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Climate advocacy groups say all Canadians and parties must drop partisan concerns and push the Liberal government to act fast on climate.
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The counting of mail-in ballots dragged on into the late afternoon in the LaurierSainte-Marie riding on Wednesday, but with 95 per cent of votes counted, Liberal Steven Guilbeault was 2,328 votes ahead of his closest challenger and claiming victory.
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It wasnt the easy win Guilbeault and his supporters had hoped for, leading some to wonder if voters in that riding were punishing the Liberals for recruiting the longtime climate advocate to attract green votes in 2019 only to shunt him into the heritage portfolio once elected. Many in Quebec wonder whether Guilbeault will be named environment minister this time around.
Its not up to me to decide, Guilbeault said in a telephone interview Wednesday. It was a privilege to be around the cabinet table and I do feel that as heritage minister I helped the arts and culture sector make it through the worst crisis it has seen in 100 years. But if the prime minister asked me to serve in another capacity, I would be very happy to do that as well.
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But climate change is the reason he got into politics, he acknowledged.
Climate is something I feel very passionate about. Ive dedicated most of my adult life to it, I started (with Greenpeace) at 21 or 22 and never stopped. So it is something I will continue to work on regardless of where I land.
He added that he considers Jonathan Wilkinson a great minister and worked closely with him as a member of the cabinet committee on environment and economy and on the Liberals Green Recovery Plan. He believes the climate fight should be a priority in which every minister should be engaged.
Guilbeault said he understands the impatience to see Canadas greenhouse gas emissions come down, and concedes that so far, that goal has eluded the Liberal government. But the reductions from measures such as the hundreds of public transit projects the Liberal government has funded across the country, including 300 electric buses for Montreal, will take time to show up in the emissions inventories.
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It takes time for these projects to produce results. Some things can be done more quickly, he said. For example, the Liberals now have a clear mandate to increase their carbon tax from $40/tonne to $50 next year and then by $15 a year to $170/tonne by 2030.
Climate policy expert Mark Jaccard agreed with Guilbeaults assessment of Wilkinson, adding that many factors must be considered when Trudeau chooses his next environment minister. For example, being from Saskatchewan is a point in Wilkinsons favour, he said.
If you are trying to advance action on climate, that can help because Saskatchewan and Alberta are the greatest impediments to rapid decarbonization, because they really do well via the fossil fuel industry. That doesnt mean they are evil people, but their self-interest is to be resistant to rapid decarbonization, said Jaccard, a professor of sustainable energy at Simon Fraser University.
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Before going into politics Wilkinson worked in the clean technology sector, which Jaccard considers another point in his favour.
When one is trying to move a country with major fossil fuel resources toward rapid decarbonization, he can go to Alberta and talk to Albertans about how you can still develop your oil resources as long as you are converting them into hydrogen or electricity, and burying the carbon dioxide.
And environmental groups say it doesnt matter who is environment minister, as long as the government gets to work immediately to pick up the pace of climate action.
Canadians voted for the parties to work together and a clear majority of them voted for parties that propose serious and bold climate policies, said Caroline Brouillette, director of domestic policy at Climate Action Network Canada in a joint statement released Tuesday by a coalition of environmental groups whose membership includes more than a million Canadians.
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It is time for Prime Minister Trudeau to collaborate with the other parties to intensify these efforts on climate, and quickly.
Jaccard agrees. Now is the time for all climate concerned Canadians to put (all parties) feet to the fire, he said, adding the NDP and Bloc Qubcois must work to ensure that aggressive climate policies get passed, and fast.
Those environmental groups want Trudeau to announce more ambitious emissions reduction targets before Novembers United Nations climate conference. Considering Canadas historic contribution to emissions, a fair reduction goal would be 60 per cent below 2005 levels before 2030, they said.
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The vote is in: It's time to move on climate, environmental groups say - Montreal Gazette
