OTTAWA – Bruce Hyer, Deputy leader of the Green Party of Canada and MP (Thunder Bay- Superior North), issued the following statement regarding the passage of Bill C-61 the Act to amend the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas, by the Senate:

“With the unanimous approval of both the House and Senate to pass Bill C-61, the Lake Superior Marine Conservation Area is now the largest freshwater protected area in the world. At 1,000,000 hectares in size, the new conservation area will protect dozens of islands and much of the shoreline, marine ecosystems, fisheries and threatened species like woodland caribou and threatened lake sturgeon. It will pave the way for the injection of tens of millions of federal dollars and the creation of new jobs in municipalities and First Nations across the spectacular Superior north shore. The Lake Superior Marine Conservation area will become highlighted as a world class destination for ecotourism, including hiking, boating, birdwatching, fishing, sea kayaking, and nature tours. It dovetails neatly with recent federal and provincial funding announcements for the TransCanada Trail through northern Ontario.

The bill was introduced by the Harper government on June 2, too late to be passed by normal House procedures. However, Green Party MP’s were able to garner support in both Chambers to fast track C-61 in just four days, so it would not die on the order paper. Deputy Leader Bruce Hyer asked for, and received, unanimous consent in the House on June 18, and the Senate gave third reading on June 24.”

Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and MP (Saanich – Gulf Islands), concluded:

“This is a tremendous victory, not just for Greens, but for all Northwestern Ontario communities. It demonstrates that Green MPs can foster collaboration and consensus with other Parliamentarians. We will continue to strive for a Canada that works together. That’s what all Canadians expect and what they deserve.”

The post Senate Unanimously Passes C-61 for Creation of Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area appeared first on Elizabeth May.

By Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, Green MP Bruce Hyer

What is an environmental issue? However you define it, Harper is against it.

“Environment” means different things to different people.

To some, it is the natural world for which conservation values will protect sustainable populations and ecosystems for future generations. The roots of that conservation ethic go back to the late 1800s, and Gifford Pinchot, the first dean of Yale School of Forestry. The ethic embraces “sustainable use” of forests and fish and the renewable resources that have supported economies.

Then, there’s the more modern concept of environment, stemming from Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, published in 1962 and credited with helping launch the environmental movement in the U.S. The 1960s era of environmental awareness was actually more concerned with how human activity and new technologies-in this case toxic synthetic pesticides-threatened species, but perhaps more significantly, human health as well. Now that the publication of Silent Spring has passed the 50-year mark, it hardly is “modern” anymore. Our current use of the term “environment” has increasingly been subsumed in the media into one issue only-climate change.

Yet, climate change is not primarily an environmental issue. Sure, it involves the environment. In the same way drowning involves water, but we do not describe drowning as a “water issue.” Climate change, like drowning, is a survival issue. Climate change is an issue that can be described best as a security threat-although it involves questions of energy, economy, and the environment.

The harsh reality of our current political climate is that all the basic notions of the environment are under assault. We have entered a political era of “decision-based evidence making.” Stephen Harper’s administration has launched an unprecedented assault on government science. More than 2,000 scientists and researchers in the federal civil service have lost their jobs. Most of these scientists were working in areas of the “environment.”

All the scientists working in our national parks have been laid off. Fisheries and Oceans has lost all its habitat specialists after Bill C-38 gutted the Fisheries Act to remove habitat protection. The entire Marine Contaminants Program at DFO has been eliminated. The list is long. Mr. Harper is not just neglecting science; he is attacking any science or data or evidence that runs contrary to his beliefs or agenda.

Meanwhile, even though the only legislative change Harper has made to the Species at Risk Act was to remove the application of SARA when a pipeline is involved (also in C-38), still SARA is being more broadly undermined. Species at risk are going unprotected.

National parks no longer exclude oil and gas activity (with the tragic circumstances of the creation of Sable Island National Park.) This could be the thin end of the wedge for industrial activity in parks, in general. Meanwhile, parks are being privatized piecemeal, as is clear from the Jasper National Park “ice walk,” the Banff hot springs, and now a hotel proposal inside the national park in Jasper. Harper may have expanded national park boundaries, but he has endangered the protection of what lies inside the boundaries.

The pressure to clear away any regulatory hurdles to oil and gas expansion has led to the wholesale dismantling of decades’ worth of environmental laws and regulation. From legislation passed under prime minister John A. Macdonald (Fisheries Act and Navigable Waters Protection Act) to laws passed under former prime minister Brian Mulroney, (the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and National Round Table on Environment and Economy), nothing is sacred. The last eight years bear witness to a devastating reversal of environmental law in Canada. It needs to be said that Canada’s laws never were as strong in environmental protection as those of the U.S. or other industrialized countries, such as Germany. In the race for the bottom, Canada has no competition.

Nowhere is the abdication of environmental responsibility as disturbing as in the area of climate change. Harper first cancelled our legally binding Kyoto targets, then withdrew from the treaty, adopted his own targets for GHG reductions in Copenhagen in 2009, and has now declared those will not be met either. True, he has not actually declared his rejection of his own targets, but the new timeline for oil and gas regulations, first promised when John Baird was environment minister nearly seven years ago (The “Turning the Corner” plan), make it clear no real effort is contemplated.

We all use oil. We will for a long time to come, but it must be used wisely, and we should all seek to reduce our consumption as much as possible, and shift to more renewable and sustainable energy sources. The sad and dispiriting irony is that if Canada embraced real action, we will create more jobs and revitalize our economy faster than by pursuing the mindless vision that puts all our eggs in the bitumen basket. Canada deserves better. We deserve an energy plan, a climate plan, and the new industrial revolution of clean-tech and renewables. We can still get there from here. The first step is for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to get out of the way.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May represents Saanich- Gulf Islands, B.C., and Green Party MP Bruce Hyer represents Thunder Bay-Superior North, Ont.

Originally published in the Hill Times.

The post Climate change also a security threat appeared first on Elizabeth May.

The Monday, 15 October meeting saw members meet to review two new Order-in-Council appointees to the Department of the Environment . They were Bob Hamilton to the Position of Deputy Minister of the Environmentand Alan Latourelle to the Position of Chief Executive Officer of the Parks Canada Agency.  Each new appointee presented their credentials and answered a variety of questions asked by committee members.

The meeting on Wednesday, Oct 17 saw the committee commence a study on Urban Conservation Practices in Canada.  The witnesses were Virginia Poter, Director General, Canadian Wildlife Service, Department of the Environment and  Andrew Campbell, Vice-President, External Relations and Visitor Experience, Parks Canada.

Ms. Poter talked about and answered questions regarding the definitions and benefits of urban conservation. Mr Campbell described and answered questions about the mandate and benefits to Canadians of Parks Canada.

The post Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development (ENVI) appeared first on Elizabeth May.

“By the simple act of flipping a switch for one hour, Canadians tell the Harper Conservatives that it shouldn’t be lights out for our environment,” said Green Leader, Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands. .

Earth Hour, organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is celebrated internationally on the last Saturday of March.  Residents, businesses, and governments will turn off their lights on Saturday, March 31st, between 8:30 and 9:30pm to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change.

“This March is the warmest yet on record.  Our climate is already changing.  The need for action is more urgent than ever,” said May.

The newly released Harper Conservative budget has been roundly criticized for slashing funding to environmentally-related departments, including Environment Canada, Parks Canada, and Fisheries and Oceans, while continuing to subsidize the profitable fossil fuel industry.  Shamefully, climate change is not even mentioned in the budget.

“All around the world, citizens are crying out for action on climate change.  Unfortunately, the current government is bent on destroying environmental protection in Canada,” said May.

The post Earth Hour Calls for Action appeared first on Elizabeth May.

As the Member of Parliament for the area, May has been working hard towards this initiative and during her conversations with the Minister had been advised by him that this would be moving ahead.

“This is such an important initiative for the protection of biodiversity along our coastline.  It will also help us to meet our domestic and international legal commitments toward protecting our coast,”said May.  Canada has commitments to protect marine habitat under the Oceans Act, Migratory Birds Convention Act, National Marine Conservation Areas Act and the UN Convention on Biodiversity.

“Parks Canada, the Town of Sidney, the District of North Saanich, non-profits and First Nations have all played important roles in seeing this project toward fruition.  I sincerely hope this feasibility study has a positive result.  With only 0.1% of Canada’s ocean under protection, a new National Marine Protected Area is urgently needed,” said May.

The post May, MP for Saanich Gulf Islands commends Environment Minister for Park progress appeared first on Elizabeth May.