Week in Review – October 16-20

The Green Caucus unequivocally condemns the brutal terrorist attacks committed by Hamas against Israeli civilians and Elizabeth and Mike are calling for the immediate and safe release of all hostages. There is no justification for committing these atrocities and those responsible in Hamas must be brought to justice.

The Caucus has been deeply disturbed by the Israeli government’s declaration of war against and full siege of Gaza, where half of the 2 million civilian residents are children, as well as the planned invasion by over 300,000 Israeli troops. Cutting off access to basic necessities like water and medicine and the indiscriminate bombing of areas where civilians are known to be present are war crimes and violate international law.

There must be an immediate ceasefire and the opening of a humanitarian corridor to facilitate evacuations and aid delivery to civilians. The prolonged Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, the longest in the world, must end completely and immediately, and Palestinian self-determination must be realised. Greens are urging the Canadian government to wield its diplomatic power in order to press for good faith negotiations and lasting peace in the region. Please read the full party statement here.

Mike held a press conference with author and activist John Vaillant. Vaillant delivered remarks to the Standing Committee on Natural Resources on Monday and decried the oil industry as a fire industry while calling Canada a superpower in renewable energy potential. You can watch his full remarks here and the Tuesday press conference here.

Bill C-49 focuses on the federal government’s relationship with provinces and their offshore petroleum boards, but it does not address the latter’s continued preoccupation with offshore petroleum development. The Conservative Party has wrongly claimed this bill makes it harder to develop offshore petroleum. Elizabeth and Mike are strong advocates for these petroleum boards to have an expanded regulatory capacity to prioritise approvals of offshore wind development.

Elizabeth honed in on water policy and challenged the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to do more to coordinate water governance and policies between federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments. It is particularly crucial that the government do more to engage Indigenous nations and peoples and center their leadership. As the government moves closer to establish the Canada Water Agency as a stand-alone agency, Greens will continue to push for strengthened water governance systems in Canada.

Mike questioned Minister Marci Ien at the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities to advocate for increased funding for the Canada Summer Jobs program. While jobs are being provided, many employers are seeing significant cuts in the number of weeks these summer employees are hired for, from 16 to eight. Mike also stressed the need to increase wages to those employed under this program.

Mike also rose in the House of Commons on the topic of Bill C-50, the Canada Sustainable Jobs Act. While the government states they want to work with all stakeholders, Mike made clear that the Green Caucus does not support the presence of fossil fuel company representatives on a partnership council under this Act.

Elizabeth rose in the House to respond to SCC’s ruling on the constitutionality of the Impact Assessment Act. Under former Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna, the government created an expert environmental law panel that produced achievable recommendations to strengthen environmental assessment legislation. Former Minister McKenna and the government chose to ignore these recommendations – despite being the government that created the panel! Elizabeth urged the government to adopt these recommendations to strengthen impact assessments in Canada.