By Deirdre Pike, SSND Associate
Earlier this spring, I had the privilege of travelling to Ottawa for a climate justice advocacy effort on Canada’s Parliament Hill. Working with the Office of Religious Congregations for Integral Ecology (ORCIE), I was one of eight people of various congregations who made the trip to the capital for 3 days.
We spent one full day traveling between the offices of members of parliament and senior policy advisors on the environment and climate change, addressing them about our policy brief which focussed on ending the fossil fuel era and reducing emissions and the carbon footprint of oil and gas companies.
They were all keen to understand how integral ecology, the practice of working for policy changes that contribute to relationships of solidarity with people and the cosmos, can help move their work forward.
Before that day, we had an afternoon of deepening our learning about the issues and determining who would address which parts in our meetings. These are very tightly scheduled conversations, and it is important to be prepared.
Thanks to Genevieve Gallant, the full-time staff person for ORCIE, we were well-versed for the day. There were two groups of lobbyists. I was in the good and smart company of Sue Wilson, Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph Canada (CSJ); Heather Rousselle, an associate of the Congregation of Notre Dame; and Genevieve Gallant, ORCIE. The other group was comprised of Joan Atkinson, CSJ; Joe Gunn, executive director of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate Justice Centre; Darlene O’Leary, justice ministry coordinator for the Sisters of St. Martha; and Sabrina Chiefari, the creation care animator for the Sisters of St. Joseph, Toronto.
Meeting with the Environment Critic for the New Democrats, Laurel Collins, MP (Member of Parliament), Victoria, we learned how she centered Indigenous voices in the calls for divestment from fossil fuels. She asked for our support in her effort to ensure grants for low-income retrofits and the passing of the Climate-Aligned Finance Act, put forward by Senator Rosa Galvez.
In our meeting with Rob Oliphant, an MP from Ontario in the Liberal government, we gained a commitment from him to raise the issue of the fossil fuel emissions goal being too low for Canada’s most polluting sector at a caucus meeting with the prime minister and cabinet.
During a breakfast meeting hosted by Above Ground, a human rights organization, we heard from Elizabeth May, MP and leader of Canada’s Green Party, that the Trans-Canada Pipeline scheduled to start up by July 1st (Canada Day) must be stopped or we will have 800 tankers a year traversing our waters. She described climate justice work as “difficult and soul destroying.”
That is why it is essential that the Religious Congregations in Canada continue to band together in support of the Office for Integral Ecology. It is “difficult and soul-destroying” work for the people in power who are on the side of right. They need to know they have both the prayerful and intellectual support of the sisters, brothers, and priests in Canada, along with thousands of Catholics they work with, live with, and pray with within their communities.
