This was the last week of the second session of the 44th parliament. Elizabeth made it through her 11th year in parliament, while Mike and his team made it through their first session. Congratulations to us!On Wednesday, Elizabeth’s Private Member’s Bill C-226 passed with a vote of 177 – 146! Greens are now one step closer to making law in Canada for the third time. The vote confirmed that MPs across party lines recognize Canada’s need for a strategy to address environmental racism and work towards environmental justice.Parliament is scheduled to resume on Monday, September 19th. Until then, stay safe, and thank you for reading the Green Caucus Week in Review.
Parliamentary recap
- Elizabeth and Mike discuss their biggest hope and biggest disappointment from the session.
- Elizabeth and Mike discuss what they’ve learned about each other, and their greatest success during the session.
Question Period
In their last questions during QP of this session, Elizabeth and Mike both gave the government one last chance to respond to today’s keys issues.Once again Elizabeth warned that to have any hope of holding to 1.5 degrees C global average temperature increase, emissions must start to decrease before 2025, and be cut nearly in half by 2030. “…yet this government continues to approve fossil fuel expansion,” said Elizabeth, calling it “madness.“Mike lamented that the disproportionate number of Canadians with disabilities who live in poverty will continue to experience this hardship because the Liberal government did not pass the Canada Disability Benefit. Despite tabling it for a second time, no action was taken. “Simply introducing a bill does nothing to help Canadians with disabilities,” he said.
Key Moments
Elizabeth May: Who would care to explain this madness?Mike Morrice: The science requires the government to pick up the pace on climate actionElizabeth May: Repatriating Canadians abandoned by government in Syria is a matter of life and deathMike Morrice: Will Bill C-11 do more harm than good?Elizabeth May: Bill C-11 needs to clarify how it applies to users and platformsElizabeth May: Bill C-21 should not be rushed. We must get it right.Elizabeth May: The government plan does not preserve any hope of holding to 1.5°CMike Morrice: The government did not act on the Canada Disability Benefit when it had the chanceMike Morrice: Municipalities need help from government to address mental health and housing crises
Press Conferences
Green Party Announces New Deputy Leaders – June 21, 2022At a news conference, interim Green Party leader Amita Kuttner announced the appointment of Angela Davidson, an Indigenous land defender, and Luc Joli-Coeur, a businessman and activist, as the party’s new deputy leaders. They were joined by Green parliamentary leader Elizabeth May and MP Mike Morrice.Green Party parliamentary leader Elizabeth May raises concerns about the level of civility among parliamentarians (28:14)
Petitions
e-4028 Stop old-growth logging (closes July 19)e-3990 Victims’ rights (closes July 19)e-4006 Gender parity in the House of Commons (closes September 17)e-4025 Decriminalize drugs in Canada (closes September 17)e-4033 Ban Fracking (closes September 22)e-4029 Ban single-use plastics (closes September 22)