Good Sunday Morning,

In this video, addressing the Prime Minister's Youth Council, Justin Trudeau responds to the question of what exactly he wants out of a national youth policy: "Well the fact is, as I've said to you, and I know the team has said to you, we want you to tell me what Canada needs to have as a national youth policy." Well last week these passionate young Canadians advised the Prime Minister on a very important issue.

"More than a dozen current and former members of the Prime Minister’s Youth Council are calling on Justin Trudeau to halt the federal government’s announced $4.5-billion buyout of the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan", reports CTV News. “The decision to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline project calls into question your commitment to young Canadians,” the letter says. “It is youth who will be disproportionately affected by the devastating consequences of a warming world, and yet you did not sufficiently consult before taking a decision that has profound and irreversible consequences for youth in Canada and around the world.”

Good Sunday Morning,

Well over a thousand people have contributed time and/or money locally to support Elizabeth in her efforts to fundamentally change politics in Canada. For decades Elizabeth has spoken truth to power. She has written books and made people weep with her oratory. And it always comes from a place deep inside, a place of values and principle, a place that's rooted in her past but also embraces a beautiful future for all.

Next Saturday many of these supporters who share Elizabeth's passion for a better world, will gather for our annual summer picnic. These are regular people, with gardens to tend, bills to pay, grandchildren to love and careers to build. Like so many who are part of a growing, global, movement, they know that in addition to living their own lives, their contribution to the greater community is vital. And they find solace and sanctuary with those that share their commitment, Elizabeth's commitment, to building a bright, bold and beautiful future for everyone.

Good Sunday Morning,

"It can't be done!" In one form or another that's the argument anyone gets who dares challenge the status quo. From the Prime Minister, to a lowly canvasser, if you want to bring about real change that's the argument that confronts you.

Elizabeth has faced that argument since she stood up against the powerful interests of Nova Scotia's forest industry back in the 1970s. She had an incredible mentor. Her mom, deeply embedded in the movement to stop nuclear testing, believed that there is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't insist on taking the credit.

Good Sunday Morning,

We live in an amazing country. Statistically we enjoy some of the highest standards of living in the world. We are wealthy. And yet, we struggle to offer basic support services to vast segments of our population. Most Canadians are too busy trying to make ends meet (or have lost faith in the political process entirely) to engage and solve these challenges, let alone address climate change. Throughout society, but especially among young people, there is a strong sense of cynicism that the game is rigged.

This week saw a stunning upset south of the border that is cause for hope. CNN Reports that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez "worked as a community organizer and, eventually, with economic stresses rooted in the recession and the loss of her father taking hold, began low-wage, long-hour work at restaurants to help support her family. During the 2016 presidential season, she worked as an organizer for Sen. Bernie Sanders, who ran in the Democratic primary. In 2017, Ocasio-Cortez launched her campaign to unseat Crowley, the powerful Democrat who chairs the party in Queens County."

Good Sunday Morning,

So I usually get a few emails every week as feedback to my missive. Most are supportive and thankful. Some are critical. And some just teach me how to correct my grammar or become a better speller. All are appreciated. Thank you.

Last Sunday the first comment went something like this: "It is so very hard to have a "happy father's day" when so much negativity prevails in your rants.......I also think it must be very hard for you to gather, week after week, so much dark and dangerous details of what is happening around us that the clouds are so heavy and monstrous no warmth or brightness exists, even when we are living during a time when we are experiencing the longest day of the year --- at least in the northern hemisphere. Is there not room for hope and positive energetic comments?"

The answer? "Yes, of course there is!" So I decided to celebrate the seemingly endless daylight hours, the plump raspberries in the garden and the official beginning of summer, with some good news stories and announcements. Let's do the announcements first.

SGI Event: You can now participate in GPC policy discussion online. On Tuesday evening we are holding a special video conference for members of the Green Party of Canada living in Saanich-Gulf Islands. We'll discuss the policy proposals that are currently being prioritized by a full membership vote. This is part of a new and unique process that allows all members to discuss the merit of motions under consideration and express their view about the relative importance of each motion. Participatory democracy in action...

Good Sunday Morning,

In this week's report from the Hill, Elizabeth's staff wrote: "Midnight sittings in the House continued this week. Seizing every opportunity to speak before the summer recess, Elizabeth made almost three dozen interventions on climate change, pipelines, carbon pricing, the Fisheries Act, the Environmental Protections bill, and cannabis legalization."

In one of them Elizabeth said this: "It has been a while since we remembered in this chamber the cost of inaction. Just to fill out some details, Sir Nicholas Stern is not only a British economist, he was the chief economist for the World Bank and was commissioned by the chancellor of the exchequer in the U.K. to estimate the cost of the failure to take action on climate change. He estimated it as being an economic hit globally that would be the equivalent of the Great Depression and the world wars put together. That was in 2006. In 2016, he said, 'I should have been much stronger… I underplayed the dangers.' We are at a cusp right now. We need to do the right thing for the climate before 2020. We cannot wait until 2030. Our current target is the leftover one from Stephen Harper. We have to actually ramp up and do much more."

We can not wait until 2030 because we are confronting a double peril. Not only will we face the devastating impact of climate change on our economy but the realization of what we have done will cause a collapse in the oil sector and perhaps the auto industry. The government we elect in 2019 needs to get it right.

Mike Schreiner will go to Queens Park!!! Mike shares a birthday with Elizabeth and both of their birthday wishes have come true. It took just 20 minutes after the polls closed to make the call. With a convincing lead over the other candidates in his riding, he made history by being the first Green MMP to be elected to Ontario’s legislature. He now officially joins the ranks of elected Greens across the country who put principle before power and people before partisanship. But like it was for Elizabeth in 2011, it is a bittersweet victory as Premier-elect Doug Ford boasts of his false majority.

When the waitress at one of our favourite restaurants is asked about the election outcome, she brushes it off. “I don’t follow that.” She dismisses the question as if it were about just another competitive sport. Which it has become. A spectator sport that in the minds of too many Canadians is increasingly irrelevant and only worth watching once every four years. A sport that even if you do engage, revolves around the objective of blocking the opponents advancement, doing what you can to tackle them and pile on them, before they are able to pass the ball forward.

Good Sunday Morning,

On Friday I received a text. While carpooling to the the BC Green's convention someone asked: "What does it mean to be Green?" As I assembled the video links and articles for today's blog, the answer popped out at me. Being Green is about having the courage to believe in people. To believe that people, working together, listening to each other, holding each other to account, being honest with each other, can forge a beautiful future together.

We don't believe that we have all the answers. What we do believe is that to find good answers we have to ask the right questions first. And we have to ask them of the right people. Not just the insiders or the lobbyists. Not just the pundits and strategists. But people outside our bubble, the silent voices of future generations, and those who can not speak for themselves. Being Green is to have the courage to understand more than our own self interest and to reach beyond our own comfort zone and embrace a beautiful future for everyone.

We are less than a week away from the Ontario election this Thursday. Mike Schreiner is poised to make history by being the first Green to be elected to the Ontario Legislature. And you can help. If you feel that the voice of reason, the voice of the future, needs to be represented in our most populous province, you can simply email [email protected] and offer to volunteer. In short order, with a little training, you will be set up to make phone calls for Mike right from your home computer. 

Good Sunday Morning,

We are less than a week away from the deadline Kinder Morgan has set to allow it to pull the plug on this project without risking default on their credit obligations. As Robyn Allan explained again on Bloomberg last week Kinder Morgan probably can't afford the Trans Mountain expansion and there is no way anyone else can take over the project without buying them out completely. If that happens, Kinder Morgan will have successfully shed a dying asset before it is deemed worthless.

One of the triggers that Robyn points to that will make it worthless is a new IMO 2020 regulation, coming into effect in only three years. It will reduce sulfur emissions among the biggest consumers of heavy oil. Well Resources Inc. effectively made the case for refining or upgrading in Alberta when it had this to say back in October of last year:

Good Sunday Morning,

Has the federal government — along with certain provincial governments — been captured by Canada’s energy sector? That's a question asked by Bruce Livesey in this analysis published last week.

Bruce writes: "Kevin Taft, a former leader of Alberta’s Liberal Party (2004-08) believes so. He’s the author of a new book, Oil’s Deep State. 'In Canada, the fossil fuel industry has captured really key democratic institutions and in some ways has captured so many of them that it has formed what I call a deep state,' explains Taft. 'So democracy stops functioning for the people and begins to function first and foremost for the fossil fuel industry.

"Those who believe the oil industry has become a deep state point to how the political elites, whether Liberal, Conservative or NDP — from Justin Trudeau to Stephen Harper to Rachel Notley — go to bat for the industry, even if it means Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions rise and jobs are needlessly lost. Or how Canada has never forced the oil industry to curb emissions — even as the impacts of global warming become more catastrophic. And why Canada is highly unlikely to reach its targets under the Paris climate agreement.

He quotes Elizabeth May to underscore his point: “As things now stand, there is no chance in the world that Canada is aimed towards our Paris targets.”