MEDIA RELEASE: A Climate For Change

31 Citizen Climate Lobbyists in Ottawa to Lobby For a Carbon Fee for the 10th time

For Immediate Release: Friday, May 29, 2015

Contact: Cathy Orlando at cathy@citizensclimatelobby.ca 705-929-4043

Ottawa, ON: On June 6 and June 7, 2016, thirty-one  Canadians will converge on Parliament Hill with the objective of delivering this message to parliamentarians: put a nationally integrated  price on carbon pollution that returns the revenue to households, and Canada can lower heat-trapping emissions while adding jobs to the economy.

On Tuesday, June 7, 2016, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, will be cohosting a climate change reception on Parliament Hill with MP Paul Lefebvre (Sudbury). Full details of who attended will be revealed after the event.

On Sunday, June 5, 2016, economist  Dr. David Robinson (Laurentian University) will give a presentation on the benefits of revenue neutral carbon taxes . He will be followed by  Dr. Renee Lertzman  who  will help the climate lobbyists devise communication strategies for the uniquely challenging nature of their environmental work.

Canada took a leadership role at the United Nations climate talks in Paris in 2015. On March 3, the First Ministers issued the Vancouver Declaration on Clean Growth and Climate Change — which agreed to principles and a framework for a plan to meet or exceed the current emissions target. Among other things, they agreed to using carbon pricing mechanisms to facilitate the transition to a low carbon economy. A working group is exploring options and will submit recommendations in September 2016. Implementation is scheduled to take place in early 2017.

There is a climate for change in Ottawa right now. History is converging and June’s lobbying event has the real potential to be transformational for individuals, Canada and the world.

Citizens’ Climate Lobby is an international organization. Their world headquarters are in Coronado, Calfornia. Founder and president Marshall Saunders said, “When I started CCL in 2007 I did so because I believed the US passing legislation was important not just for the US but for the rest of the world. What we are seeing happen in Canada will very likely become part of the motivation that gets the United States to finally act. Thank you, Canada. ”

Our national manager, Cathy Orlando is hopeful that 2017 will be an exceptional for Canada, “Together we might make 2017 a year where we not only celebrate Canada’s 150th and 100 years since Vimy Ridge but also when we finally start shifting some of PM Borden’s “temporary income tax of 1917″ towards pollution taxes. We are taking part in history and securing a healthy climate for us in our old age and for generations to come.”

This will be the 10th time since November 2011, Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada volunteers have made the trek onto Parliament Hill to create the political will for a liveable world.

CCL is a non-partisan international organization. Members of CCL’s International’s advisory board include: George P. Shultz, former US secretary of state; Dr. James Hansen, retired Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies; Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Canadian Climate Scientist at Texas Tech University; and others. CCL believes politicians don’t create political will, they respond to it. CCL believes citizens who are well trained, organized by ridings and with a good system of support can influence the political process. Our volunteers want Canada to lead the fight to save the global climate, and they want to help politicians achieve this noble goal.

Cathy Orlando has put her words to work for the climate by getting letters and opinion pieces published in newspapers in every province in Canada. When she’s not safeguarding the climate alongside the best volunteers on the planet, you can probably find her stargazing, dancing, reading books not about climate change, hanging out with her husband Sanjiv, and mothering her three cherished daughters.