Green Caucus Week in Review 05/25 – 28

Welcome back to the Green Caucus Week in Review! After a busy week of constituency work, Parliament has resumed for a stretch of five sitting weeks before summer.

With the possibility of a fall election looming, the government must push through important legislation before the end of June.

Green MPs have been monitoring legislation and submitting amendments to ensure that the bills are strong and meaningful to their constituents.

Elizabeth will host a virtual Community Meeting for constituents of Saanich – Gulf Islands this Friday, May 28th at 7:00 pm PDT. See the end of this newsletter for more details.

This week and last

Paul responded to the Budget Implementation Act, Bill C-30. He noted positive elements in the budget, such as plans for affordable childcare and increased funding for the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. Ultimately, however, he stated that the budget does not adequately address today’s challenges. He called for more protections for old-growth forests and better post-pandemic recovery support for Canada’s small and medium sized business.

In adjournment proceedings, Paul elaborated on why GDP is a poor measure of success. He advocated for adopting a model that measures environmental and social factors in addition to economic activity, like the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI).

Elizabeth responded to the Prime Minister’s official apology to Italian-Canadians interned during the Second World War.

Elizabeth put forward 37 amendments to Bill C-12, Canada’s Net-Zero Climate Accountability Act. This is more than the NDP and CPC amendments combined. Last week Elizabeth questioned the Minister of Environment about Bill C-12 at committee, listing the keys areas where the bill needs to be made stronger to keep global average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees C.

In light of the most recent conflict between Israel and Palestine and preceding the ceasefire, Paul and Elizabeth signed a letter along with 21 other MPs from 4 parties (all except the CPC) and 2 Senators, asking Trudeau to do more to protect human rights and international law. The letter was sent through the Canada – Palestine Parliamentarian Friendship Group, of which Paul is Vice President.

National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

On Friday, Jenica responded to Bill C-5, which would establish a National Day of Reconciliation. She called attention to the recent discovery of the remains of 215 children buried on the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, BC. “Apologies, payouts, even days of recognition, will never be enough,” she said. She laid out how Canada’s genocide of Indigenous peoples matches the UN’s definition section by section. And she called for more action from the government: more work towards reconciliation, and more action on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Questions and Statements