A brief report on the July 29 Climate Action in Toronto-Davenport
More than 35 actions took place across the country. It was a weekday in the middle of the summer holidays, and it rained – and in spite of that, a small but committed group showed up at the office of Julie Dzerowicz, MP for Davenport. We talked with Julie, presented her with a symbolic fire extinguisher, and she signed the pledge, committing to do everything in her power to support her constituents’ calls for:
- an immediate moratorium on new fossil fuel approvals, and a freeze on all fossil fuel expansion projects under construction – including the Trans Mountain Pipeline
- legislation for a just transition to support workers and communities, especially Indigenous and remote communities as we move towards a 100% renewable energy future
It turns out that this is quite a breakthrough. I believe she is the first Liberal MP to sign this pledge, and it has been hailed by environmentalists as a milestone. I hope we can continue making progress, and that Julie can get her government to act like this is an emergency!
Certainly, they have made little progress so far, making a lot of promises, with little to no follow up. The international Climate Action Tracker rates Canada’s efforts at climate action as insufficient, and contributing to a 3 degree temperature rise, which would be catastrophic.
I don’t think many Canadians are aware of how terrible we are. The National Post wrote recently that we have the worst climate record of any G7 country! We continue to produce a lot of highly polluting coal, and since our government bought it, we are paying to build a giant new oil pipeline from the tar sands. Here’s an update on the Trans Mountain Pipeline , and the potential danger from oil spills in these fragile ecosystems
After signing the pledge, MP Dzerowicz specifically encouraged us to keep coming out and making our opinions known. Our letters, emails and demonstrations support MPs and give them more credibility in advocating for more climate action. In David Suzuki’s list of the top ten things you can do to help fight climate change, number one is: Urge government to take bold, ambitious climate change now. So – we all need to get active, and support the planet!
Planethugger 