Good Sunday Morning!
What a week! Normally, if my week included meeting the King and Queen of Sweden and hanging out with Richard Gere and some Tibetans, discussing the importance of compassion, that would be a lot to share in a Sunday letter.
As it is, the week was so turbulent and eventful that by the time I got started on today’s newsletter, I had almost forgotten my high-flying moments!
Monday’s budget vote has been the subject of much news coverage, as well as a few Green Party emails. Still, until Friday, I had not written down anything like the full story. I was asked by my friends at Policy magazine to give them the “inside scoop.” Gratefully as I write today, I can share with a single click the beautifully edited (thanks to Lisa Van Dusen) fuller version of the tale. The Balance of Responsibility and Why I Voted for the Carney Budget
Almost immediately after the budget vote, the news of a possible memorandum of understanding between Ottawa and Alberta was dominating the headlines. Appallingly, it was being reported that a new dilbit pipeline to the northern BC coastline might be supported. Such a move would include lifting, or partially lifting, the oil tanker ban along BC’s northwest coast. BC Liberal MPs were deeply upset and told me in rushed hallway whispers and emails that they had been told internally that the news reports were not true. No doubt they were worried! A BC Liberal MP’s chances of re-election would be toast if the 1972 moratorium on oil tanker traffic were lifted. Media reports always focus on the 2017 legislation making the moratorium the law of the land by Justin Trudeau, but the oil tanker ban has been honoured for over 50 years. Back in 1972, Pierre Trudeau put the moratorium in place, thanks to David Anderson, who went on to become Victoria’s MP and ultimately Minister of Environment. Failure to know the history of things is a current epidemic. Dating the tanker ban to 2017 puts it in a file media minimizes as Justin Trudeau virtue signalling. It creates a more dismissive approach remaining in ignorance of the fact every provincial and federal government since 1972 has honoured the voluntary moratorium put in place in the wake of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Thankfully, I know more about the history of environmental policy in Canada, from coast to coast to coast than any other MP. When stopped by reporters on my way into Parliament, I gave short shrift to the idea that anyone could be so reckless. The next day Andrew Scheer told Parliament that US tankers use “the exact same” route that the Canadian tanker ban prevents our tankers from using. He was not lying; he is just ill-informed. As a kid growing up in suburban Ottawa and living in Saskatchewan, his knowledge of wave action in the Hecate Strait is, unsurprisingly, deficient. He has no idea that what he said is patently false. US tankers moving from Alaska to Washington State and vice versa, go west of our prohibited routing, west of Haida Gwaii, in more open ocean. Easily disproven, yet Liberal Ministers only had evasive replies to Scheer. They have no clue either. Hardly their fault. Deep knowledge of anything these days may disqualify one from politics.
(if you have Facebook or Instagram, you can watch this video primer on our coast. Sorry for those, like me, who cannot use these social media platforms.)
Meanwhile rumours are still swirling. My fear is that the government may have the notion of approving a tanker route leaving Prince Rupert, heading east navigating around the Dundas Islands. Again, no damn way is that a safe passage. First Nations and the BC government will fight it.
But within days, we had the ever-duplicitous BC NDP government offering up its “solution.” Energy Minister Adrian Dix urged the TMX Crown corporation to increase its capacity by dredging Vancouver Harbour to load larger tankers.
The toxic threat of dredging is clearly not a concern for BC’s former Health Minister. Thanks to climate hero Dr. Tim Takaro for sending me these quick points: There is no agreement with Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) about the disruption of their shoreline restoration program that dredging 6 metres, or 30,000 cubic metres, of sediment would entail. TWN has only recently returned to (cautiously) harvesting crab and shellfish from those waters. Stirring up the mix of heavy metals and other carcinogens from 150 years of industrial activity is obviously very dangerous.
Ever grateful this last week that there is at least one Green MP in Parliament. Oh, how I wish there were more of us! I will be heading to Kitchener on Thursday to campaign with Mike Morrice as he gears up to win back his seat.
As I feared, in Parliament this week we face the dreaded new Liberal Omnibus Budget bill, C-15. 600 pages of changes to dozens of laws, including reducing pesticide oversight and undermining toxics laws in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
Closing out my letter for this week, reporting a disappointing conclusion to COP30. After a dramatic effort by 80 nations to name fossil fuels and start the transition away from them, the COP shut down for a day due to a fire in the pavillion area.
When the smoke cleared, the cobbled-together compromise was appalling. Despite a few small steps, there is no mention of fossil fuels in the final decision. Next year, COP31 will be in Turkey with Australia chairing the sessions.
As I face my work, I am buoyed up by time spent with the Tibetan delegation this week. Compassion. Compassion. Compassion. It is hard work, but it is important not to give in to being so angry all the time.
Love to you all and thanks for being readers who care,
Love,
Elizabeth
P.S.
PLEASE sign this petition:
Dear friends of mine, married couple Sophia Papp and Zain Haq, were forcibly separated after Zain was deported to Pakistan for peaceful protest opposing the logging of old growth forests–the same forests that the BC NDP promised and failed to protect! Sign this petition to tell the Canadian government that breaking promises and deporting climate activists is wrong, and that Canadians believe in family reunification. It is open for signatures until January 3, 2026.