Week in Review: March 8 – 12 (le français suit)
On Monday, Elizabeth, Jenica, and Paul celebrated International Women’s Day. They participated in the United Nation’s #ChoosetoChallenge social media campaign, and Jenica and Elizabeth both made speeches in parliament to commemorate the day. Jenica responded to the Minister’s statement calling for more action to support women and gender diverse Canadians across the country, and Elizabeth took the opportunity to celebrate women in politics.
Following the tragic news that another Indigenous man was killed by RCMP during a “wellness check”, Elizabeth asked the government to launch an inquiry into these killings, and to take responsibility to stop them.
In a historic Green win, Paul Manly put forward a motion that received the unanimous consent of the House of Commons to press the UK government to index the frozen pensions of UK pensioners in Canada. The UK does not provide annual indexed increases for the approximately 136 thousand UK pensioners residing in Canada, effectively “freezing” their pensions at the original rate when they were first claimed. This represents a significant economic loss to Canada.
In adjournment proceedings, Paul revisited a debate on Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that there was not enough coordination between the provinces, territories and federal government, and pointed to examples of other countries where better coordination led to lower death rates and shorter lockdowns. In his question on Thursday, Paul pressed the government to protect endangered old growth ecosystems on Canada’s west coast, stop the destruction of the Boreal forest, and ban unsustainable forestry practices.
In debate on Thursday, Elizabeth again pointed out the weaknesses of the Government’s Net-Zero Climate Accountability Act. Quoting Greta Thunberg, she underscored that choosing 2050 as a target year and ignoring the imperative for increased near-term action amounts to a surrender. Significant reductions in emissions must be made by 2030 with a first milestone year in 2025.
Thursday also marked the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. Elizabeth replied to the prime minister’s speech reminding her colleagues that parliamentarians are at their best when working and collaborating as though in a country with proportional representation and not a First-past-the-post voting system. Paul participated in a press conference with Green Party Leader Annamie Paul to discuss the anniversary of the pandemic, and the issue of affordable housing.
Jenica participated in an all-party press conference on ALS, following a landmark petition signed by over 25 000 Canadians calling for the government to approve life-saving treatments.
MPs participated in the United Nation’s #ChoosetoChallenge social media campaign for International Women’s Day
Key Moments
- Paul Manly: The government could have taken the pandemic as an opportunity to set up permanent supports like GLI
- Paul Manly: EI could be improved permanently to support people after the pandemic
- Paul Manly achieves unanimous consent to recognize UK pensioners in Canada
- Elizabeth May: We should consider a target of carbon neutrality by 2050 as a surrender
- Elizabeth May: According to climate science, 2025 must be a milestone year for reducing emissions
- Elizabeth May: We must take action against slavery in supply chains
- Elizabeth May: Lack of reliable ground transportation linked to MMIWG
Question Period and Member’s Statements
- Elizabeth May’s statement on International Women’s Day
- Jenica Atwin’s statement on International Women’s Day
- Elizabeth May: When will the government take responsibility for Indigenous people killed during “wellness checks”?
- Paul Manly: Coordination between federal, provincial, and territorial governments was insufficient to stop the spread of COVID-19
- Elizabeth May makes a statement on the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Paul Manly: We must protect old-growth ecosystems
Press Conferences
- Green Party Leader Annamie Paul discusses pandemic anniversary, affordable housing – March 11, 2021
- All-party press conference on ALS
In Their Own Words
- Elizabeth May: Good Sunday Morning – March 7
- Elizabeth May: What Bill Gates Gets Wrong, and Right, About Climate Change (Policy Magazine)
Petitions
- e-3184 Make Bill C-12 a world-class climate law (closes March 20)
- e-3177 Condemn discrimination in Poland (closes March 20)
- e-3058 Ban fracking, transition to renewable energy (closes March 21)
- e-3206 Include long-term care in the Canada Health Act (closes April 25)
- e-3014 Modernize the complaints review panel of the Canadian Judicial Council (closes May 7)
- e-3075 Halt all transfer of Canadian made weapons to Saudi Arabia (closes May 27)
- e-3138 Make Election Day a paid holiday when it falls on a weekday (closes May 29)
- e-3159 Ban new strip mines in the Rocky Mountains (closes June 5)