EARTH DAY MEDIA RELEASE: Environmental group to bring politeness and build a giant dreamcatcher on Parliament Hill in early May

EARTH DAY MEDIA RELEASE: Environmental group to bring politeness and build a giant dreamcatcher on Parliament Hill in early May

MEDIA RELEASE: Environmental group to bring politeness and build a giant dreamcatcher on Parliament Hill in early May

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 22, 2022
Media Contact: Cathy Orlando, cathy@citizensclimatelobby.org, 705-929-4043

Sudbury ON:  Humanity is at a pivotal moment in history. Many crises are converging. The climate crisis is intensifying, and we are not on track for a liveable planet.

The hard facts are that 85 percent of greenhouse gas pollution comes from burning fossil fuels. The narrow window of opportunity is rapidly closing for successful mitigation of and adaptation to global climate destabilization (IPCC, February 2022). The April 2022 IPCC report offered a glimpse of how the global effort to mitigate climate change could be rapidly accelerated with the right impetus. The key is that people have to demand evidence-based and socially-just climate policies to reduce our greenhouse gas pollution by about half by 2030.

That is a tall order, but doable.

We are truly in the fog of war and fossil fuels are literally fuelling conflicts. The impacts of the COVID pandemic, extreme weather events, compounded by ecological and food crises and conflicts have vividly exposed and reinforced structural inequalities based on gender, income, age, race, and disability.

How do we proceed?

“It is best to keep calm and carry on.  Staying focused on your area of expertise or, as they say in the military world, keeping in mind our commander’s intent, is a healthy way to proceed,” says Cathy Orlando, National Director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada.

Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada has been advocating for carbon pricing and building political will locally since September 2010. They have 42 chapters across Canada, covering about 120 ridings federally. Although fiscally and legally independent of their USA counterparts, Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada’s commander was Marshall Saunders. He was a Californian with a soft spot for Canadians, especially our national anthem. He passed away just after Christmas in 2019.

“Marshall created a peaceful army. He was proud of the work of the Canadian arm of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Canadians brought our well-known politeness to his army,” says Cathy Orlando. “We can agree to disagree. In fact, it can be fun to disagree when we are polite. Truly, politeness is an element of a healthy democracy.”

Thus, in the midst of all this chaos, Citizens Climate Lobby volunteers across Canada in the month of May are going to keep calm and lobby for improvements to Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act and trust that others doing their work will create a liveable world.

To kick off their lobbying month, they are conducting a three-day hybrid conference in Ottawa and on Zoom from May 1 to May 3. The conference is called “Keeping it Polite”.

In addition to preparing to lobby, participants will hear from guest speakers at their conference titled “Keeping it Polite” including Ecojustice lawyer Danielle Gallant. Alongside two of the plaintiffs in the case, Mathur et. al. v. Her Majesty in Right of Ontario, Danielle will present updates on the case against the Ontario government for weakening the province’s climate targets. Other guest speakers include Darrin Qualman, the Climate Policy Director at the National Farm Union, and Michael Bernstein,  at Canadians for Clean Prosperity.

Lastly, before they leave Ottawa, Citizens’ Climate Lobby and MP Marc Serré are co-hosting a special event on Parliament Hill. Indigenous Artist Will Morin, with the help of participants, will build a giant Dreamcatcher on the West Lawn of Parliament on the morning of Tuesday, May 3.

Full details can be found here: https://canada.citizensclimatelobby.org/national-conference-keeping-it-polite/ 

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