OTTAWA – On the eve of the first meeting between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Green Party of Canada hopes that the United States will become a true partner in confronting the most pressing issues of our time.
The Prime Minister should raise the following key topics:
- Establishing a Canada-United States Carbon Border. This would incentivise other countries to adopt strong greenhouse gas emissions reduction policies, while enhancing the competitiveness of Canadian and U.S. businesses.
- Improved climate targets. With the U.S. rejoining the Paris Agreement, our two countries should jointly commit to setting and reaching a 60 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2030, with enforceable targets and accountability mechanisms.
- Cross-border renewable energy. The post-pandemic Green Recovery is the chance for Canada and the U.S. to modernise their shared energy infrastructure by investing in a 100 per cent renewable energy cross-border grid.
- Climate change as a national security threat. Canada can announce that it will join the U.S. in recognising the climate crisis as a national security threat, and appoint our own dedicated Climate Minister to serve as a counterpart to Special Envoy John Kerry.
- Banning Fracking – Both President Biden and the Prime Minister support hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Today, they can agree to ban this dangerous and polluting practice.
“We hope that the Prime Minister will also use this opportunity to understand why President Biden felt it was important to appoint a National COVID-19 Coordinator and to create a coordinated national pandemic response strategy – something that the Green Party of Canada believes Canada would benefit from and that we currently lack,” said Green Party Leader Annamie Paul.
“In addition to the climate, this meeting is a chance to set an ambitious agenda for the protection of human rights. A genocide is being perpetrated against the Uighur and other Muslim minorities by the Chinese government. The Prime Minister should seek to understand why President Biden’s Secretary of State has defined it as genocide, and to commit with the President to convening the international community at the earliest opportunity to develop a coordinated response. We must also seek President Biden’s support in helping to secure the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who have been arbitrarily detained for more than two years.”
Ms. Paul concluded that President Biden’s first meeting with the Prime Minister is a welcome opportunity to reset the relationship between Canada and the U.S. “The Prime Minister should be seeking to match President Biden’s decisive leadership on the climate crisis, and his progressive policy ideas. We have a chance to set a new direction, and that can start with this meeting,” she said.
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For more information or to arrange an interview:
Rosie Emery
Press Secretary
613-562-4916x206