Green Party leader Elizabeth May calls for cross-party cabinet to battle climate crisis
Credit to Author: Tiffany Crawford| Date: Fri, 06 Sep 2019 21:17:46 +0000
Federal Green party leader Elizabeth May is calling on the country’s top politicians to form an inner cabinet designed specifically to battle the climate emergency.
While May first proposed the idea last year, this week she penned an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh and Yves-François Blanchet, leader of the Bloc Québécois.
In the letter dated Sept. 3, she urged the leaders to establish a cross-party climate emergency cabinet because the crisis represents “the greatest existential threat” in human history.
“We face an enemy, which, if we fail to defeat it, will end life on Earth as we know it,” May states.
Cross-party cabinets are rare in government and have usually been established during extreme moments in history, such as in times of war.
During the Second World War in 1940, for example, Winston Churchill created a wartime inner cabinet made up of representatives from all the sitting parties. It initially began as five members, but was later expanded to eight, and included members from all five parties represented in Parliament. The coalition was dissolved in 1945 when Germany was defeated.
On Friday, May, the MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, said the scale of economic change required to meet the necessary emissions targets to avoid catastrophe is equivalent to that required during wartime.
“If we are to succeed in keeping to 1.5 degrees C, we must prepare our nation to wage battle on a scale sufficient to the task. Such an epic effort will require all of Canada’s collective will and energy,” said May. “We need all hands on deck. Very few people deny that anymore.”
She is not alone in her call for a non-partisan approach to the climate crisis.
In the U.K. earlier this year, a cross-party group of politicians called on former prime minister Theresa May to throw as much effort at averting a climate catastrophe as the government did fighting the Nazis, according to a report in the Independent.
UBC political science professor Kathryn Harrison, an expert in environmental policies, said a multi-party approach to deal with the climate crisis is not unprecedented.
“The U.K. and Germany decades ago employed a multi-party committee that brought experts in to advise on how to move forward on climate change, and it really put them on a different path from the get-go instead of parties fighting over the facts,” said Harrison. “And, arguably, they have made more progress than here in Canada.”
May said forming an inner cabinet would ensure that Canada’s emissions targets and global commitments don’t change every time a new party is elected.
“We had a very strong commitment in (the Kyoto Accord), and then Stephen Harper came in and cancelled the whole thing. We can’t risk things like that anymore. We have to have the kind of solidarity and consensus that insulates critical decision making to ensure we don’t face catastrophe.”
Hamish Telford, a political science professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, suggested May is setting the stage for inclusion in a coalition government.
“Wartime cabinets are highly exceptional. … It’s probably not going to be picked up by the others, but it might be an opening bid on the part of May to be part of a coalition government in the event that no party gets a majority,” said Telford. “I think she is getting the idea out early that that is what she might be looking for.”
Asked whether this could be a condition for the Greens should the possibility of a coalition arise, May said the party will not support any combination of parties forming government without a firm commitment to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C, which means more work to meet Canada’s emissions targets.
While none of the leaders has formally responded to May’s letter, Singh has indicated he would be open to forming a special cabinet on the issue, said May.
Contacted by Postmedia, Trudeau’s press secretary Matt Pascuzzo did not provide a direct response.
“We need to leave a clean, healthy planet for our kids and grandkids, which is why our government is taking real action to fight climate change. We are putting a price on pollution, phasing out coal-fired power plants, protecting our oceans, and investing in clean technology,” he said in an email.
He did not say if Trudeau is in favour of a special cabinet, but said the prime minister is always happy to work with May on fighting climate change.
Scheer’s press secretary Daniel Schow gave a similar non-committal response in an emailed statement and did not reply to follow-up questions.
“Andrew Scheer and Canada’s Conservatives have a real plan to protect our environment,” said Schow. “(His) plan prioritizes green technology, not taxes, takes the fight against climate change global, and helps families get ahead with a new Green Homes Tax Credit.”
Schow went on to denounce the carbon tax and said Scheer has a plan to meet global emissions targets.
Media representatives for Blanchet did not respond by deadline.
Harrison was not surprised by Trudeau and Scheer’s responses to May’s plan, saying that because of the magnitude of Canada’s oil production there hasn’t been the political will to come together in a non-partisan way.
“Both the Conservatives and Liberals … when it comes to oil, they are on board with doubling down on Canada’s production, which leaves us unprepared for global economic transition,” said Harrison. “The government declared a climate emergency and then approved a pipeline the next day, so I’m not sure logic is what’s governing Canada’s climate policy.”
In 2018, the UN Intergovernmental Panel report on climate change warned that unless the global average temperature increase is held to 1.5 degrees C, there will be catastrophic change to the planet, including increased drought, famine, wildfires, and massive species extinction.