Our pressure is working
- Details
- Published on Friday, 23 October 2020 05:16
- Written by editor
Paov,
Yesterday, we asked you to phone the leaders of the parties you voted for in the last federal election and call on them to back the campaign to defund the Trans Mountain pipeline. We were blown away by the response: in less than 24 hours, over 500 of you used our click-to-call tool!
Let’s keep the pressure up. Can you make a phone call now to let Annamie Paul, Jagmeet Singh or Justin Trudeau know that we want them to work together to Defund TMX?
In my role here at 350, I read all the emails that come into our inbox and I read all of the comments we get on social media too. A few of you were surprised that we included the newly-elected Green Party leader as a target for this phone blitz, so I wanted to take a moment to explain. The Green Party made it clear in their 2019 election platform that they support canceling TMX and all other fossil fuel subsidies.1 But with all eyes on the Trans Mountain fight right now, we believe it would send a powerful message if... Annamie Paul used her newly acquired platform as Green Party leader to affirm her support for defunding TMX. And it’s up to us to hold her to it. That’s why it’s so important for her to hear from supporters like you.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s position has been a lot less clear. He’s on record as opposing the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, but he has not made defunding TMX a condition of his support for Trudeau’s minority government2 and he has not ruled out supporting other pipeline projects in the future.3 It’s time for the NDP to pick a side and issue a clear call for the Liberal government to defund TMX.
Did you vote for the NDP in the last federal election? Call Jagmeet Singh now.
Our pressure is working. After thousands of people raised their voices, the Bloc Québécois made a public statement this month in support of defunding Trans Mountain.4 If we keep speaking up we can push other federal leaders to take a clear position as well.
I know it can sometimes feel like we are being too divisive, or that we’re being too hard on political leaders, but that’s part of our strategy. We’re in a climate emergency and the clock is ticking. That’s why we’re putting the spotlight on all the parties. It’s well past time our federal leaders worked across party lines to completely end government support for the industries fuelling the climate crisis.
Onwards,
Chris
References:
1 - Green Party of Canada: Addressing the Climate Emergency
2 - Burnaby Now: Anti-TMX protests held at Burnaby MP offices, including Jagmeet Singh
3 - CBC: So what does Singh really think about pipelines? It's complicated
4 - Bloc Québécois: Plan de Relance COVID-19 (Page 19)
350.org is building a global climate movement. You can connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and r38