Dear Canadian Filipino Net readers,
A new poll this week found that not only are a large majority of Canadians worried about the climate emergency, they are ready for a major transition — one that would slash emissions in half by 2030, invest billions in green energy projects, and move us off fossil fuels while creating good jobs. [1]
If that seems familiar, it’s because it sounds a lot like a Green New Deal for Canada, which we’ve been hard at work building support for across party lines.
But the biggest takeaway? Everyday people are way ahead of our politics when it comes to climate action. We’re ready for big, transformative changes and governments aren’t delivering. We’re facing a do-or-die climate emergency, and our politicians seem more interested in scoring political points against each other than working together to address it.
Toxic partisanship is hurting our ability to make progress on climate, and we want to change this — which is why we’re checking in with you right now.
We already know that 95% of the Leadnow community is excited about making this election a turning point for climate — where we help elect candidates committed to bold climate action, while working to prevent a Conservative majority. [2]
But we’re refining our strategy to include another goal: get commitments from politicians to cooperate across party lines for climate in the next Parliament.
The small staff team at Leadnow is excited about this addition to the strategy, but as a member-based organization, we need to hear from you. Do you think we should run an election campaign to help elect climate champions committed to fighting for bold climate action across party lines?
You know the stats. We only have 11 years left to avert climate catastrophe. [3] It’s an emergency that requires all of us. And while Canadians are ready to rise to the challenge together — it’s our politicians who are falling behind.
The national climate debate is locked into a tiresome back and forth over the carbon price. Parliament's dominated by partisan noise — parties are throwing pot shots at each other instead of working together to enact solutions.
But imagine a group of elected MPs from multiple parties who are ready to rise above their party stripes and agree to the scale of the problem and the ambitious action needed to tackle it.
There’s no certainty in the outcome of this election. But what is certain, no matter who wins on election day,is that we need politicians willing to fight for climate, and willing to come together to put our future above their political interests. Do you think we should run an election campaign to help elect climate champions committed to work across party lines in the fight for bold climate action?
To make progress on the planet’s ticking clock, this election we need to make sure that:
- As many MPs as possible elected on October 21support bold, transformative climate action — it can’t be a Conservative majority.
- MPs are willing to work across party lines on bold climate action — we can’t let broken politics get in the way. This is especially true if there’s a minority government.
- There are climate champions elected in the next Parliament who will challenge their parties and fellow MPs to think bigger and bolder on solutions to the crisis.
And here’s how we’re going to do it:
- Raise the bar for climate action by challenging parties and candidates to put forward their biggest ideas for climate action — and helpcreate a “race to the top” where politicians are all trying to out-do each other with more and more ambitious policies.
- Highlight climate champions willing to work across party lines by identifying “climate champions”-- candidates committed to cooperating across party lines on bold ideas for climate action, like the Green New Deal. Then we’ll amplify these candidates so voters can easily identify the best candidates on climate action.
- Expose the dangerous truth about the Conservative agenda by exposing their reckless policies with hard-hitting ad campaigns and persuasive messages targeting key swing voters.
- Reach out to hundreds of thousands of key voters in strategic battleground ridings by mobilizing thousands of volunteers and using cutting-edge technology to reach voters over the phone, through text messages, on social media, and on the doorstep.
- Get ready for the day after the election. No matter who wins, we'll have to keep fighting on bold climate action in order to address the scale of the crisis. So we’ll make sure that our election campaign builds the people power necessary to push the next government to act on ambitious climate policies, including a Green New Deal.
So are you with us?
Thanks for all you do, Logan, Brittany and Sonia on behalf of Leadnow
Sources:
[1] Abacus Data: https://abacusdata.ca/is-climate-change-an-emergency-and-do-canadians-support-a-made-in-canada-green-new-deal/
[2] On June 27th, 95% of Leadnow survey responders voted in support of a campaign focused on making this election a turning point for climate and helping to prevent a Conservative majority.
[3] The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report
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