Sudbury Liberal candidate Viviane Lapointe says her party’s plan to combat climate change is “one of the most comprehensive climate actions plans in the world” and the Grits are ready to work with young people to make it happen.
“Climate justice is about my generation’s responsibility to protect the rights of youth and future generations to a safe climate future and a clean environment,” Lapointe said. “We here in Sudbury know a lot about the benefits a healthy, green environment provides, and we have a lot of leadership to share about planting trees and protecting biodiversity.”
Lapointe said it’s thanks to the work of young local climate activists that the City of Greater Sudbury voted to declare a climate emergency in May 2019. A re-elected Liberal government will work to keep those efforts moving forward, Lapointe said and will “support and strengthen the local initiatives outlined in Greater Sudbury’s new Community Energy and Emissions Plan.”
“Our climate change plan, like Sudbury’s Community Energy and Emissions Plan, will need everyone to get behind it,” Lapointe said. “I am proud the federal Liberal government is working with communities such as Sudbury on building a stronger future.”
She also highlighted the federal government’s commitment to planting two billion trees by partnering with families, neighbourhoods, schools, businesses and industries, as well as the federal government’s recent promise to provide $50,000 to the City of Greater Sudbury to plant 50,000 more trees in Sudbury.
“I’m looking forward to building more of these relationships,” Lapointe said. “For decades to come, generations of Canadians will recognize the importance of our climate action commitments. Our country, our planet, and our kids and grandkids will be better off because of it. As your MP, I will work with you to continue that legacy as we build our low-carbon future together.”
A Liberal government promises to:
- Exceed Canada’s Paris Agreement target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030;
- Improve the quality of the environment (which acknowledges and supports the incredibly important work of local groups like Coalition for a Livable Sudbury);
- Support low-carbon and active transportation (e.g., transit, cycling, etc);
- Plant trees and protect forests and grasslands, crucial this year as we see the impacts of the devastating wildfires in western Canada and northwestern Ontario;
- Invest the tax revenues and any profit from the sale of the Trans Mountain Pipeline in natural climate solutions and clean energy projects.
