Green Party Leader Elizabeth May had a wealth of praise and criticism for the Vancouver Declaration on Clean Growth and Climate Change, signed by the prime minister and premiers yesterday during a seven-hour meeting behind closed doors.
The new framework committed each of the provinces to some kind of carbon pricing scheme, but did not name a minimum price per tonne of CO2. It also holds them to investments in green infrastructure and transit, advancing vehicle electrification, fostering regional plans for clean electricity transmission, and improving efforts to reduce dependence on diesel in Indigenous, remote, and northern communities.
Canada will now establish four working groups to report on how such initiatives could move forward at a regional level with a deadline in October 2016. In the fall, the premiers and prime minister will meet again to develop a more specific pan-Canadian strategy for tackling climate change.
National Observer caught up with Elizabeth May at the 2016 Globe Series in Vancouver, B.C., and she was happy to add her voice to the chorus of NDP and Conservative environmental critics who have already given their take on the declaration.
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