Good Sunday Morning! February already!
I love to share good news! So, in case you missed it, a stunning climate decision was issued in the Netherlands by a Hague district court. It is one of the first to test climate obligations on a national level. Other strong climate rulings have come from international courts, such as the landmark 2024 European climate ruling and last year’s influential World Court advisory opinion. In this case, due to the colonial history of these low-lying islands, Bonaire, along with two other islands, St. Eustatius and Saba, became special Dutch municipalities in 2010, and their 20,000 residents are Dutch citizens.
The court ruled that the government of the Netherlands had not acted with sufficient urgency to cut CO2 to protect the Caribbean island of Bonaire. The court has given the government 18 months to set up a legally binding plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. The people of Bonaire, with the support of Greenpeace, brought the court challenge.
And in other good news, public pressure has worked to reverse a business deal–the purchase of a Florida warehouse by ICE from BC billionaire Jimmy Pattison.
The news coverage of Canadian businesses dealing with ICE prompted this news release from the Green Party on Tuesday:
January 27, 2026
The Green Party of Canada urges Canada’s government to take steps to act in response to the brutal excesses of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Ottawa
Canadians from coast to coast to coast are horrified by excessive violence, including the killing of law-abiding, non-violent bystanders and protesters, U.S. citizens, and others by the U.S. force known as ICE. In recent weeks, masked federal agents have carried out aggressive operations in public spaces, resulting in the killing of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, both in Minnesota. The Green Party is also deeply concerned by reports of kidnappings, detentions, and the violent targeting of civilians, including the detention of a five-year-old child.
We recognize that the increasing violence and escalation, while deeply disturbing, is primarily outside Canadian jurisdiction. However, there are concrete things our government must do to defend the rights, life, liberty, and security of our neighbours.
The Green Party of Canada calls for the government to:
- Immediately cancel the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S., which requires Canada to turn away refugee claimants if they enter Canada from the U.S. It cannot be said that the U.S. is a “safe country” for those seeking protection and refuge.
- Issue a travel advisory for Canadians who may travel to the United States, especially given recent reports from Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) based on warnings from the Assembly of First Nations. These warnings are that Indigenous peoples may be targeted by ICE agents who are poorly trained and more than prepared to arrest and assault people without any evidence. Indigenous people could be endangered by ICE.
- Take action to ensure Canadian private sector enterprises are not aiding and abetting this para-military threat to public safety in the United States. Given recent reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has moved to obtain Canadian-made armoured vehicles built by Ontario manufacturer Roshel, Canada must not supply equipment that supports or normalizes abusive enforcement operations.
Similarly, recent B.C. news reports indicate that B.C.’s Pattison Group may be willing to sell property in its real estate holdings to be used by ICE as detention centres.
The federal government must act to stop any transfers, exports, or procurement pathways that equip ICE with the tools used to violate human rights, including weapons, real estate, and tactical gear.
Greens believe that private-sector Canadian companies cannot support or deal with ICE while it represents a threat to the peace and security of our neighbours. Just as, by law, Canadians cannot support named foreign terrorist organizations, we should explore a law to place ICE and, potentially, similar foreign law enforcement organizations with a serious record of human rights abuses on a list of entities with which Canadians must not engage.
“Canada has an out-sized role in the world—as a democracy that defends human rights and fairness. We must protect vulnerable people, not turn them away, and not profit from systems that brutalize the innocent and non-violent,” said Green Party leader Elizabeth May.
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On Wednesday, there was a remarkable protest across the street from the US Embassy in Ottawa. What made it remarkable was that it was organized by one concerned citizen. A nurse himself, and the same age as Alex Pretti, he emailed others–nurses and nurses’ unions, the Canadian Labour Congress, the local Ottawa South Green party and me, asking people to join him at noon for a vigil. Marlene Wells, director of the political hub for the Green Party phoned him to get the details for the daily news advisory of my public events. She told me, “I don’t think he has ever organized anything. I think we are going to be the only media to notice, God bless his heart, he’s just doing it.” John and I joined the group in the freezing cold and light snow. It had been a long time since I joined in singing “We Shall Overcome.” Young nursing students showed up, almost shy. And said they had never done anything like this and could not stay long. They were holding flowers and rolled up posters. I asked if I could see their posters. They were so sweet, and said, “They are not very good…” Handwritten calls for Freedom and Justice. And they came to stand in the cold. Another woman brought homemade chocolate chip cookies. And thanks to Marlene’s notice, a few reporters showed up too.
I am including this 17-minute podcast interviewing me about our calls for action, thanks to Energimedia and host Markham Hislop.
BC Green leader Emily Lowan’s call for a boycott against Pattison Group made it to CBC TV The National!
By Friday, Pattison announced the sale was off!
It is always good news when public pressure works. In the scheme of things, this may be a small win, but a win nonetheless!
In other news this week the Prime Minister met with the premiers. Although Alberta separatists being encouraged by Trump officials to break up Canada was not a main topic of discussion among the premiers, it dominated the media coverage.
It was reported last week by BBC News that “US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has weighed in on a separatist movement in Alberta, saying the western Canadian province is a ‘natural partner for the US’.
“Alberta has a wealth of natural resources, but they won’t let them build a pipeline to the Pacific,” Bessent told an American right wing commentator in an interview on Thursday.
“I think we should let them come down into the US, and Alberta is a natural partner for the US. They have great resources. The Albertans are very independent people.”
Following that unprecedented intervention into Canadian domestic affairs by senior US government officials, it was confirmed that representatives of the “Alberta Prosperity Project” had been in touch with US government representatives, pursuing the possibility of a $500 billion line of credit for an independent Alberta.
BC Premier David Eby did not mince words, calling such efforts “treason.”
… “to go to a foreign country and to ask for assistance in breaking up Canada. There’s an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is treason,” said Eby.
That ramped up the heat in the media questions. Premier Smith did “mince” words as did the Prime Minister. Neither would criticize the Alberta separatists, but they would not criticize the Trump administration either. Smith framed her response as trusting in the US government to respect Canadian sovereignty. And Carney completely agreed with Premier Smith. Very good Boy Scout responses. But this is still the bully Carney called out in Davos. After calling our Prime Minister “Governor Carney”, draping the US flag over Canada in his social media graphics, I really doubt we can count on the US to respect Canada’s sovereignty. It is certainly a good example of the winning entry when, years ago, CBC Morningside and Peter Gzowski asked us to complete the phrase “as Canadian as…” And the winner was “as Canadian as possible under the circumstances.”
As to whether the word “treason” is appropriate,
The Criminal Code,
s 46, 2) defines treason as “Every one commits treason who, in Canada,
- (a) uses force or violence for the purpose of overthrowing the government of Canada or a province;
- (b) without lawful authority, communicates or makes available to an agent of a state other than Canada, military or scientific information or any sketch, plan, model, article, note or document of a military or scientific character that he knows or ought to know may be used by that state for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or defence of Canada;
- (c) conspires with any person to commit high treason or to do anything mentioned in paragraph (a);
- (d) forms an intention to do anything that is high treason or that is mentioned in paragraph (a) and manifests that intention by an overt act; or
- (e) conspires with any person to do anything mentioned in paragraph (b) or forms an intention to do anything mentioned in paragraph (b) and manifests that intention by an overt act.
So, clearly going to Washington to beg for billions to break up the country is not Criminal Code treason.
On the other hand, it is certainly anti-Canadian, treacherous and to be condemned. But whose example were they following?
It surprises me that no one in the media has raised Danielle Smith’s conduct in going to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the Emperor’s ring before his inauguration. As documented in this CBC story, while the rest of us, federal party leaders across party lines, had signed up for “Team Canada,” Premier Smith visited Trump to try to cut a better deal for Alberta, and the devil take the hindmost for the other provinces.
In these circumstances, I think it unwise, as Danielle Smith says, to demonize any element within Alberta. But that does not apply to tempering our language toward the Trump administration. Imagine if in the Quebec referendum debate, separatists had been encouraged by the French government. Canada’s prime minister would have rightly denounced foreign interference.
The 1967 breach of protocol by Charles deGaulle when he proclaimed “Vive le Quebec Libre” in Montreal was immediately and strenuously rebuked by prime minister Lester B. Pearson.
The Quebec separation referendum was nearly 40 years later, in 1995. But imagine such a breach when the prospect of a separation referendum was live and current, as it is now, with an Alberta petition campaign underway. A senior Trump official is suggesting Alberta would be a great part of the US! It deserves a much stronger response from Canada. We can ignore the Alberta Prosperity folks and work harder to make the case that “My Canada includes Alberta” just as we did across Canada that Canada loves Quebec. Where are voices of Alberta MPs in response to this very real threat?
Danielle Smith may not be a separatist, but she sure is playing footsie with them. She reminds me of hapless former UK prime minister David Cameron. He thought he could mollify the small anti-EU fringe within his party by promising a referendum. He was confident, based on the polling, that the UK would stay within the EU. We all know what happened. The forces for Brexit were ground zero for the use of social media and algorithms to drive a campaign of disinformation and lies that misled UK voters into voting for Brexit.
Two films help us remember and learn from that history.
Netflix produced a great film, part documentary and satirical dramatic re-creation, with Benedict Cumberbatch as chief architect Dominic Cummings–Brexit:The Uncivil War.
it is no longer on Netflix, but is so good, I found it on YouTube for you.
And then there is a broader look across many countries–pure documentary–Netflix’s The Great Hack. It is well worth watching. Educational and terrifying.
We need to be informed and demand that any and all elections–including referendums at the provincial level–have strong controls against foreign interference and on-line manipulation. This is not a moment to look away, cross our fingers, and hope everything in Alberta just works out fine.
As I leave you to face tomorrow and Groundhog Day, I have included some links to my work this week in Ottawa.
Have a great week! Many thanks for all you do, in all the ways, big and small, to stand up for what’s right, for Canada and for the planet where we live!
Love,
Elizabeth
Here’s a summary of my work in Parliament this week:
Speech on Canada-Indonesia trade deal, C-18:
Question about laying off emergency oil spill response workers in Question Period: