The federal NDP climate action plan is based on ideas the Canadian government already includes in its Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, according to a North Vancouver MP speaking in Burnaby.
Jonathan Wilkinson, Minster of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, spoke about the NDP’s plan which was released today, Friday, May 31 – he was in Burnaby to announced funding for a local tech company.
“I’ve had a brief read through the NDP plan,” he said. “I can tell you it talks about enhancing building efficiency, enhancing electrification, moving the grid towards more renewables, a range of measures that are already in the Pan-Canadian Framework. So I welcome the fact that the NDP is effectively endorsing most of the ideas that are in the government’s climate plan at the present time.”
The Liberal government would like to see new ideas on the table,” he said.
“We’re always open to how do we actually move forward,” Wilkinson said. “The 2030 targets that we’ve committed to under Paris are an initial goal, but they’re not the end. We’re going to have to make additional commitments for 2050 as the rest of the world is, and we’re going to need to be thoughtful about how we’re going to move down a path toward net zero emissions.”
While the NDP – led by Burnaby South MP Jagmeet Singh - have come forward with a plan to mitigate climate change, the Conservative Party has not, he pointed out.
“The one thing that does concern me is that the Conservative Party still has no climate plan,” he said, adding they are vocally opposed to pricing pollution. “They have come forward with nothing.”
The NDP’s Power to Change, A New Deal for Climate Action and Good Jobs lists nine goals.
These goals are: creating at least 300,000 new jobs; building (by 2030) and retrofitting (by 2050) all buildings to be energy efficient; moving to 100 per cent electric transit, as well as free transit; supporting community climate action and energy projects; working with Indigenous leadership; ending oil and gas subsidies; revising pollution targets; making zero-emission vehicles more accessible and building more charging stations; and getting rid of single-use plastic.
To read the plan, go to www.ndp.ca/power-to-change
