. The full report runs nearly 1500 pages. I recommend this 66 page summary. It makes it clear that as global average temperatures rise, due to humanity’s burning of fossil fuels and removal of forests, Canada, and particularly our North, warm far faster than the rest of the world.

Have a look at the colour image at Figure RS.5. It gives an overview of all of Canada.

Headline statement 4:

“Warming temperatures have driven wide-ranging, interconnected, and sustained changes across Canada. The changes include more extreme heat, less extreme cold, longer growing seasons, longer fire seasons, earlier peak stream flow, shorter snow and ice cover seasons, thinning glaciers, thawing permafrost, warming oceans, and rising sea level. Human-caused warming is the only explanation for the collective changes observed.”

I do worry about the media coverage. It is true what we have done is irreversible, but that does NOT mean it is too late to save ourselves and our grandchildren from the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Only massive efforts to shut down the use of fossil fuels for energy will stop global average temperature from rising, potentially triggering unstoppable and self-accelerating rates of global heating. We must redouble efforts to reduce emissions drastically – all countries and all at once. Simultaneously we must do more to be prepared for what is coming. We must develop community resilience and national capacities to save lives and protect ecosystems.

Instead, Canada is doubling down on fossil fuel expansion.

This week our prime minister is welcoming bankers and investment giants to Toronto for his so-called “Investment Summit.”

Here is how the Clean 50 newsletter presents it:

“Canada for Sale?

• • • Breaking news: Ottawa pitches 167 projects to some of the world’s biggest investors, from offshore wind and batteries to new oil pipelines and LNG
    • What the project list says about the economy Canada wants to build, plus a link to the full investment summit pitch book.”

To prepare for the summit, the government announced slashing environmental assessments for favoured projects.

We must not be silent – nor allow the false narrative that these projects are “good for the economy.”

We must, at least, demand a public, independent assessment of the business case for each project. A cost-benefit analysis. Right now there is no such case for the new pipeline, nor for destroying the ecosystems of Roberts Bank and Burrard Inlet. If there were a business case, wouldn’t private sector companies be asking to build the projects?? This argument – “show me the money” may prove more powerful to the rest of Canada than “hands off our salmon and our Southern Resident Killer Whales!” Why is the current government willing to spend public dollars so recklessly, increasing debt and deficit for projects the business community will not touch? One way or another, we have to push back.

Thanks for all who said hi at Salt Spring Fall Fair yesterday. This afternoon is Cordova Bay’s meeting. Tomorrow is Pender Islands’ town hall and Tuesday Mayne Island! Check here for the schedule: https://elizabethmaymp.ca/events/.

And hope to see you soon!

Lots of love,

Elizabeth

And P.S.

PLEASE help me get signatures above 10K for the National Gallery to – at long last – hold an exhibit of the works of one of Canada’s greatest artists: the Robert Bateman petition closes Sept 25.

You can find and sign this petition here.

The post Good Sunday Morning! Issue #336 appeared first on Elizabeth May.

It was a tough August. Our by-election results were strong. Nationally, people took note of how strongly Shelley Luce did in North Vancouver-Capilano. And we had such a wonderful candidate in Bruce Livesey in Beaches-East York.

We would have done better – with at least 10-20% of the vote in North Vancouver if not for the last minute shift as all eyes were on Carney walking away from Trump’s so-called “trade talks.” I feel foolish that it did not occur to me until the wee hours of Monday September 1 that the last minute drama was pre-ordained. Ever since July 26, what I found so inexplicable was so glaringly obvious. Why were the by-elections called in August? Only twice since 1867 have any federal votes been called in August – and the last time was 1953. It is a terrible time for an election. Voters and volunteers are on vacation. Local civic organizations have no capacity to organize all candidates meetings. Voter turnout is always lower in by-elections than in general elections, and August voting drives down participation even more.

Mark Carney picked August 31 as election day at the point Trump had already threatened 50% tariffs and set his own August deadline. It was on July 20 that Trump declared August 21 his deadline. Six days later the PM dropped the writ in three by-elections for August 31. The talks received an extension to August 23. Regardless of the outcome of the trade dispute, the high wire act was a certainty to be top of mind when Canadians in three electoral districts voted August 31st. The surge in Liberal support was palpable. Lisa Van Dusen, editor of Policy magazine, has named it Carney’s “Trump Defiance Dividend.” As a banker, Carney knew he could bank on it.

We all felt it. Going door to door, voters who were enthusiastic about Shelley Luce as their future MP on Saturday, by Sunday August 30 were saying, “I love Shelley, but.. I have to vote for Mark Carney.” In that context it is remarkable we did as well as we did.

Please keep sending donations to the North Vancouver-Capilano EDA. Falling short of the 10% of the vote means they will not receive the electoral rebate we confidently expected. That small percentage point difference is a body blow. Shelley Luce is determined to keep the local team together and positive. Replenishing that bank account is critical.

Thank you to all who came and helped, whether from next door or from Saskatchewan as campaign manager Naomi Hunter did. And Marlene Wells from Nova Scotia. And Micheal Holbrook, our candidate from Simcoe North, who was one of my roommates at the apartment of great North Van volunteer Kathy Porter where we billeted. Special thanks to all the Saanich-Gulf Islands volunteers who made the trek – Bob Mackie, Tom Mitchell, Shelagh Levey, Tom Niemann, Tim Lambert, and if I keep listing people I will forget someone! And Rani and the phone canvassers. THANK YOU!! We had an amazing team. We were inspired by an amazing candidate! Shelley Luce and her family gave it their all!

And as I always say, “when Greens do well anywhere, Greens do well everywhere!” On Friday night I was back in Vancouver for an event with Pete Fry. Helping the VanGreens do well in October’s vote does matter! Pete Fry is a lead contender to replace regressive Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim. Please help if you are able.

Back to the pressing threats to climate and whales, sandpipers and indigenous rights, threats are coming from multiple directions. Just ahead of the by-elections on August 28, the Carney administration listed another horrific mega project for fast-tracking under the Building Canada Act, C-5.

The Roberts Bank Expansion is now on the short list that will allow it to bypass, actually violate, other laws. So too is the promised new pipeline to take dilbit alongside the Fraser River and out to the new Roberts Bank expansion for export. On August 1, the pipeline itself was placed on the Canada Gazette, with a deadline for comments on September 18!

The “West Coast Oil Pipeline” was posted in the Canada Gazette.

The “project description,” as posted, is factually in error. It describes the project as shipping crude oil, when it is clear from the Alberta government project description that the pipeline is intended to ship diluted bitumen. It is shocking to me that the government does not think it makes a difference if they make factual errors in the Canada Gazette. Neither crude oil nor dilbit are good for our marine environment when spilled, but dilibt is far more hazardous to human health and the environment, and as far as we know from scientific reviews, dilbit is impossible to contain and clean up in an ocean spill. To run a dilbit pipeline along the Fraser River is unconscionable. But it is in the “national interest” you know. Questions cannot be tolerated.

This is the email address to send your comments.

The government plans to announce its decision by October 1.

Fortunately Dr. David Boyd has shared his brief with me. (I will share mine with you when it is finished!) Here is Dr. Boyd’s conclusion:

“Science, law, and ethics are aligned in the same direction with regard to the proposed West Coast Oil Pipeline, associated infrastructure, and the Very Large Crude Carrier vessels needed to export more diluted bitumen. The International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have made it crystal clear that existing reserves of oil, gas and coal cannot be burned if the nations of the world are to fulfill their obligations under international law.

There has never been a worse time or a worse place for such a proposal. Science, law, and ethics should compel the Government of Canada to reject the proposed designation as a project of national importance, reject the entire West Coast pipeline proposal, and redirect its energy and resources into the development of a sustainable, ethical, and diversified 21st century economy compatible with respect for human rights and our obligations under international law.”

Dr. David R. Boyd,

Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment (2018-2024)

Professor, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, Faculty of Science, University of British Columbia

As if it was not glaringly obvious that Canada is not on track to meet our international commitments, the Canadian Climate Institute issued its most recent update on Friday.

“…recent shifts in federal policy have put Canada’s net-zero commitment further out of reach, while undermining our credibility to press other countries for the emissions reductions we need to stave off 5° C of heating.

“This report should concern every decision-maker in Canada. All orders of government should significantly accelerate both emissions reductions and adaptation, because the current level of effort is nowhere near enough to prepare us for what is coming.”

Maybe, just maybe, I can make enough noise once Parliament resumes to get any Liberal to pay attention.

For now, hope to see you today or tomorrow at the Saanich Fair!

Love and thanks for all your support,

Elizabeth

The post Good Sunday Morning! Issue #335 appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Today – August 30 – is the last day of active campaigning before tomorrow’s voting in three by-elections. Best of luck to Bruce, Nathe and Shelley! I am holding in my mind the by-election victory of Green “Hannah the Plumber” – Hannah Spencer – last February. The U.K. mainstream media did not see it coming when a Green MP was elected in the strong Labour country of Andy Burnham, now UK’s PM. By-elections are different, as we know from Paul Manly’s first win in May 2019. Campaigning in North Vancouver is a heart-in-my-throat experience. So much is at stake and for every door that opens with a smile I am encouraged and then so nervous. Shelley Luce, her whole family and the local team are working flat out. We paused on Thursday afternoon (between canvasses) for a celebration marking the 20th anniversary of me becoming leader of the Green Party of Canada, August 27, 2006. Honestly, it seems like more than twenty years ago! We had a party that was like a family reunion. Adriane Carr, former Vancouver City Council member, former leader of the BC Greens, who was co-campaign manager for that campaign for leadership came and spoke, as well as Deputy leader Rainbow Eyes, and Vancouver Green Pete Fry, currently in a real contest to be Mayor of Vancouver, former candidates – dear friend and scientist Lynne Quarmby, George Orr, Dana Taylor and of course our local hero, Shelley Luce! John Kidder, also a co-founder of the BC Greens, led us in Stan Rogers’ “The Mary Ellen Carter” – “rise again!” We sang lustily hoping the Liberal and Conservative campaign offices – all within a few blocks – could hear us. Campaign manager, Naomi Hunter, also leader of the Green Party of Saskatchewan, reported volunteers from the bigger parties are amazed by what they call the “Green Army.” We sure are trying!

Most of the news this week centred on reverberations of Trump’s irrational and illegal tariffs and, in almost equal measure, his attention-seeking antics. Best to ignore lunatic proclamations to rename Lake Ontario. Time for some version of “Keep calm and carry on!”

The biggest impacts that threaten Canada come from the uncertainty. Actual impacts seem to be less dreadful than initially feared.

From The National Observer: “the new tariffs apply to only around five per cent of Canada’s exports south of the border, representing, according to RBC, about 0.4 per cent of total Canadian GDP and employment. …The truth is, a few days ago TD calculated the new tariffs could cut Canadian GDP growth by 0.4 to 0.7 percentage points in the coming year; meaningful, but not an economic cataclysm. And today, abiding concerns were likely dispelled by Canada’s latest GDP data, showing the economy grew in fact at a 3.3 per cent annualized rate in the last quarter, with exports up 3.6 per cent and business investment up 2.3 per cent. The US’s trade hit is landing on an economy that just had a very strong quarter.”

So while the Canadian media focused on the economy, the real news was the horror of the glacier collapse in Nepal, also impacting Tibet. Thousands have died. Maybe tens of thousands. People and whole villages have been washed away.

This is from The Guardian: “On Wednesday morning local time, a landslide of ice and rock resulted in a torrent of mud, water and debris bursting the banks of the Trishuli River, also known as the Bhotekoshi, which runs between China and Nepal. Homes, roads, bridges and power plants were swept away.

Experts at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said water levels on the Trishuli River rose by as much as nine metres in half an hour. The Lhende Khola River, a tributary of the Trishuli, was most affected, they said.”

Representatives of Nepal’s government initially thought the disaster was triggered by an earthquake. It turned out it was the other way around. The seismic event registering 5.2 on the Richter scale was caused by the glacier’s collapse. And the glacier collapse was caused by global warming. We have known for decades that climate change would cause glaciers to retreat, and eventually disappear. It was one of those predictable things we cited at Environment Canada when I was there in the minister’s office in the 1980s. The official statement was that if we did not act, we could see glaciers retreat by 2030. So, as ever, as emissions rose rapidly instead of falling, disasters are coming faster. Meanwhile the loony echo chambers of the denial team pump out fake quotes claiming time had proven those warning of climate disasters were like Chicken Little. None of it is happening, according the the local North Van Peoples Party candidate. I wish the climate scientists had been wrong. But there was little to no doubt among them forty years ago. There is no doubt now.

This week we mourn the loss of one of Canada’s most brilliant and prescient scientists. My dear friend Jim Bruce died last Sunday, August 23. He was 97. He was so sharp, remembering all the details when I needed to know things about almost any waterway in Canada. His work was extraordinary. He played a huge role in water policy, working on the Canada-US Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and flood reduction plans, back in the days when we had federal-provincial flood mapping. Jim played a huge role in setting up the IPCC. Back in June 1988, at the first large, international climate conference, “Our Changing Atmosphere: implications for global security,” chaired by the late Stephen Lewis, over 300 scientists gathered. Jim penned the words for the consensus statement, opening with this: “Humanity is conducting an unintended, uncontrolled, globally pervasive experiment whose ultimate consequences could be second only to global nuclear war.”

That Toronto conference, co-hosted by the UNEP and WMO, led directly to the creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (IPCC). God knows Jim has earned his rest.

Much love and sympathy to his whole family and especially his dear wife Ruth. It was such an honour to have been his friend.

And now we must redouble efforts in his memory and for our children and grandchildren. May God forgive us for the wasted years; for allowing the masters of BIG OIL to make their billions, robbing future generations in broad daylight. In Nepal and Tibet they scramble to reach people who may still be alive in tunnels under a mountain of rubble, while the criminals who knowingly increased the risks of fires and floods and heat domes plan their next world cruise. As John ended a recent Sunday letter- “Don’t let the liars win!”

I must close here and get back to work – reaching the voters of North Vancouver-Capilano.

Much love and thanks,
    Elizabeth

And P.S. Important book launch!

Book Launches & Celebrations for Listening Once Again to Our Great Mother: The Fairy Creek Blockades and the Life Story of Pacheedaht Elder Bill Jones, by Elder Bill Jones and Karen Moe.

• September 13th The Nanaimo Harbourfront Library 1pm.
• September 17th Russell Books Victoria 6:30pm

$10 ticket/ VIP $30 with signed copy of the book.
Reserve your spot!
Walk-ins also welcome depending upon space.

• September 22nd Saltspring Island Public Library 7pm.
• September 24th The University of Victoria First Peoples House 1:30pm

Reserve your spot!
Walk-ins also welcome depending upon space.

• September 30th UBC Truth & Reconciliation Orange Shirt Day Parade! Elder Bill is the keynote speaker! 11:45 am to 3:00pm, beginning at the amphitheatre below the clock tower (1956 Main Mall) on the Vancouver campus.

The post Good Sunday Morning! Issue #334 appeared first on Elizabeth May.

This was a roller-coaster of a week. This roller-coaster was in the very unamusing amusement park circus run by ringmaster Donald J Trump. We thought we had a trade deal… and as the clock ticked toward the midnight Friday deadline, the whole thing blew up.

Paul Manly, Green Party former trade critic, former Green MP and current member of Nanaimo City Council, North Vancouver by-election candidate Dr. Shelley Luce and I held a press conference on Friday. We addressed the brinkmanship of Trump’s self-imposed deadline and threat of 50% tariffs. At that point, we thought there was a deal to avert Trump’s outrageous threat of 50% tariffs.

Just after midnight Friday, we knew there was no deal. By early Saturday morning, I was asked by The Globe and Mail for an immediate reaction.

I sent them this:

As leader of the Green Party of Canada my reaction is one of shock. It had seemed we were close to some sort of deal, and the question for Canadians this morning would be, ‘Is this a fair deal?’

But now, the questions are around the credibility gap between what US officials claim and what Canada’s team is saying. What we know is this, Trump has violated the CUSMA agreement he agreed to in the last round of talks. In any question of credibility, I believe Canadian negotiators. We must stand firm as Canadians. And I take the Prime Minister at his word. He promised ‘no deal is better than a bad deal.’ Greens stand with Team Canada. If we walked away, then that speaks for itself. This was a bad deal. We stand with all sectors and workers impacted by this. And our efforts must be directed to protect those impacted by US actions that violate trade rules. Elbows up.

When I sent this to the Globe, the Prime Minister had not yet spoken to the media. Reporters asked me to share my thoughts after tuning into the Prime Minister’s press conference. With time to reflect and after working with Paul and Shelley, putting our heads together in the North Van campaign office, I sent these further points:

We support actions by our government, but we call for a more strategic response. Dollar-for-dollar retaliation is reasonable, but insufficient. Retaliatory tariffs hurt consumers. When you are in a boxing ring with a bully, a bully with an economy roughly 12 times the size of Canada’s, our push-back has to be targeted to where it hits that bully in ways that cause pain. It is time for strategic reserves for Canadian aluminum, potash, and wood products. Holding back resources the US wants will hit their industries in key districts the US President needs in upcoming midterms. It is time to stop expansion of fossil fuel exports to the US, as all proposed pipelines will do. We must be far less reliant on fossil fuels with their concomitant increased competition with US in Trump’s fantasy markets. We must boost electrification of clean steel production for European and other markets. We need to consider export tariffs on Canadian raw resources to the US, including energy. There are things we can do that will build our economic sovereignty. It is time to go beyond an eye-for-an-eye to a real shift in our subservient relationship with the USA.

As our national ‘elbows up’ mood grows, so does petition 7531 calling for U.S. Ambassador Hoekstra to be declared ‘persona non-grata’. As I write this, the petition hovers at approximately one quarter of a million signatures. It is open only to Canadian citizens, but citizens under 18 can sign.

I spent the beginning of this week in the beautiful Toronto riding of Beaches–East York. With our impressive candidate there, nationally respected journalist Bruce Livesey, we met with supporters and voters who are hoping for an effective alternative.

Back in BC by Wednesday, with the exception of one day’s commitment at home in Saanich-Gulf Islands, I am now staying put in North Vancouver-Capilano through August 31– Election day! I am really sad to miss Tuesday night’s concert in Victoria of The Guess Who and Chilliwack, Randy Bachman had even given me tickets! (Bummer! But I have to stay focused and every conversation with every voter counts!)

Thanks to amazing supporters in this campaign, local residents and folks pouring in from outside the riding, the Elect Shelley Luce campaign now has 200 volunteers! We had to beg and twist arms to get any all-candidate meetings in a snap August by-election. Community groups were scrambling and unsure if they could pull it together. I am very grateful that the North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce agreed to hold an all-candidates meeting, in partnership with The North Shore News. If you want to get a sense of our wonderful Green candidate I urge you to watch the un-edited youtube of that August 17 debate. I think you will agree Shelley won – hands down!!

And check out her campaign website to see how the campaign is building with endorsements and support!

Advance voting has started in all three by-elections. If you can, please reach out to anyone you know in Chicoutimi–Le Fjord, North Vancouver–Capilano and Beaches–East York. Urge them to use the amazing power of their vote and VOTE Green! Advance polls are also open tomorrow (Monday).

The single most effective climate message–the single most important message for old growth and salmon and SRKW–will be electing Green MPs on August 31!

Paul Manly recalled how after his win in the May 2019 by-election, reporters asked then PM Justin Trudeau how a Green won in an upset. He said, “I guess people in Nanaimo–Ladysmith care about climate.” Winning is not about the Green Party scoring partisan points. It is about showing the PM that Canadians care about the issues and pledges he has betrayed and abandoned.

With love and thanks for all your support, kind messages and donations. We do not give in to Bully Trump and we never give up in fighting to end our suicidal addiction to fossil fuels, For the love of our precious planet and all its creatures, we never give up!

Elizabeth

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Link to Householder Fall 2026

The post Elizabeth’s Fall 2026 Householder appeared first on Elizabeth May.

To whom it may concern,

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on Canada’s measures to address forced labour and labour exploitation in global supply chains.

More people are living in conditions of modern slavery today than at any point in recorded history. Forced labour, debt bondage, human trafficking, and other forms of exploitation continue to generate enormous profits by stripping millions of people of their freedom, safety, and dignity.

Canada has committed to helping eradicate modern slavery by 2030. Achieving that objective requires more than transparency and corporate reporting. It requires enforceable legal obligations, meaningful consequences for non-compliance, and effective remedies for workers whose rights have been violated.

Canada’s forced labour import prohibition and the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act were important steps forward. However, transparency alone is not accountability. Canada now needs a comprehensive human rights due diligence regime supported by enforcement, civil liability, and independent oversight.

The following recommendations are intended to ensure that Canada’s approach aligns with its commitment to eradicate modern slavery and reflects emerging international standards for corporate human rights accountability.

Recommendation 1: Eradicate All Forms of Forced Labour

Canada should not create a system that effectively distinguishes between forms of forced labour that will be tolerated and those that will not.

The objective must be clear: no forced labour, debt bondage, human trafficking, or severe labour exploitation should be permitted to sustain goods or services entering the Canadian market.

Canada’s legal framework should be designed to prevent and eliminate exploitation throughout supply chains, rather than merely requiring companies to disclose its existence. Efforts to combat forced labour should focus on protecting workers and preventing harm, not simply increasing corporate reporting.

Recommendation 2: Create Civil Liability for Failure to Conduct Adequate Due Diligence

A due diligence obligation without meaningful consequences for failing to meet it risks becoming little more than another reporting exercise.

Workers subjected to forced labour or serious labour exploitation should have a statutory right to bring claims in Canadian courts against companies that fail to exercise adequate human rights due diligence over their operations and supply chains.

Civil liability is essential because corporate accountability cannot depend entirely on government enforcement. The possibility of litigation, damages, and other legal consequences creates a strong incentive for companies to identify, prevent, and address risks before harm occurs.

However, a right that cannot realistically be exercised is no right at all. Parliament must address the significant financial and procedural barriers faced by workers bringing claims from abroad. This should include protections against prohibitive legal costs, mechanisms for representative or collective proceedings, and clear rules governing available remedies and damages.

This need is particularly acute following the elimination of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise. Workers should not be left without either an effective independent complaints mechanism or a realistic pathway to seek justice through the courts.

Recommendation 3: Establish a Strong, Independent Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise

Corporate due diligence cannot rely on companies effectively regulating themselves without independent oversight or enforceable accountability.

Canada needs an independent institution with the authority and resources to investigate allegations of forced labour and serious human rights abuses, monitor corporate compliance, identify systemic risks, and hear directly from affected workers and civil society organizations.

The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise was intended to help fulfill this role. However, it never received the powers necessary to do so effectively. Without the authority to compel documents or testimony, its ability to investigate corporate conduct was fundamentally limited.

Eliminating the office did not address those shortcomings; it removed one of the few existing mechanisms through which workers and civil society could seek independent review of corporate conduct.

Canada should establish a new independent Ombudsperson or Commissioner for Responsible Enterprise with genuine investigatory authority, including the power to compel evidence, receive complaints directly from affected workers and civil society organizations, conduct independent investigations, and issue enforceable findings or orders within its jurisdiction.

Oversight must be independent of the companies being investigated and sufficiently empowered to uncover facts that companies may have little incentive to disclose voluntarily.

Conclusion

Canada’s commitment to eradicate modern slavery must be reflected in a legal framework that prevents exploitation, holds companies accountable, and provides meaningful remedies to those harmed.

Important progress has been made through import restrictions and supply chain transparency requirements. However, transparency alone cannot prevent forced labour, nor can it guarantee accountability when abuses occur.

A credible Canadian approach requires mandatory human rights due diligence, effective enforcement mechanisms, civil liability for companies that fail to meet their obligations, meaningful access to justice for affected workers, and an independent oversight body with the authority to investigate and act.

Canada should ensure that no business operating in or benefiting from the Canadian market can do so at the expense of workers’ fundamental rights. The costs of forced labour and exploitation should be borne by those who enable or profit from them, not by the workers subjected to abuse.

If Canada is serious about achieving its commitment to eliminate modern slavery, it must move beyond transparency and establish a system that prevents harm, delivers accountability, and protects human dignity throughout global supply chains.

Respectfully submitted,

Elizabeth May, O.C. Member of Parliament for Saanich—Gulf Islands Leader of the Green Party of Canada

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The Green Party first proposed a National Climate Emergency Task Force in September 2023 in the immediate aftermath of the worst wildfire season in Canadian history, when over 18 million hectares burned, smoke reached New York and Europe, and more than 200,000 people were forced from their homes. The party warned then that such a body would make the difference between life and death. Three years on, that warning has been vindicated season after season: 2025 burned over 4.6 million hectares, and 2026 is now on a trajectory that fire scientists find alarming, not for its totals alone but for the speed of its escalation.

“On June 18, 2019, the House of Commons adopted a motion recognizing that Canada is experiencing a climate emergency,” said Elizabeth May, Green Party Leader. “We proposed this Task Force in 2023, after a season that shattered every record in the books. We were told, in effect, to wait. Canadians have now waited through three more years of fires, floods and heat, and hundreds of preventable deaths. Prime Minister Carney’s answer to the hottest year in Canadian history has been to cut the very departments that keep Canadians safe, while announcing new pipelines in the same breath as he acknowledges ‘biblical weather.’”

This year, what began as a far-below-average season erupted into a national emergency in the span of ten days. Area burned was less than half the ten-year average on July 7, and just ten days and over 300 new fires later it had surged past that average entirely. Canada has now surpassed three million hectares burned, with nearly 1,000 fires burning nationwide. Ontario is enduring the worst wildfire season in its history, with more than 1,600 First Nations residents displaced, and a firefighter has died in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, a stark reminder that the threat is no longer confined to the boreal west. At the peak of the smoke event, more than 100 million people across at least 18 U.S. states were under air quality alerts.

The worst may be yet to come. Environment and Climate Change Canada’s own forecasts point to above-average temperatures across much of the country through August, with dry conditions expected in regions including Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. Every scientific projection tells us these seasons will grow more frequent and more intense as the climate warms. Fire scientists have called 2026 a litmus test, noting that Canada has never before endured three catastrophic fire years in a row. That threshold is now being crossed. What was unprecedented in 2023 is becoming the baseline, and the country is still planning, budgeting and governing as though each disaster is a surprise.

Cutting capacity in the middle of a crisis

Instead of preparing for this intensifying future, governments are disarming. The Carney government has asked Environment and Climate Change Canada to cut its budget by $43 million in 2024-25, $63 million in 2025-26, and $91 million annually starting in 2026-27, amounting to $1.3 billion by 2030, with 840 positions at ECCC on the line. Public service unions have warned that cuts at Natural Resources Canada will decimate wildfire and flood tracking capacity, along with expertise on forest health, while cuts at ECCC will target the scientists, engineers and policy experts whose work supports weather forecasting. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s first budget prioritized $30 billion for defence and security.

The pattern repeats provincially. In 2025, Ontario allocated $135 million to wildland firefighting but actual costs reached $271 million by season’s end; for 2026-27, in the face of that record, Premier Doug Ford budgeted just $150 million. Frontline firefighters lack the crews and helicopters to respond where they are needed, and First Nations communities say they were abandoned without warning, support or evacuation plans.

“Thus far, the foundation of Canada’s disaster preparedness hinges on personal responsibility. But as the threats worsen with climate change, relying on individual abilities alone will not suffice,” said Dr. Farrukh Chishtie, Green Party Environment and Climate Change Critic. “Residents are told to prepare for 72 hours of self-reliance while entire communities burn, and evacuees wait weeks in shelters far from home. We warned in 2023 that Canada was unprepared for the disasters already arriving. Since then the disasters have intensified exactly as the science predicted, and the preparation has gone backwards. Reactive governance is not a plan. It is an abdication.”

“Look at what this government accomplishes when it actually wants something built,” Chishtie added. “On July 2, in the middle of a national wildfire emergency, the Prime Minister stood beside Premier Smith to announce a $35 billion, million-barrel-a-day pipeline. Weeks later, Enbridge broke ground on the Sunrise expansion in British Columbia, the first new oil and gas infrastructure to start construction under this government. The Prime Minister has now conceded that Canadian emissions will rise in the coming years. Ottawa can assemble provinces, corporations and billions of dollars in weeks for fossil fuel expansion, yet after seven years of a declared climate emergency it still cannot assemble a national plan to warn, evacuate and protect Canadians. We are asking the Prime Minister to apply that same determination to keeping people alive. An all-party, non-partisan Task Force takes the politics out of survival.”

What the Task Force would do:

The Green Party proposes that the House of Commons strike an all-party National Climate Emergency Task Force, with the federal government taking the lead given the national scope of the threat, working alongside provincial, territorial, municipal and Indigenous governments. It must include First Nations, Inuit and Métis voices from the outset, an urgent necessity given that the majority of this summer’s evacuees are from First Nations communities, and bridge Environment and Climate Change Canada, Health Canada, Public Safety Canada and Natural Resources Canada. Its mandate would include:

Universal, climate-ready warning systems that do not depend on mobile technology or the power grid, including standardized siren protocols, public education, and an amplified role for amateur radio operators. Cellular service fails, land lines go down and power goes out precisely when warnings are needed most. This summer, First Nations in northern Ontario received no evacuation orders at all.

National surge capacity for firefighting and evacuation, addressing the chronic shortages of crews, aircraft and trained water bomber pilots that provinces have acknowledged but failed to fix, and ending the practice of budgeting for the fire seasons of the past rather than the ones ahead.

Climate vulnerability assessments and adaptation strategies for municipalities that lack the financial and human resources to conduct them.

Low-cost, life-saving heat response measures, sharing best practices such as the revised BC first responder protocols developed after the 2021 heat dome that killed 619 British Columbians.

Protection and restoration of federal climate science capacity, reversing cuts that leave Canada blind to the hazards accelerating around it.

“It goes without saying that active climate mitigation remains essential,” said Chishtie. “Canada must end fossil fuel expansion and subsidies and redirect those investments toward renewable energy and adaptation. Every pipeline announced during a wildfire emergency is a commitment to more emergencies.”

“In 2023 we said this Task Force would save lives. Nothing in the three years since has weakened that case; everything has strengthened it,” concluded May. “The climate crisis requires us to work collaboratively, across party lines and across jurisdictions. We challenge Prime Minister Carney and every party in the House to embrace that spirit, strike this Task Force, and save lives. Canadians cannot afford another year of governments that treat each catastrophe as a surprise.”

–30–

For media inquiries or to arrange an interview: media@greenparty.ca

The post Green Party of Canada challenges government to strike an all-party National Climate Emergency Task Force appeared first on Elizabeth May.

This morning finds me in Sackville New Brunswick, home of Mount Allison University. Yesterday I had a great meeting with local concerned citizens in Moncton about the multiple threats to New Brunswick of Capital B BIG projects, and the night before I attended another in Fredericton. Citizens are waking up and organizing against the new US-owned LNG plant planned for the Tantramar Marsh area, a huge AI data Centre planned for Lorneville, the proposed Sisson tungsten and molybdenum mine, and more.

Just as I found in Nova Scotia on Monday at an anti-uranium mining effort in the Halifax area and on Tuesday at the AGM of a long-standing, well-respected international conservation organization, Friends of Nature, people are angry at their governments. Nova Scotia’s Premier overturned the moratorium on uranium mining in place since 1981. Nova Scotia had a long Royal Commission of Inquiry in the early 1980s that concluded with a 1985 firm recommendation from Judge Robert McCleave that uranium exploration and mining were incompatible with Nova Scotia’s existing industries and public health. Premier Tim Houston reversed that decades-old decision, one enshrined in law, without any public consultation. Similarly, he reversed the provincial fracking ban. As one local citizen pointed out “PROBLEM, we have a Houston!”

This afternoon, we head west by train at least as far as Montreal on VIA’s legendary route, “The Ocean.” Lucky for me, since John could not come with me, my dear friend Karen joined me so I had company on long drives. And the amazing Syd and Sandy Dumaresq, mainstays of Friends of Nature, lent me their plug-in hybrid! They take the train from Halifax today and as they disembark in Sackville, I give them the keys to their fully charged car and board for the overnight trip to Montreal. At least that is the plan!!

We received some great news on Friday. Likely in anticipation of the upcoming Toronto by-election in Beaches East York, the federal government has announced it will not support Premier Doug Ford’s plan to expand the Toronto Island airport to allow jet travel. It is a good sign the Carney Liberals can be moved by fear of losing a seat! The Greens in Beaches East York will have a nomination meeting soon. Two great candidates are vying for the chance to represent the Greens in the upcoming race.

In other encouraging news, the government has confirmed it received over 20,000 emails in response to the May 8th discussion papers that had threatened major rollbacks of environmental and Indigenous rights protections. Canadian Press reporter Nick Murray reached me on the road. His article was full of interesting points.

I prepared a submission for the Green Party and it is posted in full  on my MP website: Response to the May 8 Discussion papers: “Getting Major Projects Built in Canada” and “Strengthening One Canadian Economy through trade and transportation”

Now we must be hyper-vigilant for the legislated changes based on the May 8th papers still poised to be legislation in September.

And in lockstep with Carney’s “move fast and break things” approach comes Premier Eby with this announcement: Delta’s Tilbury LNG expansion project gets green light from B.C. government More GHG emissions. More fracking. How do elected leaders in this country fail to notice we are on fire? And they call it progress when they pour fuel on the flames!

This week my focus shifts to the Vancouver area. We have a fundraising event for the campaign to elect Shelley Luce in North Vancouver-Capilano on Friday night. If you would like to come and meet Shelley, please email us at <info@sgigreenparty.ca>. The writ drop is likely for August 25. That means advance polls will be over the Labour Day weekend. No time to waste in getting prepared! I will tour Pride at the Pier in North Vancouver with Shelley on August 1. The next day is the big Vancouver Pride parade. Join us! Vancouver Greens, BC Greens and GPC volunteers and leaders will all march together.

One last thing. This petition is getting a lot of attention. If you want to sign on, deadline is July 30.

e-7395

Petition to the House of Commons

Whereas:

• As Canada enters a building phase, Prime Minister Mark Carney asked for cost saving ideas;
• Since 1950, Stornoway, 541 Acacia Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, has been the official residence of Canada’s Leader of the Official Opposition;
• The main building has 19 main rooms, approximately 9,500 square feet (883 meters);
• Stornoway is served by a staff of three: a chef, chauffeur, and household administrator;
• The National Capital Commission manages this property, which is closed to the public;
• Canada is the only western democracy to fund a residence for the Official Opposition;
• This cost saving petition is deliberately silent on implementation.

We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to stop funding Stornoway as a private residence for the Leader of the Official Opposition.

https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Sign/e-7395

Thanks. Take care and more in your in box next Sunday!

Love from New Brunswick! and Via Rail!

Elizabeth

The post Good Sunday Morning! Issue #327 appeared first on Elizabeth May.

On May 8, 2026, two discussion papers were released by the federal government.

On May 12, I wrote the two lead ministers, the Hon Steven MacKinnon and the Hon. Dominic Leblanc pointing out the discussion papers had sweeping proposals with vague terminology and obscure, or no, criteria. I requested, on an urgent basis, a full briefing for all Members of Parliament. I never received an acknowledgement of that letter, no response and no briefing.

The letter is included here:

The Honourable Steven MacKinnon
The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc

May 12, 2026

Re: URGENT request for full briefing on papers released May 8, 2026

Dear Ministers,

I am writing to request in-depth briefings, available to all Members of Parliament, to better understand the proposals in the two discussion documents released Friday, May 8, 2026.

• Get Major Projects Built in Canada
• Strengthen One Canadian Economy through Trade and Transportation

In reading these documents, many questions come to mind. The language used is sometimes very specific and sometimes quite vague and without qualifiers, as in “some projects” or “certain projects.” Some of what is being proposed may make sense, but a number of key questions, some constitutional, require more detail before one can even prepare a response to the consultation. For example, what is a federal regional economic zone as it pertains to provincial resources?

As Parliament is not in session until May 25, and the deadline for submissions is June 7, I respectfully request briefings for Members of Parliament with adequate access to officials to be able to obtain detailed answers to our questions. Such briefings should be open sessions allowing accredited news media the ability to report on what we learn, assisting Canadians to submit their own comments. Rights holders from First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples will, I hope, already have detailed sessions available for their questions to be answered, as is their right. I request parliamentary briefings, one on each paper, take place in the week of May 25.

Perhaps you are already planning briefings, but the breadth and scope of the sweeping changes under consideration require fuller background and details of what is being proposed. Otherwise, the consultations are merely pro forma exercises.

Many thanks for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth May, O.C.
Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands
Leader of the Green Party of Canada

C.C:

The Right Honourable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada
The Honourable Rebecca Alty, Minister for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs
The Honourable Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Official Opposition
Yves Francois Blanchet, Leader of the Bloc Québécois
Don Davies, Parliamentary Leader of the NDP
Alexandre Boulerice, MP
The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, MP

Wisely, the government delayed the deadline for responses to the discussion documents from June 7 to July 22. Nevertheless, no details were provided and the threat of moving rapidly to legislate the changes put forward on May 8th remains a significant threat to the environment, climate action, endangered species and Indigenous rights.

The areas of vagueness and questionable constitutionality remain a concern. It is largely due to the vague, over-lapping and incoherent presentation of these two papers that responding to them as two separate documents is challenging. Hence, this one response is to be understood as a response to both,

These are questions that should have been answered in the discussion paper itself:

1. What is an “Economic zone?” How are federal/provincial areas of authority, s 91 and s 92 constitutional boundaries to exist in a unified “economic zone?”
2. How is s.35 of the Constitution respected with so-called “streamlining” of Indigenous consultation?

The “move fast and break things” logic outlined by this discussion paper is deeply concerning. I am appalled by the rollback of the precautionary principle. It is the responsibility of the federal government to assess its own decisions, especially in the case of big projects. 

In the book, How Big Things Get Done: The Surprising Factors That Determine the Fate of Every Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration and Everything In Between, authors Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner describe core principles to the success of a project. This discussion paper’s myopic focus on “build fast” goes exactly against the advice of their extensive research. 

Their principles for success include: 

• Plan Slow, Act Fast: Rushing to the construction phase is a recipe for disaster. Working out flaws during the planning stage is cheaper and faster overall.
• Understand the Unknown Unknowns: Prepare for unexpected challenges by actively mitigating risks rather than blindly hoping everything goes perfectly.
• Know Your Biggest Risk Is You: Over-optimism, cognitive biases, and poor psychological forecasting are the leading causes of project failure.

Flyvbjerg and Gardner also caution that failures for large complex projects are rarely normally distributed, but more often fall in the “fat tail” off the right of “normal”. This means that when projects fail, they fail spectacularly: e.g., 200-300% over budget, years longer than anticipated. The stakes are high, and we should treat every project with a keen understanding of this reality. 

This proposed strategy would give Prime Minister-appointed (not elected) representatives, such as Ministers, unprecedented power to exempt projects from legislation such as the Impact Assessment Act. Under the guise of ‘national interest’ – and its nebulous definition – the Governor-in-Council will be allowed to create Federal Economy Zones to “pre-approve” projects. These actions run completely contrary to our commitment to environmental protection and Indigenous consultation as enshrined in law. This cutting of red tape constitutes a serious slippery slope. As we have seen with Bill C-5, what gets sacrificed in this rush to fast track major projects are things we cannot afford to sacrifice: Indigenous rights, protections for endangered species, nature and human health and wellbeing.

At this critical juncture, Canada cannot afford to go down the same path as the US. The Trump administration’s gutting of environmental and health regulations to clear the path for large projects should be a cautionary tale. Moving fast and breaking things is a recipe for disaster, not a road map to economic prosperity. 

SUMMARY

The Green Part of Canada’s (GPC) view is that legislation to implement the Discussion Paper will seriously jeopardize achievement of the 2030 Nature Strategy and $3.8 billion Force of Nature Action Plan. Defining Canada’s environmental responsibilities as mere ‘red tape’ is dangerously short-sighted. Further, setting aside Canada’s international and domestic legal responsibilities to nature would be a dangerous misstep prejudicing Canada’s reputation and competitiveness, inviting actions by other countries contrary to Canada’s national interests. 

Nature is an economic ally not an obstacle. Nature is not an impediment to economic development but rather an indispensable support. Impact assessment is the ‘credit check’ before the loan is approved, combining due diligence and fiduciary responsibility, and the only way to ensure enduring prosperity of major projects.

INTRODUCTION

The Discussion Papers provide a weak sketch for the proposed legislation, which could threaten Canada’s most vulnerable ecosystems. The proposals in the Discussion Paper appear to be founded on the unsubstantiated assumption that all major projects proposed by the extraction industries or governments are in the public interest prior to any public review of their economic, social or environmental impacts. The reality is that many major projects are abandoned or rejected not because of burdensome regulation, but because they are determined following public review to be uneconomic, unsustainable or not in the public interest.

GPC demands transparent answers to the following critical and unanswered questions before any legislation is introduced into Parliament:

• What is the evidence to support the assumption that current environmental assessment processes are hindering major projects, and why is this being prioritized over strengthening due diligence?
• What happens when a necessary federal review takes longer than the proposed one-year timeline, and how will the integrity of the process be maintained without undue political interference?
• How will “Special Economic Zones” be determined and regulated to ensure they do not become zones of environmental lawlessness?
• What specific mechanisms will protect long-term Canadian environmental and economic interests from foreign-backed applicants whose sole interest is extraction?
• How will critical terms like “national interest,” “environmental standards,” and “public interest” be clearly and legally defined, and what qualifications will Ministers be required to have when exercising these discretionary powers?
• How will the Cabinet and Ministers be held accountable for decisions that place species at risk in harm’s way, and what recourse will the public have?
• The following sections of this submission address in more detail issues raised by the above questions:
  • One-Year Review: More Haste less Speed
  • Zones of Environmental Lawlessness 
  • Extinguishing Species at Risk 
  • Getting Major Projects Done Right 

ONE-YEAR REVIEW: MORE HASTE LESS SPEED 

The Discussion Paper proposes “Federal review and decision-making in no more than one year” through “legislative changes to ensure that federal impact assessments and permits reviews happen at the same time instead of one after the other.” “Proponents will have one year to submit their finalized studies and information.”

In essence, this proposal would set out in law the federal commitment to a two-year decision-making process for major projects referred to in the 2025 Speech from the Throne. However, the proposal to be legislated would apply to all federal projects not just major projects. 

GPC point out that ‘One Project, One Review’ has been the norm for decades, long before the Harper administration repealed the Mulroney era Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA), in omnibus budget bill, C-38 in spring 2012. The lie that projects have been subjected to redundant studies can be easily rebutted. Under the former CEAA the norm was “joint panel reviews” engaging both the federal government and the province most engaged in the project. In the case of the Kinder Morgan pipeline, the BC government (under former premier Christy Clark) offered its cooperation by not ever performing an assessment. Only the federal government conducted one.

GPC does not accept that the Discussion Paper’s fast-tracking proposals will result in more efficient timely decisions supporting sustainable projects in the public interest. Quite the reverse.

GPC asserts that nature must be at the centre of federal decision making—not an afterthought–and include mandatory impact assessment for major projects with environmental effects in federal authority. Canadians agree. A recent Ekos poll finds that 74% of Canadians support the proposition that large projects that could harm natural ecosystems should undergo federal environmental assessment. Most Canadians (65%) also agree that provinces with lower environmental standards should have to adhere to a national standard for environmental assessments. 

Historically, impact assessments have resulted in better, more sustainable, mines, pipelines, dams and marine terminals with greater support in Indigenous and local communities and civil society. In a few cases, assessments have led proponents to abandon projects that were not sustainable, were uneconomic or which faced deep public opposition.

Failure to properly assess projects too often creates high risks of disasters such as the abandoned Giant Mine, whose arsenic-laced tailings must be managed (i.e., kept frozen) at taxpayer expense in perpetuity if poisoning of Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River is to be avoided. Failure to conduct rigorous cumulative impact assessments of the numerous oil sands developments in northern Alberta has resulted in releases of toxic substances into the Athabasca River; a failure of any one of the many oil sands tailings dams could result in ecological catastrophe. 

GPC has two principal concerns with mandating One-Year Review in law. The first is that a One-Year Review requirement will not work for larger, complicated projects, especially those located in multiple provinces or that seek support of multiple Indigenous nations. As well, pressurizing reviews to meet a one-year timeline for larger projects seems a recipe for poor decision making. 

The second concern relates to project and impact assessment information, typically prepared by proponents. The Discussion Paper suggests, without stating directly, that environmental impact statements would not be required. The Discussion Paper is also not clear as to whether the one-year period afforded to proponents to submit their finalized studies and information begins at the time of the Notice of Commencement or at a later time. If the former, it is not clear when the one-year period for federal review and decision-making would commence. In either case XYZ submits that entrenching in law a provision likely to be breached frequently makes little sense from a policy perspective. 

Recommendation: GPC recommends that the Discussion Paper’s One Year Review proposals be subject to meaningful public consultation in advance of tabling of legislation in Parliament. 

ZONES OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAWLESSNESS

The Discussion Paper proposes “legislation to create Federal Economic Zones” which “would cover areas like transportation corridors, telecommunications networks, energy production and transmission and industrial regions.” The federal Cabinet would have authority to “decide that certain developments within specific zones would be pre-approved . . .” This proposal mimics the Special Economic Zones proposed under Ontario’s Bill 5 Special Economic Zones Act that authorizes allows the provincial Cabinet to relax or suspend certain provincial and municipal regulations for undefined “trusted proponents” of major projects.

As proposed, these zones of environmental lawlessness could be decreed by federal fiat virtually anywhere in Canada given the breadth and variety of areas to be covered by the Discussion Paper. 

The title of this section suggests that these economic zones would be enabled “through regional impact assessments” but this role of regional impact assessments is not mentioned anywhere else in the Discussion Papers. This is a crucial ambiguity given that regional and strategic impact assessments legislated under the Impact Assessment Act have not played nor are designed to play any such role. 

While the Discussion Papers and frequent press releases attempt to create the impression that this government respects Indigenous rights, the government’s actions suggest this is not the case. The discussion papers’ specific proposals appear to have been developed in a settler culture bubble.

Recommendation: GPC urges the Government of Canada to withdraw this proposal from any proposed legislation. 

EXTINGUISHING SPECIES AT RISK 

The Discussion Paper proposes to give the federal Cabinet “limited power, with a high threshold to be met, to exempt specific projects from the application of the jeopardy test for species at risk, but only if it’s in the public interest and if the proponent has made all reasonable efforts to avoid or reduce impacts on at-risk species.” This proposal would require an amendment to the federal Species at Risk Act and may have been initiated to allow increased oil/dilbit tanker traffic through the Salish Sea, habitat for critically endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales. 

Extinction of this population of killer whales would not necessarily be the only outcome of such an amendment. Other major projects referred to the Major Projects Office could lead to the extirpation of other killer whale populations (LNG, dilbit and oil tanker projects) and extirpation or extinction of other species at risk populations such as Caribou (Mackenzie Valley Highway, Gray’s Bay Road and Port, Arctic Economic and Security Corridor) and Beluga and Polar Bear (Port of Churchill Plus). 

Recommendation: GPC urges the Government of Canada to withdraw this proposal from any proposed legislation.

GETTING MAJOR PROJECTS DONE RIGHT 

The Federal Major Projects initiative (including the Building Canada Act and the Spring 2026 Economic Statement’s commitment of $280 billion in federal funding over five years) is inconsistent with recent critical research by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner. Their 2023 book How Big Things Get Done: The Surprising Factors That Determine the Fate of Every Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration and Everything In Between describes why many major projects fail to meet budget or schedule or are never finished and strategies for successful projects. According to Flyvbjerg and Gardner, principles for successful projects include: 

• Plan Slow, Act Fast: Rushing to the construction phase is a recipe for disaster. Working out flaws during the planning stage is cheaper and faster overall;
• Understand the Unknown Unknowns: Prepare for unexpected challenges by actively mitigating risks rather than blindly hoping everything goes perfectly; and
• Know Your Biggest Risk Is You: Over-optimism, cognitive biases, and poor psychological forecasting are the leading causes of project failure.

GPC submits that the federal government is failing to heed these principles in its legislative process as well as in identifying the 16 major projects and 5 transformative strategies referred to the Major Projects Office. The draconian and rushed Building Canada Act is a leading example of this failure given that no major project has been designated under the law since it was enacted in June 2025. In hindsight, what was the rush? 

Prime Minister Carney’s announcement that construction of the 800km Mackenzie Valley Highway would commence in the summer 2026 without an impact assessment is another example of failure to abide by these principles. Exxon Mobil’s 2016 abandonment of the Mackenzie Gas Project (also proposed for the Mackenzie Valley) saved the corporation billions of dollars otherwise expended on an asset virtually certain to be stranded. The impact assessment itself led Exxon Mobil to finally understand the insuperable challenge of burying a 1800 km, high-pressure gas pipeline through a permafrost landscape subject to rapid climate change. Early construction would have guaranteed project failure and financial catastrophe for Exxon Mobil (and likely Canadian taxpayers). 

The Mackenzie Valley Highway, if constructed without assessment, would also likely be a white elephant. Other federal major projects may also be destined for abandonment or to be white elephants at great cost to proponents and taxpayers in the absence of careful public review. 

CONCLUSION

We strongly recommend that the new Liberal government conduct unbiased and transparent cost-benefit analysis of any and all proposed projects. It must not be assumed that large and environmentally damaging projects are economically viable.

If there is no demonstrable business case, the project should be aborted.

Only projects with a business case should be taken forward with 

1. Full consultation with Indigenous peoples.
2. Advance review for climate impacts, threats of species extinction, reduced ecological functions, and a full review of viable alternatives, with potentially improved economic results as well as enhanced environmental protection and biodiversity conservation.
3. No federal public funds should flow to projects that reduce Canada’s chances of meeting international obligations to reduce GHG emissions and Kunming-Montreal targets.

Download a PDF of this letter: Response to May 8 Discussion Papers_EMayMP-GPC_EN_July2026

The post Response to the May 8 Discussion papers: “Getting Major Projects Built in Canada” and “Strengthening One Canadian Economy through trade and transportation” appeared first on Elizabeth May.

If you are near Victoria and feel like a good joyful march, BC and federal Greens are meeting TODAY at 10:30 on Government Street between Chatham and Herald. Pride parades are a new summer tradition. Toronto’s Pride was the first big one of the 2026 season, although the June Pride week events where I live in beautiful Sidney by the Sea were super. Next up is Salt Spring Island on July 19. The more the merrier!

Upcoming deadlines of note:

July 17 (this Friday!) is the deadline to apply to run for leader of the Green Party of Canada. Details here

And reminder, I am looking forward to passing the torch in November to a new leader, or co-leaders, but I am NOT retiring! I will be working hard in Parliament as a Green MP!

July 22 is the deadline to submit comments on two discussion documents released May 8: the federal government’s assault on species at risk, an expedited review of big projects, in the name of “streamlining” approvals of projects big and small. As I shared over a month ago, it was a big win to get the “BUILD BIG AND FAST” bulldozer to slow down long enough to give people time to comment. The original deadline of June 7 was pushed back to July 22. I think this was mostly thanks to Althia Raj writing in the Toronto Star that one suggested change to the Species at Risk Act seems targeted on the legal extinction of our Southern Resident Killer Whales. 

Quoting from Raj’s May 14 article:

“In a discussion paper released last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government proposed, among other things, to grant cabinet the ability to “exempt specific projects from the application of the jeopardy test for species at risk, but only if it’s in the public interest and if the proponent (of the project) has made all reasonable efforts to avoid or reduce impacts on at-risk species.”

“The “jeopardy test” is a prohibition on driving a species to extinction. “Not just kills the individuals, but wipes the species forever off the planet,” explained Environmental Defence’s Counsel and Ontario Environment Program Manager Phil Pothen.

“Several sources — including two within the government, who spoke on condition of anonymity — told the Star that the measure is a carve-out for the southern resident killer whales, in particular.”

These threats remain and strong responses are needed.

1. Getting Major Projects Built in Canada – Discussion Paper on Proposed Legislative, Regulatory, and Policy Reforms
2. Canada’s new government to simplify and accelerate Canada’s regulatory process

This week, blink and you missed it, the Prime Minister removed one more Conservative MP. Richard Martel, Conservative Quebec MP, was appointed to the Senate. His seat is now vacant adding another by-election to the political calendar. 

The number of by-elections since the April 2025 federal election breaks all records – we just hit double digits. If you are trying to keep score, there were three by-elections in April 2026, (two created by the PM naming Liberal MPs he did not want in his cabinet to foreign assignments, and one by-election was due to court action.) In the result, the three seats were Liberal after the federal election and they stayed Liberal. 

Now, because the PM has appointed Jonathan Wilkinson (who I believe did not want to quit Parliament) as ambassador to the EU, there will be a by-election in North Vancouver Capilano. I hate seeing Wilkinson go. Although he and I did not agree on everything, as Fisheries Minister, he created the wild Pacific Salmon Strategy, as Energy and Natural Resources Minister, and as former Environment Minister with Steven Guilbeault, he played a key role in establishing the now cancelled climate policies.

Of course, my dear friend former Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault will be officially leaving Parliament altogether, likely in August, requiring a by-election for his seat of Laurier-St Marie. NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice, who was the last remnant of Jack Layton’s 2011 Orange Crush in Quebec and the only NDP MP from Quebec, is already sitting as an Independent, preparatory to leaving the federal Parliament. He plans to run as a provincial candidate for Quebec Solidaire in the October provincial election. One Bloc MP has left Parliament to run provincially for the PQ, so that makes four by-elections for Quebec federal seats. One Conservative Saskatchewan MP retired (Cathay Waganthall from Yorkton Melville) and lastly, a very progressive, animal rights and climate activist, Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine Smith, made it official last week when he  announced he is leaving federal Parliament. He quit his role as Toronto MP for the Beaches East York. So, the clock starts ticking on holding a by-election there.

That makes seven upcoming by-elections likely before the end of 2026—four in Quebec, one in Saskatchewan, one in Ontario and one in BC.

Chronologically from the first seat formally vacated, the earliest by-election to be called, perhaps as soon as early August, will likely be North Van. My hope is that citizens concerned about the new pipeline announcements, upset about threats to the South Resident Killer Whales, who are angry about $10 billion being spent to build Roberts Bank, AND make it the terminus for a new pipeline ALSO to be built with public funds, will decide that the North Vancouver by-election is a referendum on these horrors. If enough people get involved, we will elect a Green MP in that by-election. Our candidate in North Vancouver will be announced next week, so tune in next Sunday morning to find out more about the future MP for North Vancouver-Capilano! Nothing would communicate to the new Liberal government that voters want them to implement the platform they ran on rather than the one Poilievre ran on, nothing would be as powerful a message as losing what they assume is a “safe” Liberal seat.

In very good news, thank heavens someone is standing up for the marine environment of Burrard Inlet. This week theTsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) filed an application for Judicial Review of the Second Narrows Dredging. 

The work in restoring the marine environment has been painstaking. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation took years to rehabilitate the area. After a century of industrial use, it was almost a dead zone. I was talking the other day with Nikki Wright, the founder of Sea Change, the NGO featured on the TWN website documenting the work. Nikki said Burrard Inlet is now “teeming with life.” And the BC government and Ottawa want to destroy it to more fully load dilbit tankers! The TWN/ SeaChange partnership is inspiring. Restoring Burrard Inlet with Treaty, Lands and Resources. Full disclosure, I have joined the board of SeaChange. Please support its work with a donation

Next week I will share how we best support the TWN in this court action.

As ever, thanks for reading my little weekly missive – and thanks so much for good wishes and shared commitment to Mother Earth, love and hope!

All together now!
Elizabeth

The post Good Sunday Morning! Issue #326 appeared first on Elizabeth May.