House of Commons Motion Backs a Green New Deal for Canada

This post has been updated to accurately reflect the date Motion M-1 was introduced.
The first motion filed in the reconstituted House of Commons calls for MPs to endorse a Green New Deal for Canada.

Motion M-1, published December 5 and introduced December 13 by MP Peter Julian  (NDP, New Westminster-Burnaby) lays out a 10-year mobilization to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, create millions of secure jobs, invest in sustainable infrastructure and industry, and promote justice and equity for Indigenous peoples and all “front-line and vulnerable communities”.

The motion calls for measures to “secure for all people of Canada for generations to come clean air and water, climate and community resiliency, healthy food, access to nature, and a sustainable environment,” through a plan that builds community climate resilience, eliminates pollution and greenhouse gas emissions “as much as technologically feasible”, and meets “100% of the power demand in Canada through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources, including by dramatically expanding and upgrading existing renewable power sources and by deploying new capacity”. 

It envisions “building or upgrading to energy-efficient, distributed, and ‘smart’ power grids,” and “upgrading all existing buildings in Canada and building new buildings to achieve maximal energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety, affordability, comfort, and durability, including through electrification.” That activity would spur “massive growth in clean manufacturing in Canada and removing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing and industry as much as is technologically feasible, including by expanding renewable energy manufacturing and investing in existing manufacturing and industry.”

Julian also sees the federal government “supporting family farming by investing in sustainable farming and land use practices that increase soil health, and by building a more sustainable food system that ensures universal access to healthy food.” A Canadian GND would overhaul the country’s transportation systems by investing in “zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and manufacturing, and clean, affordable, and accessible public transportation and high-speed rail.”

The motion sees achieving the goals of a Green New Deal with “appropriate ownership stakes and returns on investment” for the public, while “providing resources, training, and high-quality education, including higher education, to all Canadians, with a focus on front-line and vulnerable communities, so those communities may be full and equal participants in the Green New Deal mobilization.”

Julian’s announcement has the Our Time campaign declaring an initial win and offering a toolkit to help supporters rally around the motion.

“This is a huge victory for our movement,” the group states. “Young people mobilized in unprecedented numbers during the election to elect Green New Deal champions like Peter Julian. This is the first motion filed in the 43rd Parliament, and it includes all of the Green New Deal pillars that young people called for during the election. M-1 speaks to our movement’s power to shift the conversation on climate action.”