And a Good Sunday Morning to you! I am in Halifax, here to give the Nova Scotia Greens a boost in the last days of this snap election. Liberals, NDP and Nova Scotia Greens were caught by surprise. Conservative Tim Houston became premier in 2021, and his first piece of legislation was to set a fixed election date. Nova Scotians were told the next election would be July 15, 2025. And just like Stephen Harper — who was the first to break his own fixed election date law back in 2008 — Houston became the first premier to violate his law. On October 27 he called an election for November 26.

Nova Scotia Green Leader Anthony Edmonds and a team of volunteers have been hard at work. Due to the strong presence of the NDP in NS, unlike Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick with no NDP MLAs, Nova Scotia does not have elected Green MLAs — yet. But the Green movement is strong here. Sharing a link to their thoughtful and comprehensive platform. It was fun to have media note that neither Poilievre nor Trudeau are welcome here, but both Singh and I are invited.

I am also here to pursue a federal Green priority — an upcoming federal by-election which Trudeau must call in about 100 days. The Halifax seat was vacated when former MP Andy Filmore resigned for a successful bid to become Mayor of Halifax.

I am heading out by train today, and will be back in Ottawa (Via Rail willing!) in time for Parliament tomorrow.

COP29 ran very late- ending very late Saturday (Canada ET). The cobbled together finance deal was widely condemned: Developing nations blast $300B COP29 climate deal as insufficient.

The conference was supposed to close on November 22. Held in a petrostate with an appalling record of ethnic cleansing, overwhelmed with fossil fuel lobbying, it was a dismal event. Below, some coverage of Baku and COP29 from the National Observer:

“Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev kicked off COP29 with a fiery speech, criticizing ‘Western fake news’ on greenhouse gas emissions, and calling oil and gas a ‘gift of God.’ Separately, days before the conference began, Azeri COP29 chief executive Elnur Soltanov was caught on video telling an undercover activist from Global Witness, posing as a representative from a fossil fuel company, that it would be developing oil and gas ‘perhaps forever.’

“Hosts of UN climate summits typically use the opportunity to highlight green investments and the importance of pulling off the monumental energy transition. Even if the host country is a major fossil fuel producer, like last year where the United Arab Emirates was revealed to be using the summit to cut new oil and gas deals on the sidelines, usually the host is looking to downplay its fossil fuel interests.

“The battle playing out at UN climate negotiations is fundamentally over the timeline to transition off fossil fuels. Scientists are clear that global emissions should be cut in half by 2030 to avoid crossing dangerous warming thresholds. But that consensus is often undermined by fossil fuel companies and their allies who argue a slower transition is more realistic, while at the same time promoting increased oil and gas production.

“Since last year’s summit — where countries agreed to transition off fossil fuels — oil and gas companies have gone on the offensive, according to InfluenceMap. Over the past year, the think tank tracked more than 100 fossil fuel companies and industry associations to uncover how they’re trying to derail climate action. It identified 2,400 instances where companies and industry associations advanced anti-transition narratives.

“Pushing narratives that cast doubt on clean solutions while trying to shift the focus to affordability and energy security, instead of climate change, is a key part of their strategy, according to the think tank. One example came earlier this year when Timothy Egan, the head of the Canadian Gas Association, told a right-wing summit in Hungary the energy transition away from fossil fuels is driven by an extreme “cult-like” ideological mission. Egan, whose organization represents major gas companies including Enbridge, TC Energy, FortisBC and others, is part of the Canadian delegation at COP29.

“Dr. Joe Vipond, a Calgary-based emergency doctor and past-president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) is in Azerbaijan keeping tabs on the oil and gas industry. Outside of the negotiating rooms, COP29 is packed with pavilions where countries, organizations, and others promote their efforts to respond to climate change.

“But not every pavilion is credible, Vipond said, pointing to that run by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), an oil cartel. Last year as countries were negotiating the need to phase out oil and gas, OPEC explicitly tried to derail the negotiations when it called on its member countries to reject any agreement that explicitly named fossil fuels.

“It exemplifies the greenwashing that’s happening at COP, that organizations such as OPEC are here trying to influence the negotiations,” Vipond said. “I for one think they should be treated like cigarette companies, and not be a part of the engagements that lead to the decrease of the use of their toxic products.”

“One of the things these events need is some robust controls over who is able to come,” he said.

“Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said in a phone interview with Canada’s National Observer there is a limited number of COP badges for delegates, and argued they should be given to people who want climate action, not perpetrators of the climate crisis. May and Green MP Mike Morrice opted not to attend COP29 in person because of Azerbaijan’s recent ethnic cleansing of Armenians.

“May doesn’t think fossil fuel lobbyists are having a significant influence on the Canadian government’s position while abroad — but rather that industry influence is already ‘baked in’ to Canada’s climate policy, as evidenced by policy decisions like adopting a net-zero by 2050 target to avoid upsetting the oilpatch.

“[Oil companies are] there to report back to their CEOs and headquarters where they think they can make progress with other countries. They’re much more likely to be in the hallways trying to do deals with developing countries, trying to stop things from moving ahead, trying to blunt language where they can,” explained May, who has attended 14 COPs.

“What they’re doing is likely trying to greenwash their brand by showing up at a climate conference, hosting events, splashing money around in an effort to improve their image and slow down the negotiations.”

“Regardless, having a lot of fossil fuel groups at these climate negotiations looks bad to casual observers and can lead to the harmful perception that climate COPs “don’t accomplish anything,” May said, adding that the negotiations “accomplish too little — but without them, we’d be in worse shape.”

Fossil fuel lobbyists have infiltrated the annual UN climate change negotiations, with Canadian oil and gas representatives significantly represented, an analysis of the official preliminary guest list reveals.

This year at least 32 Canadian representatives linked to fossil fuels are in Azerbaijan for the summit called COP29. The individuals represent the usual suspects — companies like Enbridge and Suncor, alongside lobby groups like the Pathways Alliance, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and First Nations LNG Alliance, as well as gas utilities like ATCO. The total number of identified oil and gas officials is lower than the 65 who attended last year’s conference in the United Arab Emirates, but is roughly proportional, given this year’s summit has significantly fewer people overall. Baku is hosting about 50,000 participants — half as many as last year.

Anti-environmental lobbying is not limited to fossil fuels.

Nuclear representatives include individuals from nuclear lobby groups, as well as individuals representing AtkinsRéalis (previously called SNC-Lavalin), a Montreal headquartered firm specializing in engineering and nuclear energy.

The persistent presence of fossil fuel representatives attending climate change negotiations has climate advocates deeply concerned given that the goal, at least on paper, is to dramatically slash emissions. Following years of oil and gas companies using their influence to slow climate action, advocates say it’s time to kick them out of the process.”

Baku may be the COP that breaks all COPs. It is time to use the Conferences of the Parties to hold parties to account for promises in negotiated agreements already in force – like the 2015 Paris agreement.

On Thursday in Question Period I had the rare chance to celebrate activists who were in the Gallery. Under our rules, only the Speaker can recognize distinguished visitors in the gallery, but we had a few dozen activists who rode the Peace Train to Ottawa. What a joy and inspiration to see the beating heart of a reinvigorated peace movement!  Thank you to Peace Train organizers — many from Vancouver Island!

Here is the clip of my question. Even Defence Minister Bill Blair told me later he was ready to sing “All we are saying, is give peace a chance!”

Thanks to all for your kind messages of support. Pray for peace. Visualize a fairer world. Then take up your tools of choice! Ballots and placards and petitions! Demonstrate, agitate for a healthy planet and a peaceable world.

Seeing you soon, I hope!

Love and thanks,

Elizabeth