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Good News! The Green Party of Canada's Position on the Tar Sands Has Changed! -
The official platform that was released today has reversed the party's long-standing support for the construction of new Tar Sands refineries. The document also makes no mention of moving Alberta's oil east and commits to shutting down the tar sands by the year 2035 at the latest! What a victory!
Thank you to all the Green Party members from coast to coast who spoke up to have these changes made! We did it!
These policy changes are a step in the right direction and I am overjoyed that Elizabeth May and her team listened to the grass roots membership and to the environmental movement on these very important issues.
The GPC is now opposed to the construction of refineries, opposed to bringing Tar Sands oil to eastern Canada and opposed to continuing Tar Sands extraction beyond 2035. While many environmentalists and I would have preferred a firm commitment to shut down the tar sands in a first governing mandate of the Greens, we have made significant progress in reforming the GPC policy on what is arguably the biggest environmental catastrophe in Canada.
The previous policy had included keeping the tar sands up and running beyond the year 2100, investing public funds in building oil refineries and explicit support for bringing Alberta's Tar Sands oil to eastern Canada. Those policies are now a thing of the past and we can be proud of the work that we have accomplished together.
Those who follow my politics know that I have been very active on this issue over the past few months. I spoke out, I travelled to the tar sands myself and I rallied Greens from across Canada to speak out against our party's support for the Tar Sands. The current policy is a huge improvement over the pervious one and it would never have happened if the membership had not spoken up the way that we did.
What I do find unfortunate about this whole situation is that despite changing her position, Elizabeth May has repeatedly attempted to attack my credibility by saying that I had « not read the platform. » Instead of reaching out to see how our two points of view could be reconciled, Elizabeth May refused all of my requests for dialogue and attempted to discredit me in the national media before ultimately adopting almost the exact policy that I and other Greens had been advocating for. It did not have to be this way.
Politics can be messy. Especially when you stand for something. I knew this going into it and today I am more determined than ever to continue to working with progressive Green Party members from coast to coast to coast in order to build the Green Party of Canada into a true eco-socialist, progressive, feminist and inclusive organization.
Together there is no limit to what we can achieve!
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this victory! 💕
In solidarity,
Alex Tyrrell B.Sc. Env
Leader of the Green Party of Quebec
