What are the most personal causes that stir the hearts of our nation’s political leaders? The Star asked the leaders of Canada’s major political parties to share the issues that move them deeply. In the second of a series, we look at the importance of fighting climate change, the cause chosen by federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. May spoke with the Star about why she chose the topic and what she’s doing to address the issue.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Why is this election so critical when it comes to fighting climate change?

It’s our last chance. I know that sounds like it could be hyperbole but if we are going to ensure a livable biosphere — a level of climate change and climate emergency which we are capable of surviving — that decision and the decisions made politically have to happen before the next Canadian federal election. That’s not just speaking of us, that’s global. In terms of Canada as a democracy, what course are we setting for getting through the climate emergency and getting out the other side intact? It’s now or never.

How do you envision Canada moving away from fossil fuels?

Happily and drastically. Our strategy is called Mission Possible. We do think it’s like a moon shot — when John F. Kennedy said we’re going to put a man on the moon, no one quite saw how, and there wasn’t any technology to support him. Fortunately for Greens, there’s a lot of technology, there’s a lot of research, we know what we’re doing, we know that the steps Canada needs to take start with decarbonizing our electricity grid, so that 100 per cent of all the electricity across this country is from renewable energy sources, and the grid is more robust and can deliver more electricity faster, so we can decarbonize our transportation sector, getting us out of internal combustion engine vehicles and into electric vehicles.

So step by step by step. And then we ramp down production of fossil fuels in Canada, starting by limiting the imports that we now get from the United States, from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria, so that we can spread out, by a couple years more, how long it takes to get fossil fuel sector workers in Canada into new industries. It’s doable, it’s feasible. We can’t afford not to do it.

What happens to the people who now work in the fossil fuel industries?

They work in desperately needed jobs, to the extent that it’s possible, in their own communities. We have to work with communities. You listen to workers. You don’t tell them “this is what’s about to happen to you.” The principles and values of how this is approached is well set out in the (2018 report on Just Transition for Canadian Coal Power Workers and Communities) that was a commission of inquiry set up by the government. They haven’t yet committed to it. It needs about $400 million to implement for coal workers. That’s in our platform and our budget. We’re very committed to just transition for workers. And we really support the trade union movement. There’s been a decline in how many unionized workers we’ve had in Canada and that’s worrying.

What types of work would these people be transitioning to?

Same skill sets for the most part. People who are good at maintaining a deep oil well will also be very helpful in converting it to a geothermal green energy source. People who have been laying pipe, it’s the same skill as putting up a wind turbine. God, we don’t have nearly enough skilled carpenters, electricians, plumbers for the work that needs to be done in taking every single building in Canada and making it carbon-zero, a net-neutral building, by improving insulation, modernizing furnaces, improving the geothermal possibilities, heat pumps.

We have the technology to make every building in Canada net-zero for carbon and it will take more workers than we have to get that done. And the work that’s done will reduce the cost of living for every single Canadian because you will basically not be having to pay for heating your home in the winter by nearly what we’re paying now.

What do you say to voters who worry that climate change policies could hurt the economy? What about people who worry they will individually bear the brunt of the cost?

The first thing is think about your grandchildren. What would you spend right now to ensure your grandchild has a livable life, a livable world when they’re your age? I can see people deciding, “Do I have to sell my house now? What do I do?”

Now, the reality is, it won’t cost people personally to make this transition. The fossil fuel lobby has been very successful in convincing individuals that somehow they’ve got something to lose by saving ourselves. We have everything to gain. There’s a huge economic opportunity in moving away from fossil fuels to the new technologies that are already invented and ones we can’t even imagine yet. There are a lot of cool new technologies coming along that Canadians will love. It’s not a hardship to plug your car into your house because your car is fuelled by the solar panels on your roof instead of waiting to get gas at a gas pump where the price changes every day, not because of carbon pricing but just because of the fossil fuel industry, we all suspect, is definitely maximizing their profit every time you turn around. Well, the sun can’t maximize its profit. Once you got a solar panel on a roof, energy is free. Once we convert our entire electricity grid to green and renewable energy, cost of living goes down. This is all quite doable. So people shouldn’t fear the changes that are necessary. What we should be afraid of is what happens if we don’t make the changes.

What role do you see for individual action to fight climate change? How do you motivate people to plant a tree or cut down on plastics if, according to climate change scientists, governments and corporations aren’t doing enough for those individual actions to have much of an impact?

Individual actions are important because in any democracy, citizens need to feel agency. If you feel powerless, totally powerless, it’s psychologically dangerous. It contributes to alienation, it contributes to people feeling cynical about politics. But I always say to people, yes, by all means, shrink your carbon footprint, but grow your political footprint. Because if all we do is wonderful personal actions — becoming vegan, selling your car, taking public transit all the time — it won’t make any difference without the large changes.

But that’s not to say it isn’t important, because it inspires by example, it encourages community, it sends our kids the right message. It’s kind of like saying when children got their parents to stop smoking, it made a difference house by house. But it didn’t make nearly the difference it made when governments started putting notices on cigarette packages and municipalities started creating spaces that are no smoking spaces within restaurants. Change happens, and it comes bottom up and it comes top down, so we need both.

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What role do you see Canada playing on the international stage when it comes to fighting climate change?

There was a time, a very long time ago when we were in the lead. June 1988, Toronto hosted the first global scientific conference. I helped organize it. We were playing a really good role. It’s been a long time since we’ve been in the lead. (Former prime minister) Stephen Harper’s policies moved us to the back of the room in terms of industrialized countries and what we’re prepared to do. And tragically, even though Justin Trudeau understands the issue far better than Stephen Harper, or Andrew Scheer for that matter, he has held firm to the Harper target, which means everything we’ve done is wholly inadequate. Even if we hit the current target, that’s half of what we have to do. We have to make dramatic changes. Once we are on a trajectory to accomplish our fair share of what needs to be done, our role in the world and our voice in the world really matters.

There is an annual negotiation, a critical climate summit coming up Sept. 23, hosted by the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Because of our election, Canada is unlikely to be there, but I think the prime minister should go and all of us opposition party leaders should go and say we are one country, this is not partisan and we are doubling our climate target right now and calling on leaders around the world to improve their targets so that our collective effort is consistent with holding to no more than 1.5 C global average temperature increase.

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