Canadian Government Is Set To Declare That Climate Change Is A National Emergency

Climate change has been the talk of the nation for the past couple of weeks. With mass flooding occurring throughout Ontario and Quebec, it's hard not to mention the effects that climate change is damaging our planet. Today, the Canadian Government is debating on if they should declare a national climate emergency. 

According to Global News, if this motion goes through, the Government would be declaring that climate change is a 'real and urgent crisis' that impacts Canadians across the country. 

However, this motion is more directed to the politicians throughout Canada that is for the citizens. CTV News states that this motion was put forward by Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna and is directed towards Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer. 

McKenna states that conservative politicians such as Doug Ford and Andrew Scheer do not think that climate change is an emergency that needs to be addressed. She states that these politicians are not trying to move the nation towards a cleaner future, and are instead "trying to take us back in time,". 

This motion, if passed through, will force these politicians to acknowledge the real dangers of climate change and work towards giving Canada a cleaner and greener future, which in turn will affect policies and the lives of Canadians. 

This climate emergency motion also states that if passed, Canada needs to "commit to meeting its national emissions target under the Paris agreement".

Declaring that Canada is in a climate emergency will make climate change a top priority for the government. However, there will be no policy changes if it is approved. A normal citizen will likely not see their day to day lives change if an emergency is declared. 

Canada isn't the only country pursuing a climate emergency motion. Over the past month, the UK and Ireland have both declared that their countries are in a climate emergency. 

Here, this motion to declare a climate emergency across Canada comes after the recent flooding that has been occurring throughout the country. For example, multiple cities throughout Ontario, such as Ottawa, had been forced to declare a state of emergency as water continues to rise. This was also the case in Quebec and New Brunswick recently. 

The motion for climate emergency will be debated throughout the day today, it is still unclear when it will come to a vote. The NDP has also tabled another climate motion that asks the Liberal Party to abandon their pipeline project.