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The Green New Deal, catching fire in America, is the kind of policy plan that Canadian unions could loudly champion.\u00a0<\/strong>Photo via the Sunrise Movement.<\/p>\r\n By\u00a0<\/strong>Matt Price<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0writing for<\/strong>\u00a0TheTyee.ca<\/strong><\/p>\r\n Matt Price is author of the book\u00a0Engagement Organizing: The Old Art And New Science Of Winning Campaigns<\/a>\u00a0with UBCPress.<\/p>\r\n Canada\u2019s unions need to play a much larger leadership role on climate change, not just because it\u2019s also about economic policy that directly affects the livelihood of their members, but also because there\u2019s a good chance we won\u2019t get where we need to go without them helping to get things done.<\/p>\r\n Recent job losses in Oshawa and Alberta share a common denominator \u2014 the internal combustion engine. It\u2019s a marvellous invention that powers our society, but turns out it\u2019s also driving our life-support systems to their breaking point. We have no choice but to replace it, and fast.<\/p>\r\n We\u2019ve known this for decades, and we\u2019ve also known that a combination of new technology (like electrification) and old policy (like public transport) can effectively eliminate internal combustion engine use, but we\u2019ve been too slow to redesign our economy around this emerging new reality.<\/p>\r\n We Canadians talk a good game about moving to where the puck is going, but we sure don\u2019t act like it.\u00a0 If we did, then the $9-billion automaker bailout in 2009 would have looked different, insisting that automakers shift rapidly towards making low or no emission vehicles in Oshawa and other Canadian cities.<\/p>\r\n \u00a0Join us and grow independent\u00a0media in\u00a0Canada<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\r\n We recently followed that up with a $4.5-billion purchase of an old oil pipeline, doubling down on the dying internal combustion engine economy rather than helping Alberta\u2019s workers transition to what\u2019s next.<\/p>\r\n These large public expenditures show that Canadians governments are willing to spend big when there\u2019s a perceived crisis.\u00a0 That\u2019s good for temporarily protecting existing jobs and the families who depend on them, but unless it sets us up for where the puck is going, it\u2019s not good for creating and keeping new jobs, particularly when other countries \u2014 our competitors \u2014 are skating well ahead of us.<\/p>\r\n And it\u2019s not just cars and oil. Every aspect of our society and economy will need rapid retooling to virtually eliminate emissions over the next 30 years. The implications for workers and how they are organized are massive.<\/p>\r\n Canadian labour has been relatively quiet during the current climate debate, probably because it has been so limited to carbon pricing, which feels a step removed from traditional union issues. But what if the debate was explicitly recast as about creating good new jobs on a massive scale, about creating a just new economy, and about taking care of people through the transition?<\/p>\r\n READ MORE\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\r\n READ MORE\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\r\n That\u2019s the premise behind the proposed\u00a0Green New Deal<\/a>\u00a0being championed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and many others in America. It\u2019s catching fire precisely because it\u2019s a bold plan equivalent to the scale of the challenge while proactively combining the creation of new jobs with the reduction of emissions.<\/p>\r\n It\u2019s the kind of plan that unions could loudly champion, putting them at the forefront of not only helping to secure a livable planet for everyone, but also of charting what Canada\u2019s economy will transition to over the coming decades and putting workers in the driver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\r\n Clayton Thomas-M\u00fcller has\u00a0written<\/a>\u00a0about what an equivalent initiative could look like in Canada, and about the importance of doing this in full partnership with Indigenous peoples. Also, the\u00a0Blue Green Alliance<\/a>\u00a0has been working for years in Canada on the types of ideas and policies that could serve as its foundation.<\/p>\r\n But what\u2019s needed is a scale of ambition by Canada\u2019s unions that\u2019s unprecedented \u2014 a large, well-funded, and well-coordinated campaign in all corners of the country. It would be an opportunity for unions to go on offence for a change, rather than just fighting rear guard actions against conservative governments. And it could help promote solidarity and unity both within labour and with a wide range of other actors.<\/p>\r\nOn climate change, workers shouldn\u2019t be left behind \u2014 they should lead the way.<\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Act or be acted on.<\/h4>\r\n
The\u00a0Tyee\u00a0is\u00a0supported by\u00a0readers\u00a0like\u00a0you<\/a><\/h3>\r\n
Act or be acted on. What is the role of Canada\u2019s unions in this transition? Who gets to chart the course and make the decisions? How are we going to ensure that workers aren\u2019t just left behind, but are helping lead the way?<\/h4>\r\n
\u2018There Are No Jobs on a Dead Planet\u2019<\/h5>\r\n
\u2018Great Step Forward\u2019 Says Horgan of BC\u2019s New Climate Plan<\/h5>\r\n