Good Sunday Morning!
Tomorrow is the beginning of an annual grueling push to summer’s parliamentary adjournment. After an unprecedented parliamentary two week break in May, we will push through June. When I first took my seat in the House in June 2011 and every year since, as early as May and typically for all of June, parliament shifts to midnight sittings. There is a one week constituency week in May, triggered by Victoria Day. And then the last push – known by the media as “silly season” begins. Working those long hours leads to widespread crankiness and hyper partisanship. But things are different under Prime Minister Carney. I sense he does not like being in the House and does not think our work there is important. While I do not lament having more time working in Saanich-Gulf Islands, allowing one-on-one meetings with constituents, it is odd to have had two 2-week breaks in March and April as well as in May.
I do not know how the decision was reached to have a two-week pause in Ottawa-based work in Parliament in May 2026. I do know that in the last two weeks, a massive amount of sweeping changes to Canada’s regulations and legislation have been launched through discussion papers. And we had the new MOU with Alberta. Massive changes being announced in rapid fire fashion without an hour of parliamentary discussion reduces accountability and transparency. I wrote the lead government ministers on May 14 to request open briefings for MPs.
I have reported on the various government announcements to you in these letters – two big discussion documents for 30 days’ review launched May 8.
On May 14, the government released a discussion paper on improving and expanding our electricity grid.
These discussion documents suggest legislative changes to come. I expect that soon after the June 8 end of consultations, we can expect massive omnibus bills. And given what happened last June with Bill C-5, when the Liberals had a minority and were able to bulldoze through legislation without adequate study, I anticipate a similar pace with their new majority with the intent to carve SRKW protection out of the Species at Risk Act, to promote fossil fuel infrastructure expansion while relaxing environmental assessment (now known as “impact assessment”) and drive “major projects” out the door.
Also in the two week parliamentary break, and perhaps most alarming announcements for climate, was the revised MOU with Alberta on May 15.
And just days ago on May 20, the Prime Minister and BC Premier met to redress the lack of consultation with BC about new pipelines across the province.
This report from the Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2026:
Prime Minister Mark Carney and British Columbia Premier David Eby have agreed to enter negotiations on B.C.’s economic priorities and Ottawa’s role in national development projects.
Carney met with Eby in a closed-door meeting in Vancouver Wednesday, shortly after the prime minister spoke to B.C. business leaders at a separate event where he outlined prerequisites for a possible pipeline championed by Alberta.
At the event hosted by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, Carney noted that the pipeline would only go ahead with the creation of the Pathways carbon capture project as well as substantial economic benefits for B.C. and “non-negotiable” consultation with First Nations.
“One of the benefits of actually sitting down and talking about these things, as opposed to litigating about these things across federal government and provinces, is that it develops a shared understanding, a recognition of what needs to be done, an understanding of why this is the right thing to do,” Carney told the Board of Trade before entering talks with Eby.
“And that’s where we’re moving between the two governments.”
The Eby-Carney meeting came after Ottawa’s handling of the national development file was repeatedly criticized by the premier, who has said Alberta should not be rewarded for “bad behaviour” and that Canada cannot work if “separatist premiers” get all the attention of the federal government.
Eby said Wednesday ahead of his meeting with Carney that part of friendship is telling each other the truth, including that developing the economy must be in line with protecting the environment.
He said that includes the moratorium on oil tanker traffic off B.C.’s north coast, that has been raised as a potential impediment to any new pipeline from Alberta to the B.C. coast.
“Part of the truth for British Columbia is that development work that we’re doing, developing our economy, has to go hand in hand with environmental protection for the next generation, including the north coast tanker ban,” Eby said.
“That is crucially important for British Columbians, protecting our pristine north coast, as well as ensuring we have that balance, and I know the prime minister shares those values too.”
Eby has been critical of the federal government after Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith last week signed an agreement that could see pipeline construction begin next year.
The proposed project has no agreed route or private proponent.
Eby has urged the prime minister to focus more on projects being advanced by B.C., a point he reiterated Wednesday.
“When I think about what I’m hoping for out of this meeting, it’s a fair share for British Columbia of federal investment that the prime minister is committed to for this country and a fair share of federal enthusiasm for the projects that we’re bringing forward,” Eby said. “And that’s why I’m glad that the prime minister and I have agreed to enter into negotiations on B.C.’s priorities going forward.”
Carney said it’s important to build in the right way, in partnership with First Nations and with an emphasis on sustainability, and the priorities of British Columbians.
He told the Board of Trade earlier that British Columbians should share substantial economic and financial benefits from the project and that Ottawa must consult First Nations under section 35 of the Constitution Act.
But Carney said that while Ottawa will “adjust to what people want” based on discussions similar to the one with Eby, it is essential that a resolution is found in a timely manner on topics such as the pipeline and others.
“Look, we’re the federal government,” he told the board of trade. “It’s a big country. There’s lots of things going on. Life’s about time management.
“But if things get stalled here, we’re going to be spending more time elsewhere in the country because we need to move forward. We need to invest at scale in the country.”
As Chantal Hebert noted wryly on the CBC “At Issue” panel May 21, while the Prime Minister may say he can look elsewhere, there is only one province between the Alberta tar sands and the Pacific Ocean, so the implied threat of bypassing BC to “spend more time elsewhere in the country” does not give British Columbians comfort. We have the BC NDP and Energy Minister Adrian Dix offering up expanding the Trans Mountain pipeline and using more heavily loaded and larger tankers by dredging Vancouver Harbour. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) has not been consulted about how dredging will undermine its transformative work in ecological restoration, working in partnership with local marine conservation organization SeaChange, restoring health of Burrard inlet, and allowing traditional foods of the TWN in shellfish to be restored.
Dredging is not innocuous behaviour. A century’s worth of industrial waste, heavy metals and pollutants will be disturbed and unleashed. And we have the Carney Liberals calling for Canada’s new “energy superpower status” to deliver more fossil fuel exports through more pipelines.
Carney makes it sound as though insisting on the “Pathways project” is synonymous with some sort of brake on increased GHG emissions. But the carbon capture and storage technology to be used on the “Pathways project” is unproven and – globally – largely a failure. As one satirical take on CCS has it, the only thing the technology has ever captured is government money. Thanks to Australia’s Juice media for these “Honest Government” ads. The YouTube video is six years old, but the facts have not changed. Apologies for the frequent use of 4-letter words in the video, but the real obscenity is the government lies in the face of the climate crisis.
I do like to focus on good news… and we did have some this week. It is a bit tricky to communicate. Basically, scientists now report that the disruptive impact of the quicker than expected uptake of renewable energy is improving the GHG trajectory. Of course, the push from Trump and now Canada to fossil fuel expansion can shift that trajectory to higher global average temperature rise. But here is the news: Worst-case climate scenario fades, warming does not.
The rapid rollout of renewable energy is helping to shift emissions trends, but expected temperature rises remain high as the UN moves to tighten countries’ commitments…. a scientific paper published in April says that doomsday pathway is now less probable.
The world is not heading toward the worst-case scenario “because we’ve actually taken political measures allowing us to move away from that,” French climate scientist Christophe Cassou told the AFP news agency.
The new assessment attributes the shift to renewable energy build-out happening faster than expected, with many governments adopting policies that have slowed projected emissions growth.
Dr. Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London, acknowledged while it is “fundamentally good news,” he urged that it “should by no means lead to complacency.”
US President Donald Trump seized on the revision to claim climate scientists had been “wrong,” fueling attacks on climate science from skeptics and politicians in both the United States and Europe.
The far-right Alternative for Germany used the new narrative to argue for a rollback of the country’s climate policies during a parliamentary debate on Wednesday.
Besides scrapping the worst-case scenario, researchers have also abandoned their most optimistic climate pathway. They warn that the world is now likely to temporarily exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels — the threshold contained in the 2015 Paris Agreement, as a means of avoiding the worst climate impacts.
The message now is clear. As emissions have not fallen fast enough, despite years of warnings and climate pledges, the world could still warm by around 3 degrees Celsius by 2100.
In other unambiguous good news, the United Nations General Assembly has approved a nonbinding resolution reinforcing countries’ obligations to combat climate change. Canada voted in support of the resolution.
The UN body voted overwhelmingly in favour of endorsing the advisory opinion issued last year by the International Court of Justice. That ruling said countries could be violating international law if they fail to adequately protect people from dangerous planetary heating.
“The world’s highest court has spoken. Today, the General Assembly has answered,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. “This is a powerful affirmation of international law, climate justice, science, and the responsibility of states to protect people from the escalating climate crisis.”
The US, which withdrew from the Paris Agreement under Trump, as well as petrostates Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, opposed the measure.
It is hoped that the resolution, spearheaded by Pacific island nation Vanuatu — which is already facing rising seas and intensifying storms — will strengthen the principle that governments have a legal responsibility to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The approved text refers to the phaseout of subsidies for fossil fuel exploration, production and exploitation, and calls for damages to be paid by those in violation.
Looking ahead to the coming week in parliament, I will be presenting the petition for an International Peace Charter, timed to coincide with a press conference in Victoria launching the initiative. Should you want to attend, the Victoria event will be Monday May 27, 10 AM at the Inn at Laurel Point, 680 Montreal Street. Speakers include: PriyankaKrishna KALIHARIOM, Executive Director, International Peace Charter, Miles Craig, Founder and CEO, International Peace Charter, Emily Lowan, Leader of the BC Green Party, and Frances Litman, Founder of Creatively United for the Planet.
In Ottawa on May 26 I will be presenting to an all party forum featuring experts from the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation from the University of Waterloo. Prof. Blair Feltmate with Senators and MPs from our all-party climate caucus will inform all parliamentarians of the urgency of preparing for extreme weather events.
Fortunately, I am refueled with a good dose of hope and love from the amazing Legacy event for David Suzuki’s 90th birthday celebration on Friday. I know some of you were there to join hundreds in thanking David and Tara Cullis for all their years of activism! The David Suzuki Foundation pulled off an astonishing event with speakers from Jane Fonda, Rick Hansen, to Al Gore, with significant engagement and respectful gratitude to indigenous leadership of the Musqueam Indian Band, Squamish Nation, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Namgis and old friends from the Haida Nation I had not hugged for way too long — Diane Brown, Guujaaw and Miles Richardson… as well as a star-studded roster of musical genius from Bruce Cockburn, Sarah McLachlan, William Price, Tanya Tagaq, Danny Michel, Sam Roberts Band and so many more including Neil Young! Neil was the surprise guest…and I am amazed to be able to share from the Rolling Stone website, his performance from Friday night!! Spread the love. Time to sing protest, resilience and resistance!
Until next Sunday, keep on rocking in the free world,
Love
Elizabeth