Toronto – The Green Party of Canada platform for this federal election, if implemented, would devastate Canada’s oilpatch to the point of eventual annihilation– like the entire oilsands within 16 years. No drilling, no new pipelines, and fracking to be banned.
“We are in a climate emergency and politics-as-usual is leading us down a path we simply cannot survive,” said Elizabeth May. “The Green Party is proposing a course change, and we are ready to take the lead.”
Released on Sept. 16, the Green Party platform promises, “No new pipelines, or coal, oil or gas drilling or mining, including offshore wells, will be approved. Existing oil and gas operations will continue on a declining basis, with bitumen production phased out between 2030 and 2035. Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations will be banned outright due to impacts on groundwater quality, methane release and seismic activity.”
They would cancel the Trans Mountain Expansion Pipeline, instead spending the $10 to $13 billion cost to their “Canadian Grid Strategy.” This would involve implementing a national electrical grid, including connections between Manitoba and Ontario, and upgrading connections between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The Green Party promises to “Implement a major ramp-up of renewable electricity. By 2030, 100 per cent of Canada’s electricity will come from renewable sources. This includes getting remote and northern communities off diesel generators.”
As for orphaned wells, the Green Party promises to “Work with provincial governments to determine which orphaned oil and gas wells are geologically suited to produce geothermal energy. This will turn provincial liabilities into potential income-generating renewable energy, ideally in partnership with First Nations. Those with weaker geothermal energy potential may be used in district energy, including for greenhouses.”
That’s on the supply side of the energy equation. On the demand side, the platform promises to “Ban the sale of internal combustion engine passenger vehicles by 2030. They will expand charging stations for electrical vehicles.
Via Rail would be strengthened with regional rail networks and several 10-kilometre double tracks to “avoid bottlenecks where heavy freight pushes passenger rail to the siding.”
High speed rail would be implemented in the Toronto-Ontario-Quebec City triangle and from Calgary to Edmonton.
All passenger ferries would be converted to electric or hybrid systems by 2030.
Nitrogen fertilizer (generally made from natural gas) used in agriculture would be reduced.
New construction of buildings would require net-zero emissions by 2030.
The justification for all of this is given as such: “Since producing and burning fossil fuels is the largest source of emissions, we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground, and retool society to run on non-polluting, renewable energy sources. This is entirely possible, according to studies by the Stanford University researchers and the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project.”
The Green Party calls it “Mission: Possible.”
The platform press release states, “The climate crisis is the lens through which every policy envelope in the platform is viewed – the economy, health, education, foreign affairs, immigration, public safety, defence, social welfare, transportation. The policy framework is also designed to meet the linked challenges of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, climate stability, economic and social justice, and real democracy. It is grounded in science and expert analysis.”
