Canada’s Chance for a Green New Deal
The New Democratic Party has finally proposed a strong climate plan for Canada that opposes new pipelines. But the party needs to be honest about a key fact necessary to save the planet: Canada must euthanize its oil industry.
Miles of unused pipe, prepared for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would run through Canada and the United States, sit in a lot outside Gascoyne, North Dakota in 2014. Andrew Burton / Getty Images
After years of activist pressure, Canada’s federal New Democratic Party (NDP) has finally formulated their own Green New Deal–inspired climate plan entitled Power to Change: A New Deal for Climate Action and Good Jobs. The announcement comes ahead of an October federal election — and as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s luster is wearing off, with polls showing him vulnerable. On May 6, the NDP lost a seat in a federal by-election on Vancouver Island to the Green Party, which has also recently released their own climate plan.
These circumstances have forced the NDP to finally stake out firm positions the party had previously avoided. While the NDP was opposed to building the TransCanada pipeline, they gave qualified support to British Columbia’s NDP government’s plan to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipelines and terminals. The Green Party is against LNG development, which helped them win the by-election.
Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh finally came out against LNG development this past May, much to the consternation of the British Columbia NDP government and unions in the province, who are expecting increased provincial government revenues and new jobs from the project.
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