We know that Canadian youth care about the climate crises. After all, we saw them take to the streets in the thousands and protest for climate action at the end of September, as part of the Friday for Futures movement.
So, if climate change is on youth’s radar, is it also on the radar of campaigning parties? Below, we’ve listed a few of the promises that each party has made in regards to the issue.
The Liberal Party has vowed to…
- Reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050 by speaking to experts, setting milestones, and introducing new measures to reduce carbon.
- Plant two billion trees across the country as a way to create jobs and clean the air.
- Invest money from the Trans Mountain Expansion Project to Canada’s transition to clean energy and protect 25% of Canada’s land and 25% of Canada’s water by 2025.
- To encourage climate leadership by allowing kids to experience nature firsthand, by expanding the Learn to Camp program.
The NDP Party has vowed to…
- Declare a climate emergency and create targets to reduce green-house gas emissions that would be evaluated regularly, while also banning single-use plastics.
- Modernize, expand, and electrify public transit by 2030 to encourage greener ways of getting around town.
- Create a national food waste strategy that addresses food waste in Canada and a national freshwater strategy that protects out waters. Ultimately, the NDP want to protect 30% of Canada’s land, freshwater, and oceans by 2030.
The Conservative Party has vowed to…
- Develop an online resource hub for green innovators.
- Pursue opportunities to provide communities with renewable energy sources.
- Work with Indigenous groups to determine climate mitigation strategies and explore more ways that they can help manage protected areas.
- Restore funding for the community-led National Wetland Conservation Fund (NWCF) and fund community-based projects that enhance wildlife.
- Minimize plastic packaging and ban its export, unless it can be shown that it is indeed being recycled at the location.
The Green Party has vowed to…
- Pass a Climate Change law into action that would mandate 60% of emissions to be cut in order to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
- Not approve any “new pipelines, or coal, oil or gas drilling or mining, including offshore wells” and cancel the Trans Mountain pipeline.
- Create a National Forest Strategy that would restore forests and ensure that by 2030, 100% of Canada’s electricity comes from renewable energy.
- Ban the production of all single-use plastics, as well as their distribution & make sure that all products are fully recyclable.
- Protect at least 30% of Canada’s freshwaters, oceans, and lands by 2030.
The People’s Party has vowed to…
- “Withdraw from the Paris Accord and abandon unrealistic greenhouse gas emission reduction targets”.
- “Stop sending billions of dollars to developing countries to help them reduce their emissions”.
- “Abolish the Liberal government’s carbon tax and leave it to provincial governments to adopt programs to reduce emissions if they want to.
- “Invest in adaptation strategies if problems arise as a result of any natural climate change.
- “Prioritize implementing practical solutions to make Canada’s air, water and soil cleaner, including bringing clean drinking water to remote First Nations communities.”
The Bloc Quebecois have vowed to…
- Stop fossil fuel subsidies and reconsider Ottawa’s re-investment into fossil fuels.
- Create an electric transport system between provinces.
- Reshape the carbon tax using green equalization.
Please note the above points only represent a select few points from each party’s campaign that we felt are of most interest to youth. For a more detailed understanding of these points, check out each party’s federal election platform.
How did we decide what’s youth relevant? We decided what points to include based on which topics have been the most read, pitched, and written to us by our youth audience on www.blnkpage.org . In addition, these points were researched by members of our youth-led team, who also referred to reputable data, Twitter, and other social media discussions that youth were having on #Election2019. For example, we left out points regarding home ownership, cognizant of the fact that although important, the majority of youth aged 12-27 are not yet home owners.
Liked this recap? We also highly recommend you check out Pollenize and Canada Votes if you want a higher-level breakdown of each party’s platform.
