The Peoples’ Ministry of the Future 2025

From October 19^th through to October 21^st, Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) Canada hosted a conference at the Elgin Hotel in Ottawa, titled, “The Peoples’ Ministry of the Future”.  On its website the CCL describes itself as “a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots advocacy organization funded solely by Canadians with a twin focus: to create the political will for a live-able planet and to empower people to claim their political and personal power.”  CCL has long advocated a “carbon fee and dividend” policy of carbon pricing combined with consumer rebates, since before the Government of Canada adopted an equivalent policy.  However, the recent elimination of the consumer carbon price cast a shadow over this year’s CCL proceedings where over 74 Canadians from across the country were gathered in-person while 45 Canadians watched online via Zoom.

The event focused on highlighting various expert panels to inform on the state of the climate movement and of the debate around carbon pricing.  The Sunday proceedings began with a land acknowledgement with Sanjiv and Mary Blake.  Next followed a presentation by Beth Lorimer of KAIROS, who explained the initiative of “Jubilee 2025: Turn Debt into Hope”.  This project aims for creditors in the Global North to cancel “unjust and unsustainable debts” in the Global South.  Lorimer claimed that climate-fuelled damages had unjustly indebted the Global South to the North by upwards of $5 trillion.

Next on the Sunday proceedings was a Carbon Pricing Panel with Dr. Helen Hsu, economist Dave Sawyer, and Dr. Paul Kershaw.  Dr. Hsu observed that 1 in 7 premature deaths in Canada were attributed by the World Health Organization as due to the impacts of air pollution, with upwards of 175,000 citizens dying because of extreme heat yearly in Europe alone.  She argued for a new fossil fuel treaty that would curtail fossil fuel production alongside a tripling in renewable energy production.  Sawyer then argued that fossil fuel demand is soft, and that oil companies themselves acknowledge that fossil fuel demand is a consequence of plentiful supply.  He also argued that the lack of a post-pandemic carbon emissions rebound demonstrated the real-life efficacy of carbon pricing in curbing emissions.  Dr. Kershaw advocated for the “Good Ancestor Toolkit”, an advocacy framework whereby more emphasis would be placed upon the generational impacts of climate change to justify carbon pricing.  He argued that the facts about the carbon rebates had little impact on public perception of carbon pricing and that “empowerment marketing” and appeals to values and emotions are fundamental to bringing the public onside.  He further argued that there are “moral tastebuds” shared across liberals and conservatives that need to be appealed to.

In a subsequent presentation, environmental activist Tzeporah Berman outlined the concept of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.  She argued that existing oil, gas, and coal infrastructure is geared to outpace current consumer-based emissions, as fossil fuel demand has barely changed in the past decade.  A treaty is needed to manage cooperation between countries which have varying capabilities and responsibilities to phase out fossil fuels, as the Paris Climate Accord does not mention fossil fuels at all.  This development will require an extensive process of international meetings and negotiations.

The highlights of the Monday proceedings were the book signings and subsequent speech from the former Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Catherine McKenna.  Her book, “Run Like a Girl”, referring in the title to how she was described by one peer during her adolescence, was presented as less of a biography and more of a blueprint for action emphasizing the need for lobbying for the environment.  She described how visiting Indonesia early in her professional career and witnessing the struggles of its nascent democracy helped propel her into politics, how her treaty negotiation work led her into environmental forums, and how federal carbon pricing came to be despite a distinctly white male contingent of opposition.  But the recent repeal of carbon pricing demonstrated that “hard things are hard”.  She concluded with her experiences of engaging with and thinking about the future of kids, and how climate change is an “everything thing” with boundless societal impacts.

The last presentation of the Monday proceedings was “Generation Climate Action: Mathur v Ontario” by Ecojustice lawyers Danielle Gallant and Reid Gomme alongside youth applicant Alex Neufeldt.  Mathur v Ontario is a legal case that arose in response to the 2018 Government of Ontario decision to cut its carbon emission reduction targets, alleging that youth like Neufeldt would have their equality rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms infringed by this policy.  The case is considered a significant precedent due to being the first Superior Court hearing of a Charter-based climate challenge.  However, the Superior Court dismissed the case in 2023 as being based on “positive” rights rather than individual protection against government interference, and it deemed Ontario’s new targets as non-discriminatory.  An appeal for the seven applicants is planned on the basis that the Government of Ontario has positive obligations under its own treaty agreements, with the next hearing happening this December.

The Monday proceedings concluded with working groups meeting to discuss, practice, and strategize next steps for lobbying.  Willing volunteers spent Tuesday October 21^st lobbying Members of Parliament for climate action on Parliament Hill.

Videos of the proceedings may be watched on the CCL website.

Stefan Klietsch is the Board Chair for the Peace and Environment Resource Center.