Good Sunday Morning!
And thanks to the fairies and sprites, Queen of the May and Green Man who made yesterday’s festival of spring on Mayne Island such a joy. May Day on Mayne is an annual high point for me. As MP I have the honour – and panic! – of awarding children for best costumes and hats. I used to count on organizers for having the prizes, but the last few years I have been making them.. glueing feathers and sparkles to ribbons and such. This year – out of time – I went to the Sidney Dollarama… Oh my! Some treasures and some horrors. Some mom may never forgive me for the loud blaring horn! And for the first time my own granddaughter Lily, bedecked in butterfly wings (thank you Anne-Marie!) joined as the children gathered at the May Pole. Lily, at a year and a half, is too young to be helpful at the traditional braiding of the ribbons. But what a joy!
This week I had a wonderful visit with an author, new to our area, whose book has blown me away. We met at the annual Shoah Project of Victoria annual Holocaust remembrance service (April 12, 2026). Randi Biederman was asked to speak about the book and her journey with her late husband through archives and historical record to find any trace of his family’s history. Even the existence of his father’s three sisters was unknown to them. Nearly his entire family and much of her own were killed in the Shoah. Their search, assisted by random encounters and serendipity, led to the astonishing discovery that his father was saved by none other than Oskar Schindler. In fact her father-in-law’s name was the third name on Schindler’s list. I ordered the book through Tanner’s in Sidney – Schindler’s Listed – The Search for my Father’s Lost Gold. It is riveting.
Tuesday morning, having coffee with Randi and dear friend Susan created human rights bookends for my week.
John and I were on Salt Spring Wednesday night for the Salt Spring Forum (an astonishingly rich speakers series) to hear Alex Neve. I am honoured to have known and worked with Alex for decades. He is perhaps bast known for his leadership at Amnesty International Canada. We both attended Dalhousie Law School, and although we were in different years, that is where we first met.
You may have heard him on CBC Radio this year as he gave the 2025 Massey Lectures. And as Massey lecturers are required to do, his themes were published in advance in book form.
He closed his Fulford Hall tour de force with a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt from a speech she gave in 1958:
“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world… Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere.”
So it has hit me full force, like a spalsh of cold water in the morning, that far too many of my Jewish friends have verbalized a horrible reality – that they no longer feel safe in Canada. As I put it in a motion to parliament in April 2024. “That the House unequivocally condemn antisemitism, and in particular reject the idea that Jewish Canadians are responsible for the actions of the State of Israel.” It was carried unanimously.
But the rise in hate is palpable against many groups within Canada – against Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ+, Muslims, but without question particularly against Jews. It is a hate that lurks beneath the surface, like the climate changed induced “zombie fires.” Beneath the surface , too ready to break out. Recent actions of the government of Israel provoke but never justify it. I found myself wondering if other strongly pro-Palestinian Canadians (like me) are also very concerned that the horrific actions of the Netanyahu government are leaving too many of us on the sidelines – allowing members of the Jewish community to feel that increased hate and a lack of allyship from friends. The words of Eleanor Roosevelt – pierced for their accuracy “in small places, close to home..” I think I need to do more, but am uncertain as to what that might be. A small conversation among friends? A circle of discussion among Greens about how we create protection for our friends, with a loud message that it is our collective responsibility that all parts of the fabric of Canadian society – whether Sikh or Indigenous, lesbian or disabled feel safe here. Let me know if such a circle of respectful conversation would be of interest. And try to find Randi’s book and read it.
Meanwhile, as I wrote last week we were hit with a Friday consultation document on a much needed, expanded elecrticity grid. The Friday before, there were two massive proposals – reducing protection of endangered species and Indigenous rights..and this Friday a new pipeline announcement. I do feel confirmed in my realization earlier this year that our new Prime Minister, although unlike Trump in nearly every way, operates with these two Trump-like mantras – “move fast and break things” and “flood the zone.” So much is announced so fast that staying on top of it is more than most citizens can manage – ever. And as that includes most of our conventional news media, most Canadians have a very hard time being anything but relieved that we are not being ruled by a Trump or Poilievre. We are forgiven for not having the time for even asking “who is this Mark Carney- and what does he stand for?”
This is my quick analysis of the latest pro-pipeline commitment. Both the November 27, 2025 and May 15, 2026 MOUs are on the Prime Minister’s office website:
May 15, 2026
Canada and Alberta renew commitments to energy policies of the past century
OTTAWA—The Canada-Alberta agreement announced on May 15 shows a fearful lack of concern for the uncertainties and risks roiling energy markets today, and the many calls worldwide to reduce future economic risks by reducing dependence on fossil fuels. To believe that the future (2033 and beyond) demand for the world’s most expensive fossil fuel, Alberta bitumen, will make a new pipeline profitable is not only imprudent but also flies in the face of global business and political logic. The opportunity cost of forgone investments in renewables, so clearly now the energy sources of the near future, will be enormous.
The November 27, 2025 MOU between Canada and Alberta reversed the November 4, 2025 budget commitment that using Carbon Capture and Storage projects (CCS) to increase oil production (“enhanced oil recovery”) would not be eligible for Investment Tax Credits. That reversal led directly to the resignation on principle of former Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Hon. Steven Guilbeault.
The fiscal update of April 28, 2026 (spring economic statement) explicitly completed that reversal.
As November’s MOU was a low water mark for climate policy, it was unexpected that elements of that agreement were clearly stronger than the May 15, 2026 update.
For example, the November 27, 2025 MOU stated: “Canada and Alberta remain committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”
The May 15, 2026 update states a commitment only to “tangible progress toward net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”
The November 27 MOU withdrew the promised oil and gas emissions cap in exchange for Alberta agreeing to ramp up to a minimum effective credit price of $130/tonne by 2030.
The May 15, 2026 MOU pushes that pricing back to 2040. It also introduces carbon market mechanisms that may prove useful in carbon pricing through so-called “Carbon Contracts for Difference.”
Overall, where commitments are hardened since November 27, 2025, they are for expanding production and exports of bitumen from the oil sands, whereas commitments for climate goals and tools to reach those goals are weakened.
Today’s 1,000-word MOU contains many specific commitments, including elements of the national electricity grid strategy, further expansion of nuclear energy and methane equivalency agreements.
The May 15, 2026 agreement gives Alberta until July 1 to submit its specific proposal to the federal Major Projects Office, with Canada committing to designate it as a “project of national interest” by October 1, 2026. The pipeline would transport more than 1,000,000 barrels of oil per day, beginning construction as early as September 2027.
As of now, the pipeline route is unknown, but we do know Alberta’s government wants the pipeline to cross northern B.C. and require a lifting of the ban on supertanker traffic through the hazardous waters of B.C.’s north coast.
“If Canada’s prime minister cares about climate action, it is clear that Alberta’s premier is the more skilled negotiator. Over the last six months, Alberta has won more concessions from Canada. At this rate, Canadians may once again find a Liberal prime minister spending public funds to build an uneconomical pipeline, just as former PM Trudeau did. The reality of global capital is that investors are moving away from fossil fuels,” noted Green Party leader Elizabeth May. “While the PM cited International Energy Agency head Fatih Birol in his press conference, he notably omitted Birol’s warning that the days of fossil fuels are numbered. Our government is choosing to embrace Trump’s energy strategy, thus risking our economic and climate future.”
Last week I reported on the two discussion papers issued by the federal Liberal government on Friday May 8, 2026. As environmental groups dig into the specific language to over-ride endangered species laws, it appears the proposal may have been specifically designed to allow the extinction of the SRKW without violating the law. As an exception to my comment about most news media, hats off to Althia Raj who really does dig in! This article from the Toronto Star is reason to subscribe to get past their pay-wall.
Carney government proposal targets extinction protections for endangered killer whales off B.C. coast
The orcas have been affected by shipping traffic causing physical and acoustic disturbances, pollutants and declining food stock.
May 14, 2026
By Althia Raj – National Columnist
Environmental groups raised the alarm Thursday after the Star reported that a government proposal to give cabinet the power to allow development projects to proceed — even if they could eradicate an entire species — was developed with the southern resident killer whale in mind, while the transport minister said the government isn’t “consciously” trying to kill the iconic orcas.
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.
There are only 73 to 75 of these coastal species left in the Salish Sea. Southern resident killer whales have been listed as endangered in Canada since 2001. But in the past ten years, their habitat has been so significantly impacted by shipping traffic causing physical and acoustic disturbances, pollutants in the ocean, and declining food stock, that their population has declined to the point that their continued existence is in jeopardy.
“We’re losing reproductive females, we are not able to lower mortality or improve the fecundity — the birth rates of these whales — and they’re not recovering,” said Misty MacDuffee, a biologist at Raincoast Conservation Foundation.
Building a pipeline to Burnaby or Tsawwassen, or expanding the Port of Vancouver through Roberts Bank Terminal 2, would impact the whales’ critical habitat and require a Species at Risk permit. But since the Species at Risk Act (SARA) doesn’t allow the minister to authorize harmful action that would jeopardize the survival of an endangered species, the Carney government is proposing an alternative.
“What they are trying to do, they are kind of bypassing any legal challenges on these whales by passing these provisions that say that they can fast-track these projects without having to adhere to the Species at Risk Act,” said MacDuffee. “They are trying to do an end run around the Species at Risk Act and at the same time, they’re trying to tell the public how much they’re investing in Canada’s nature.”
“The legal protections that the southern resident killer whale have under the Species at Risk Act, and that they need and they deserve, are essentially being put aside to advance projects,” said Hussein Alidina, the lead specialist in marine conservation at WWF-Canada.
On Thursday, after this story was first published online, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon posted on X that “these reports could not be further from the truth.”
He said the government was “committed to building big things fast that connect and grow a strong Canadian economy, though always building in a manner that is sustainable to our environment, in solidarity with our workers, and in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.” He noted measures announced in the spring economic update, saying: “We would not take any actions that would undermine these important strategies and substantial investments.”
The Star outlined those measures: $160.8 million over five years to protect whale habitat on Canada’s coasts; and $91.3 million over five years to address “the potential for increased marine traffic on the West Coast as Canada embarks on its Trade Diversification Strategy.” The funding would support a regional noise monitoring and management program and address other threats to the southern resident killer whale population.
“And, in addition, the Star noted, the government said it would amend the Marine Mammal Regulations to increase the vessel approach distance from 200 metres to 1,000 metres for the southern resident killer whale to mitigate the threats posed by physical and acoustic disturbance from vessel traffic.
But in an email, MacKinnon said the “quarter of a billion dollars that we are spending to save this species (was too) deep in the story.”
He did not dispute the reporting. What he said was “‘false” is the notion that because “there could be a public interest test applied to SARA, should that come to be included, that we automatically would conclude that a species must be eliminated and therefore consciously decide that it occur(s).”
Nobody is suggesting that the government wants to kill the southern resident killer whales. But the actions the government is taking demonstrate it is aware that the projects it wants to approve will impact the critical habitat of an endangered species, and is looking for a way around the current laws.
““It’s a choice that they’re making, and that choice is to give up southern resident killer whales, and to say it’s OK for them to go extinct. And I don’t think that that really represents what communities here and people here want to see,” said Alidina.
The government’s proposal is open for public comments until June 7.
And with that, I wish you a Happy Victoria Day. Tomorrow I will be marching in our annual community celebration.
Much love and thanks!!
Elizabeth