There will, of course, be those who argue against the idea of a specific debate on climate change. Some won’t want it because they continue to downplay the importance — or existence — of a climate crisis. Others will argue it’s just one issue among many. However, as demonstrated by the thousands of people who turned out to still-growing conversations about a made-in-Canada Green New Deal, people concerned about climate change refuse to see it as a single issue. That’s because it isn’t a single-issue crisis.



Climate change cuts across every aspect of our lives and our politics. You can’t talk about the economy without talking about who has a plan to take care of workers as the world moves off of fossil fuels. You can’t talk about foreign policy without talking about the Paris Agreement, nor the global scale of the climate crisis. You can’t talk about Indigenous rights and reconciliation without addressing how climate is impacting Indigenous Peoples first and hardest — further compounding the crises these communities are already facing. You can’t talk about health, education nor so many other issues without recognizing a heating planet makes acting on all of these that much more challenging and complex. At the end of the day, it’s up to the CBC’s senior management how they fulfil their public responsibility. But, as our public broadcaster, it’s up to us to hold them to the highest standard possible. That’s why on July 17, people will be rallying at CBC studios across Canada during the 6 o’clock news to demand a climate debate. Because this is an emergency, and our public institutions, including the CBC, better start acting like it.

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