English Resources

What we do…

We lobby in support of our evidence-based climate policies by building friendly relationships with our federally elected representatives. We do so with respect, appreciation and gratitude for their service.

 We write letters to the editor and op-eds, and meet with editorial boards to gain their editorial endorsement.

 We facilitate presentations and table at events to promote CCL and introduce others to our Carbon Fee and Dividend proposal.

 We support our volunteer chapters with monthly conference calls, and we support the leaders of those chapters with regular conference calls and a network of people to support them.

What we believe…

Politicians don’t create political will, they respond to it. We believe citizens who are well-trained, organized by Ridings and with a good system of support can more than influence the political process.

In respect for all viewpoints, even for those who would oppose us.

Based on what climate scientists and economists tell us, we believe that Climate Income is the best first step to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to mitigate the impacts of a changing climate and we have plenty proof for that!

All politics is local. Thus we build political will for a liveable world by building relationships locally with our politicians, community leaders and local media as well as educating our community. The resources below will help you get started:

Brochures, Pamphlets and More

Brochures, Sign-Up Sheets and More

Small pamphlet, four images per page with a front and a back in png format.  February 2026
Screen Shot 2015-10-16 at 2.52.53 PM General CCL trifold brochure in English (2026)  in Word. Feel free to edit for your local context. Updated February 2026
 Display poster  (png) with QR code to our website and generic explanation about who we are. February 2026
Volunteer Handbook CCL Canada (version June 2025 – update coming soon
 CCL Canada’s signupsheet February 2026
The graphic novel: Because IPCC: Download the book, for free.
Check out our Laser Talk about Because IPCC to find out more and how you can download free copies and graphics for your outreach.
February 2022
Still very relevant
Customizable CCL business cards
3.5x2in.Colour: PDFPNG or JPG
Black/white: PDFPNG or JPG
Greyscale: PDFPNG or JPGDon’t forget to put your own contact information on the back, e.g.  black/white or colour 

Talk Like a Human

Welcome to Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada! We empower each other to become effective messangers of evidence-based climate policies using a proven theory of change.

Really important climate communications tools

  • Talk-Like-a-Human from Potential Energy provides guidance for climate advocates on communicating effectively by using relatable, human-centric language to connect with their audience and drive climate action.
  • Unnatural Disasters: Connecting the dots when communicating about extreme weather and climate change from Potential Energy
  • ReClimate Public Opinion Survey on carbon pricing
  • Re.Climate-Tips-Heat-Waves-Disasters-2024 gives Canadians evidence based talking points on how best to talk about the unnatural disasters fueled by fossil fuel pollution

Parliamentary Petition Project

PURPOSE: We use paper parliamentary petitions to educate parliamentarians and our local communities about the urgency of the climate crisis and solutions to improve the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act as well as other policies that redirect financial flows, amd cap emissions.

CCL Canada petitions:

CCL Canada is also supporting the KAIROS Jubilee petition for debt justice:

Government resources:
The Path of Paper Petition
Paper Petitions – Guide and Terms of Use

For Further Information
Clerk of Petitions
Room 314-C, West Block
House of Commons
Tel: 613-992-9511
Fax: 613-947-7626
Email PMB-AED@parl.gc.ca

Instructions:

  • Have people sign the petition at outreach events and/or carry a copy of it and ask friends and acquaintances to sign it.
  • Once you have obtained 30 signatures, call your MP’s office
  • Identify yourself as a constituent of his/her riding
  • Ask if your MP if he/she would be willing to read our Parliamentary Petition on climate change in its entirety (excluding the signatories) in the House of Commons
  • Print the petition on legal (8.5 x 14) or letter-size (8.5 x 11) paper.
  • Make sure there are three lines for signatures on the first page.
  • Make sure there is a line at the top of every signature page thereafter indicating that it is a parliamentary petition and its topic.
  • Get at least 25 signatures on the petition – follow the instructions closely. We recommend getting 30 just to be safe.
  • Once completed, copy it for your files if you wish, then bring the original file to your MP’s office to be read in Parliament.

Hand-deliver or send the original copy of the petition to:

YOUR MP’S NAME
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

No stamp is required for Parliament in Ottawa.

If your MP does not want to read the petition, you can send it to other MPs who will. Follow up by asking when it will be read in Parliament, how it was received and a big thank you via snail mail, email, and social media. Please inform us in your monthly Citizens’ Climate Lobby field report if your petition has been read aloud in the House of Commons. It is considered to be outreach.  By informing the national office we can thank them on Twitter and Facebook.

Cabinet Ministers are not permitted to read petitions in the House of Commons as it would constitute a “conflict of interest”. Thus if your MP is a cabinet Minister you should inform him/her about the petition and ask if he or she could suggest another MP from your province who might read the petition instead.

Why parliamentary paper petitions? 
1. Parliamentary petitions educate MPs and build political will.
2. It gives MPs extra time to speak in the House of Commons (HoC) on top of their allotted time – which is important for re-election. They need to show leadership in the HoC.
3. They are a good litmus test for the acceptability of the language of the policy recommendation.
4. It publicly highlights climate champions interested in climate finance in the HoC and puts them on the record
5.  They help MPs find like-minded MPs interested in climate finance.
6. These petitions are very low-hanging fruit. Only 25-30 signatures are needed. And you can keep submitting them.

WE DID IT!
Please note this 2020 petition 2020 to the Government of Canada to Improve the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act was implemented.
CCLC Petition September 2020 ENGLISH (PDF)
CCLC Petition Septembre 2020 FRANCAIS (PDF)


PARLIAMENTARY E-PETITIONS 

These are the official e-petitions that are read in the House of Commons.

Online parliamentary petitions and any online petition are a lot of work. Here are the steps to go through to get one considered by our network.

  1. First, there must be buy-in from most of the CCL group leaders – especially from the Parliamentary Petition Team – the team that knows the intricate steps. 
  2. Then we need to form an eager National Action Team with clear job descriptions, and a step-by-step plan to attain 1000+++ signees. This is a multi-step process. 
  3. Join CCL Canada monthly calls if you ever have the idea to do an online Parliamentarian Petition and talk it over with your national colleagues. We row together. No one person makes decisions for national actions. 

We have successfully conducted three parliamentary e-petitions campaigns.

PARLIAMENTARY E-PETITION MARCH 22 2024 – CLOSED APRIL 21, 2024. In late March 2024, it came to our attention that someone had launched e-petition (#e2876 )in support of carbon pricing with MP Rachel Blaney. This person was not known to us but their petition was not gaining traction. So we determined we would support it and in one month we helped get 1492 signatueres on the petition. For comparison, a basic income e-petition launched January 29, 2024 and closed April 28, 2024 received 648 signatures. We organically grew our social media feeds by magnitudes during this campaign but it was a lot of work and unexpected too and we won’t do it again without a plan and considerations of our workflow.

PARLIAMENTARY E-PETITION APRIL 2020 – CLOSED AUGUST 18, 2020 On April 2020, 2020 CCL Canada launched an e-petition (#e2542) for improvements in the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. Nickel Belt MP Marc Serre (Liberal) sponsored the petition. It received 1249 signatures.

PARLIAMENTARY E-PETITION MAY 2016 – Closed On May 11, 2016, CCL Canada launched an e-petition (#e297)  for carbon fee and dividend. Beaches-East York MP Nathaniel Erskine Smith (Liberal) sponsored the petition. It received 898 signatures.


Lobbying Tool Kit

Lobbying Resources

 

 LASER TALKS FROM OCTOBER 2025 – NEED SOME UPDATING BUT PRETTY CLOSE – Check back in May for more complete resources

Maintain and strengthen industrial carbon pricing, with a steadily increasing national carbon price and increasing stringency in its application.

Fully implement the Canadian climate finance taxonomy framework and introduce a federal framework for a climate-aligned financial system in alignment with the 1.5C goal and the best practices cited above.

Common Messaging for all them


Check out the House of Commons Calendar to know when your MP will be in your riding to lobby.

We also recommend you bring any published media your group has generated and a list of signatories from your community to our Open Letter. If you are new to CCL you can bring our most recent editorial packet

 

 

How we plan our national actions

National Action Planning Policy

1. Role of Volunteers

Volunteers are CCL Canada’s most valued resource. Volunteer input informs nearly all national actions. The national office is committed to respecting volunteer time by offering actions that are strategic, achievable, and aligned with CCL’s mission to build political will for a liveable world.

2. Scope of National Office Responsibility

The national office does not direct, facilitate, or coordinate provincial, territorial, or other subnational actions. This reflects limited national capacity and the diverse political and organizational contexts across Canada.

3. Advance Planning

National actions are planned several months in advance. Planning is informed by volunteer reports, organizational priorities, and relevant provincial, national, and international developments.

4. Process for Proposing National Actions

4.1 Local Review
Proposed actions must first be discussed within the local team to assess interest and feasibility.

4.2 Submission to National Office
Proposals must be shared with the national office by emailing canada@citizensclimateclimate.org or by contacting the National Director. Proposals must include:

  • Supporting research
  • Proposed timelines
  • Defined roles and responsibilities

Proposals must demonstrate alignment with CCL Canada’s strategic goals, including efforts to reduce financial support for fossil fuels.

4.3 Feasibility and Capacity Assessment
Where sufficient capacity and commitment exist, proposals may be shared with the membership to assess interest. A national action team may be established to define timelines, roles, communications, and responsibilities for inclusion in action sheets.

4.4 Scheduling and Implementation
Approved actions are scheduled at a time that best aligns with subnational, national, and international developments.

5. Coordination Requirement

Actions requiring national office support or resources must not be initiated without prior approval from the national office.

5. Lobbying

We are focused in 2026 on two federal policies: industrial carbon pricing and climate-aligned finance.

CCL’s one and only rule is respect and admiration for service. Thanks for considering everyone’s service and workflow.

The Five Levers of Political Will

Our Five Levers of Political Will

These are the five core activities that all Citizens’ Climate Lobby chapters leverage to bring citizens into the political process and to ensure their contribution is constructive and makes more good possible. We call these activities the “levers of political will.”

  1. Lobbying: We train citizens how to lobby in support of policies that redirect finances away from fossil fuels by building friendly relationships with our federally elected representatives.
  2. Media relations: We train citizens how to engage with and influence the media. We write letters to the editors and op-eds, meet with editorial boards and work to place stories in all forms of media.
  3. Grassroots outreach: We recruit and educate the public on climate solutions, citizen advocacy and how to participate with one’s government.
  4. Grasstops outreach: We seek to educate, build partnerships with and gain the support of community leaders and non-governmental organizations, both nationally and locally.
  5. Chapter development: It is through the growth and management of the local CCL group/chapter, that it becomes possible to push on the other four levers for building political will.

Note we are not “against” anything: we are for carbon fee and dividend. Carbon pricing policies in Canada will be assessed using the following criteria available in English and in French.

Posters and Cartoons

Some of these may be dated for now but they might become relevant again. Enjoy!

Posters and infographics