OTTAWA – Treating climate change like the emergency that Parliament said it is, Greenpeace Canada called on Canadians to spam the PM with a ‘climate emergency’ alert that asked him to work with the other parties to implement an aggressive climate plan.
“This was the climate emergency election,” said Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada. “More than a half million Canadians took to the streets on September 27 with a clear message: it’s time to act like our house is on fire, because it is. Voters have not only decisively rejected the Conservatives’ climate roll-back agenda, but have also told the Liberals that they expect more than half-measures in response to this emergency.”
An October 15 poll from Angus Reid found that climate change was the leading issue determining voter intention (37% of all voters). Climate was the key issue for a majority of Liberal, NDP and Green Party supporters.
“Oil lobbyists showed their true colours in setting and then backing the Conservatives’ anti-climate election platform,” said Stewart, pointing to reporting on how senior oil lobbyists met with Andrew Scheer and his campaign team to strategize on how to defeat the Liberals. “You don’t ask arsonists for advice on putting out fires, and it’s time we stopped letting the oil lobby shape our climate policy.”
Greenpeace Canada is inviting people to spam the Prime Minister on his social media in order to remind him that it isn’t enough to declare a climate emergency, he has to act like it’s an emergency too. During the campaign, the Liberals said they would set new, science-based carbon budgets, but they have not yet put forward policies that could achieve those reductions and have continued to support fossil fuel expansion projects like the Trans Mountain pipeline that are inconsistent with the goal of keeping warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
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For more information, contact:
Marie-Christine Fiset, Head of Media, Greenpeace Canada
[email protected]; +1 514 972-6316
