Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands, was on hand to say a few words in support of this new initiative.

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I have two big events to talk about in my riding. The first is that we all, or many of us, are wearing purple today to celebrate Purple Day to increase awareness of epilepsy and Parkinson’s. I will leave it to my colleague, the member for Halifax West, who I am sure will tell us more about it.

On Saturday, March 23, we had a plane pull in Saanich—Gulf Islands, out at the Sidney airport, to raise money for this good cause.

I also want to shine a light on a great idea that came from the Sidney by the Sea town council. It is called Glow As You Go, and the goal is to make sure pedestrians are well lit so that motorists can see them. This little reflective armband was distributed in the town through a joint venture. It involved the RCMP, local business, Slegg Lumber, Sidney by the Sea town council and ICBC. It was enthusiastically received, and I urge other members to try it in their communities.

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Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands, was on hand to say a few words in support of this new initiative.

The post Town Of Sidney’s “Glow as you Go” Campaign Focuses on Pedestrian Safety appeared first on Elizabeth May.

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The first was the celebration of the 100th birthday of our local newspaper. The Peninsula News Review has been published since 1912, when it was first called the Sidney Review. It is now published by Black Press. It covers communities for the Saanich Peninsula, and after 100 years it is doing a great job.

The second celebration, and I had the great honour of participating in this, was the 60th anniversary of the incorporation of the town where I live. We call it Sidney by the Sea. It is absolutely fantastic. I invite members to come visit. This was the 60th anniversary of its incorporation as a village. Everybody came out. We had a fantastic time at Beacon Park. We cut the cake and served it up for everyone.

I wish a happy birthday to the Peninsula News Review and a happy birthday to Sidney.

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Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands, delivers the keynote speech to the Green Party’s 2012 National Convention, held in Sidney, British Columbia.

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Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, I would like all hon. members to maintain a critical and open mind on the subject of the superiority of Summerland as a centre for plant virology. Very good science is being done there. The Centre for Plant Health in Sidney and, of course, it is in Saanich—Gulf Islands, but it was placed on Vancouver Island in 1965. I have an email here from one of the virologists who was involved at the time confirming that it was specific to the importation of plant material that represented threats, such as the plum pox virus, which is the kind of thing we do not want in the centre of a fruit growing area. Ideally, we want it on an island so if there is an accident we are not contaminating an economic region of significance and importance in terms of fruit growing as we know in terms of vineyards and other fruit.

Now I am not saying that we cannot do good science in many places but I am hoping that members will look at letters from scientists, as I am able to present them to this House.

Bob Zimmer: Mr. Speaker, I would like to respect the hon. member’s comments and the fact that it is moving from her home riding. I understand there are some concerns she has. It is our responsibility as government, though, to look for efficiencies and to make a program work at a better price, essentially, to save taxpayer money. That is the bottom line. The same rigorous standards will be there whether they are in Sidney or in Summerland, so we look at efficiencies that way.

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This year, a celebration is planned at Lillian Hoffar Park, North  Saanich, starting at 11am, hosted by the Town of Sidney, the District of North Saanich, and Member of Parliament Elizabeth May.

Green  Party Leader and Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands will be  presenting a private member’s bill asking for October 15th to be  declared National All Buffleheads Day in honour of the duck.

“The Bufflehead is known as the Spirit Duck because they are such  spritely little things.  They are so punctual that when you see them  arrive, you know the date instantly.  However, with climatic shifts  occurring, we need to keep a close eye on this little duck,” said May.

Naturalists are watching to see if the timing of the Bufflehead  migration changes, as it may provide a signal of climate change.  In  Britain, scientists have already noted changes in arrival and departure  dates of migrant birds which they attribute to the changing climate.

“With a precise timeline like we see with the Bufflehead, it really  brings home how carefully synchronized nature’s cycles are,” said May. “The Bufflehead has been very stable over many decades.  If we start  seeing changes in its migration patterns, it will be an indicator of  environmental change that deserves notice.”

Within May’s riding, the District of North Saanich and the Town of  Sidney have both long worked hard to protect Bufflehead habitat in Shoal Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary, established in 1931.  The duck is  part of the official crest of the Town of Sidney.  Sidney and North  Saanich have already proclaimed Oct. 15 to be All Bufflehead’s Day.

The Bufflehead’s small size is an adaptation to fit into the vacant  nest cavities of one species of woodpecker, the Flicker, which makes its home in Aspen trees. Thus, Buffleheads have evolved with and are  dependent on the Flicker.  Its speedy movements, constant activity, and  “water-skiing” posture during mating make this important species  particularly endearing and a delight to watch.  The Bufflehead is unique to North America, and has been called a truly Canadian duck.

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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.

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British Columbia is committed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 33% by 2020 against 2007 levels. (I have mentioned before in these pages the problem of constantly shifting ‘base years,’ see box this page.) I attended sessions in Central Saanich and for the Town of Sidney, where I live, designed to gauge public support for various reduction measures. One inevitable conclusion of these sessions is that there is a limited amount any one municipality can do by itself. The best, and only, way to substantially reduce emissions is to develop regional solutions.

The bulk of greenhouse gas emissions in our region is from transportation. While the average contribution from transportation to GHG across Canada is 30%, in the CRD the figure is (depending on sources) 52-60%—excluding emissions from the air travel and ferries. For the Town of Sidney, on road transportation contributes 71% of total emissions.

The reasons for this figure are both due to the good news that there are few emissions from other sources (making transportation figures a higher percentage of the whole) and to the bad news of car dependence. There is no coal-fired, electric power station looming over town as in the community where I used to live. Here, cars and trucks are the main emitters. Other reasons relate to the lack of affordable local housing forcing many who work in Sidney, particularly in health care and other services, to live elsewhere and commute into town.

Looking At The Regional Picture

On the evening of April 6, the Saanich and Gulf Island Greens sponsored a public forum on greening transportation. The range of smart options and local energy devoted to this issue is encouraging.

At the level of the largest geographical spread, Vancouver Island, Judith Sayers, Chair of the Island Corridor Foundation, UVic Law professor, and former Chief of the Hupacasath First Nation, presented what would be possible with an investment in expanding options on the existing rail line corridor. Thanks to Island Corridor Foundation’s enormous effort the entire 290km of rail line, covering 650 hectares of land base, including railway stations and other equipment was transferred from CP Rail and Rail America to the Island Corridor Foundation.

With a reasonable and, in public infrastructure terms, small investment an enhanced rail-line and passenger service from Langford to Victoria could take 280,000 passenger vehicles off the road every year. The Island Corridor Foundation is also working to move more goods from truck and onto the rails. The federal government failed to use the Economic Stimulus Package to invest in rail, but the Island Corridor Foundation is hoping for provincial funds, potentially future federal money and local fundraising. (Donations to the Island Corridor Foundation are tax deductible.)

Light rail is the next level of transit service. Irwin Henderson, President of the Island Transformations Organization (www.islandtransformations.org), former chair of Victoria’s Advisory Planning Commission, presented a compelling argument for light rail in the CRD. Erwin presented a comprehensive vision of an electric rapid light rail system serving the Capital Regional District, with lines to Sooke and Langford and up to the ferries and Sidney. The investment in light rail has been shown in city and town alike to pay for itself.

The densification of cities is enhanced as shop-owners and condo developers actually strive to locate alongside light rail, in direct and inverse proportion to how hard they strive to avoid multiple lanes of roadway. Pedestrian friendly, the presence of light rail improves quality of life. The same little light railcar that moves people through city blocks can pick up speed and serve the longer hauls to airport and ferry. All on a far smaller footprint (in carbon and acreage) than the highway option.

The light rail option is also compatible with bus service. Buses in this vision operate along feeder routes, bringing people to their light rail station.

What brings people to their buses? Well, of course improved pedestrian and bicycling options. John Luton, Victoria City Councillor, long time community activist for enhancements to cycling and walking infrastructure, ensured that bicycling was an indispensible part of this vision. Victoria is already the No1 municipality in Canada for bike ridership, but much more could be accomplished with more secure bike lanes, better access to bike parking (especially in Sidney!) and intermodal connections, allowing bikes to be carried easily by bus, train and on future light rail. At the forum, Guy Dauncey, President of the BC Sustainable Energy Association (www.earthfuture.com), brought it all together in the vision of fossil fuel-free transit. He lamented the poor choice in putting $24 million into the unnecessary McTavish Road overpass when so much needs to be done in improving sustainable transit choices.

As in so many areas of greening the economy, the options before us provide jobs, better quality of life, healthier lifestyles, cleaner air and greater efficiency. Clearly citizens in this region ‘get it!’ We need political leadership. We need to have representation that knows that it is not a question of whether we can afford these transit options. We must recognize that we cannot afford not to invest in green transit!

Elizabeth E May, OC is co-author of Global Warming for Dummies and leader of the Green Party of Canada. www.greenparty.ca.

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There is always a certain amount of last minute media coverage about such events, but very little context setting. The fact is that Canada and virtually every other nation on earth signed and ratified the Framework Convention in 1992. It committed the world to reductions in greenhouse gases such that their build up in the atmosphere would be halted before they could become ‘dangerous.’ After seventeen years of further meetings and negotiations (including the 1997 meeting in Kyoto and the protocol produced there) we are rapidly approaching the danger zone. We are already experiencing the loss of millions of square kilometres of Arctic ice, the retreat of glaciers around the world, persistent drought in much of the world, unprecedented shifts in rainfall patterns and sea level rise.

There are many excuses and reasons for the failure to act over the last two decades. Some nations, mostly within the European Union, have achieved serious reductions. They have done so with improvements in their economy.

Germany is rapidly taking over the world market as provider of solar, wind and other green economy technologies, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. China is catching up, this year investing $600 billion in green technologies. Sweden has de-coupled carbon reductions from economic growth, growing its economy while cutting greenhouse gases. Yet, globally we have only taken baby steps toward the goal of avoiding dangerous levels of greenhouse gases.

The prospects for Copenhagen look better now than they did one month ago. We may owe Stephen Harper and his government a debt of gratitude. Harper’s pronouncement after the APEC summit that the negotiations were doomed to failure may have been the catalyst for a number of significant rescue attempts.

Significantly, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Brazilian President Lula teamed up to make a compelling appeal to industrialized and developing nations to take on meaningful targets. Brazil committed to over 30% reductions in GHG below 1990 levels by 2020 through arresting deforestation. Lula noted, however, that to make this target, Brazil needed financial assistance from the industrialized world.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon took the unusual step of attending the Commonwealth summit to plead for movement, singling out Canada as an impediment to progress. So too did low-lying island Commonwealth nations target Canada, with some suggesting we should be expelled from the Commonwealth. Even Her Majesty the Queen took aim at Canada. With the news that both President Obama and President Hu of China would attend the climate talks, our Prime Minister finally caved and agreed to join the over 100 leaders already committed to attend. The commitment of Obama and Hu increased hope that an agreement was possible.

However, these first few days have not gone well. Day 2 saw the revelation of a secret draft text from the US, UK and Denmark, proposing to sideline the concerns of the developing world, scrap the Kyoto Framework and move forward in a fashion that breaks faith with the poorest on the planet. This leaked text has led to a mood of distrust and anger within the negotiations. I am going to share a fragment of an email from a colleague already in Copenhagen. I am keeping his identity confidential, only noting that he is on a government delegation.

The issues on the table are very complicated—technically, economically, equitably and morally and politically. The Parties are far apart on the text—mitigation, adaptation, finance, tech transfer—all are part of the package and depend on each other—this is more like the Doha round and the WTO than climate! But unlike the trade talks there is a disaster clock ticking…

The mood is ugly, distrustful. The Danish police and security service are scared stiff. They raided some NGO residences today and confiscated lots of stuff they said could be used for civil disobedience.

I am normally a calm guy and not prone to anxiety but this place has me jumping. Next Thursday and Friday will be wild and unpredictable with over 100 heads of government speaking. There are 40,000 people on the attendees list. There are 5,000 journalists here. The Bela Centre capacity where the COP is being held is 15,000. The COP is chaired by the Danish Environment Minister. She and the Prime Minister cannot stand each other and do not talk (so it is widely twittered). The responsibility for bringing all this together rests with the Danes. Some optimists say that the G2 will come next week (Obama and Hu) and strike a deal that everybody can take it or leave it. But this is not a Yes or No deal; it is endlessly nuanced. Even if they embrace each other and everybody cheers all the critical details will remain to be worked out…let alone ratified and implemented. I cannot believe there is anything like this on earth—it is heroic in a way but mostly it is frightening!

So as I leave for Copenhagen, we have a clear description. The moment is perilous. We stand between heroism and disaster. You need not sit back and wait. Please continue to keep up the pressure. Post comments on news media comment websites and blogs, write to the newspapers and phone the Prime Minister’s Office (613-992-4211). To stay up to date on the negotiations, sign up for daily reports from the Earth Negotiations Bulletin, www.iisd.ca/climate/cop15/. These are pithy, no-nonsense reports prepared through a non- government ENB team of graduate students working within the International Institute for Sustainable Development. For activist news check out the www.350.org site or international Friends of the Earth. To keep abreast of the science Salt Spring Island’s own Dorothy Cutting maintains a great site, www.westcoastclimateequity.org. And I will be reporting daily on the www.elizabethmay.ca site.

Realistically, what are the options for the outcome in Copenhagen? A successful agreement will mean that the world stops the growth in greenhouse gases so that they peak no later than 2015 and begin their decline from there. Overshooting 2015 could commit the world to a catastrophic runaway climate crisis.

Failure in Copenhagen could look like two things: the decision of all leaders to call it a failure and admit they fell short. This is less likely than the more dangerous form of failure: a happy photo op of world leaders smiling and calling their failure a ‘good first step.’ We are now seventeen years past ‘good first steps.’ The citizens of this world, our children and grandchildren will thank us only for embracing real success.

Elizabeth E. May is the leader of the Green Party of Canada, candidate in Saanich Gulf Islands and Officer of the Order of Canada.

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