OTTAWA – Green Party Leader Elizabeth May has named Paul Falvo, candidate for Northwest Territories, as critic for the Arctic on the party’s Shadow Cabinet. The Shadow Cabinet develops positions based on policies adopted by Green Party membership.
A graduate of Royal Roads Military College, Paul Falvo served in the Navy before moving to the Northwest Territories in 2001. He was a member of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary and a firefighter In Yellowknife. Today, he is president elect of the Yellowknife True North Rotary Club. Mr. Falvo’s work for the past 18 years has taken him to communities across Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
“The Liberal government declared a climate emergency then bought a pipeline the next day,” said Mr. Falvo. “We shouldn’t be surprised they waited four years to release their Arctic policy, then dissolved parliament the next day. It confirms the North is low on their task list. Their Arctic framework has good words and good ideas but coming as it did on the last day of their mandate, it’s clearly a campaign move from a desperate government that has lost our trust.”
Canada's Changing Climate Report commissioned by Environment and Climate Change Canada, reports that since 1948 Canada's annual average temperature over land has warmed 1.7 C, with higher rates seen in the North, the Prairies and northern British Columbia. The report also stated that northern Canada is heating up at almost three times the global average.
“Paul is committed to working for northerners and to making sure their special circumstances and needs are known at the federal level,” said Ms. May.“He will be a great advocate for the Arctic and the people who live there.”
Well-known in Yellowknife for organizing downtown litter clean-ups, Mr. Falvo thinks globally and works every day to put his values into action locally. He observes that living in the north makes the climate crisis personal. “We are seeing the effects faster and more deeply than any other part of Canada. As a Green MP I will do everything in my power to stem that.”
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For more information or to arrange an interview contact:
Rosie Emery
Press Secretary
613-562-4916x206
rosie.emery@greenparty.ca