Please add your name to my letter to Prime Minister Trudeau.
Dear Prime Minister,
As crashing demand and a global price war push Big Oil out of the oil sands, it is time to look at the facts. Oil is on the way out and renewables are the future.
During the election campaign, millions of Canadians put their trust in us to guide the country to zero carbon emissions. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a devastating event. Tens of thousands have died around the world. Our economy has been rocked as it has not been since the second World War. We need to pull together.
The best advice we have, from expert reviews such as that released by the Oxford Review of Economic Policy this week, is that the most effective economic strategies post-pandemic will be in renewable energy and massive efforts in retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency.
Any stimulus money for oil companies would be irresponsible and short-sighted. As well, it would be a violation of Canada's 2009 pledge to the G-20 and the Liberal campaign pledges from 2015 to end subsidies to fossil fuels. Please heed the advice of the world's leading economists, such as Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, energy experts, environmentalists, scientists, Indigenous leaders and Canadians from across the country.
Lead us to a future beyond oil before it is too late.
We need to retool our industry, retrain our workers and ensure that all the COVID-19 recovery stimulus goes to companies that have a chance of supporting our economy in the long term.
Canada needs to give workers and communities dependent on fossil fuels the opportunity to put their vast skills and knowledge into the transition to renewable, responsible energy.
Respectfully,
Elizabeth May. O.C.
Member of Parliament
Parliamentary Leader
Green Party of Canada