THUNDER BAY – LEADER’S Ledger – This week I received two packages. One was from the Grade 4 class at Holy Cross School for the Prime Minister, and the second was from Marathon High School for me. Both contained letters from students concerned about pollution and climate change. The youth are worried. They want to protect wildlife and our region from a warming climate.
I agree that climate change is a real and urgent crisis that we must address immediately. Canada is warming at twice the global average rate, and top climate experts say we have just eleven years to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
In fact, Canadians are already feeling the effects of climate change, as we increasingly grapple with costly extreme weather events such as wildfires, flooding, and heat waves resulting from climate change. The cost of inaction is simply too high and Canadians, including these youth, want their government to act decisively. That is we have worked so hard to implement an ambitious and credible national climate plan, while at the same time growing our economy and helping Canadians create good, well-paying jobs.
This plan means that we are:
- Greening transportation by investing in public transit projects and making zero-emission vehicles more accessible and affordable;
- Phasing out coal while supporting workers and communities affected by the transition to clean energy;
- Helping families, small businesses, NGOs, and communities invest in clean energy and green technologies;
- Implementing measures to keep our coasts and oceans safe and clean through the Oceans Protection Plan;
- Ensuring that it’s not free to pollute anywhere in Canada by putting a price on pollution and returning the revenues to Canadians through the Climate Action Incentive; and
- Doubling the amount of protected natural spaces across the country.
Unfortunately, Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives have no plan to fight climate change. And what Jagmeet Singh and the NDP have announced is what we are already doing, without any details about how they will protect jobs. While the NDP can’t get their policies straight, the Conservatives are busy holding closed door meetings with oil lobbyists and have no plan to fight climate change. In 2019, if you don’t have a plan for the environment, you don’t have a plan for the economy or the future.
Canadians deserve better. Our government will continue investing in clean energy to grow the economy, create middle class jobs, and protect our environment for our kids and grandkids.
Patty Hajdu,
Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay-Superior North
