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December 6th, 2018

Climate change: beyond partisanship

OTTAWA - On Thursday, at the initiative of Pierre Nantel, Member of Parliament for Longueuil - St-Hubert, three opposition parties asked their Liberal and Conservative colleagues to depoliticize the climate issue. Their goal is to form a common climate front, a collective war effort to fight global warming.
During COP24, the leaders of the NDP, Bloc Québécois and Green Party reached out to the government and the Official Opposition, inviting them to join forces to meet our climate targets. The three leaders propose that the Prime Minister holds a meeting of all party leaders in January 2019, or as soon as possible upon Parliament's return, to agree on non-partisan climate actions.
This follows Pierre Nantel's open letter to all party leaders, inviting them to put aside partisanship and together appoint a non-partisan climate change war minister.
“We are facing a crisis, an emergency, and that is why I proposed to all parties to join forces,” said Pierre Nantel. “A partisan and electoral approach will waste too much time. The most important thing is to depoliticize the climate issue and make it an absolute priority for everyone.”
“Combating global warming is a priority worldwide and we have proposed concrete and achievable solutions,” said Jagmeet Singh. “It is clear that today, we must come together. Canadians expect us to live up to their expectations.”
“This is a serious time. We no longer have the luxury of partisanship. We have a responsibility, both collectively and individually, to act now to address the climate crisis and that is why the Bloc Québécois is responding to this call,” added Mario Beaulieu.
“I am so pleased to see all my colleagues in the House of Commons working together on this issue,” said Elizabeth May. “I am pleased to see all parties reaching out to the Prime Minister to ensure that we become leaders in the fight against climate change.”