You can’t tackle Canada’s climate crisis in isolation.

That was one of the main messages to about 100 local residents who attended a Green New Deal town hall in Barrie May 21. The event, part of a chain of nearly 150 similar meetings taking place across the country, are intended to lead to the design of a plan to battle climate change.

Activists noted ending fossil fuel subsidies, reforming the electoral system and investing in low-carbon jobs and housing should be part of a comprehensive societal change that would ultimately contribute to a healthier environment.

“At the heart of the Green New Deal is the idea that we … need a vision that also addresses growing inequality, Indigenous rights and racism,” Sheetal Rawal, of The Leap Barrie, said. “The ideas we heard here tonight will help inform how we, as a country, can do that.”

The Leap movement hosted the event; input from the meeting will be used to identify and define principles for a national strategy.

“We don’t have time to wait,” Mike Speers, one of the event co-ordinators, said. “(Carbon dioxide) levels are skyrocketing and need to be brought down before it’s too late. One key part of a Green New Deal for Canada is the need to cut our emissions by at least half within the next 11 years. But we also need to make sure that it lifts up all of us and leaves no person or group behind.”

The Pact for a Green New Deal is a coalition of groups that includes several unions, Fight for $15 and Fairness, Greenpeace Canada and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. It was founded in Canada in May, following the release of a United Nations report on climate change and the outline of a similar environmentally-based plan by American Democrats Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey.

For more information, visit greennewdealcanada.ca.