As current and former mayors and councillors from coast to coast to coast, we support your call for Canada to become an energy superpower, and to take immediate action on nation-building projects that strengthen our economy, are a high priority for Indigenous Nations and contribute to Canada’s objectives with respect to climate change. 

During the election, we sent an open letter to all federal party leaders calling for exactly that. The letter, signed by over 250 local elected leaders (and counting) is attached here, for your reference.

We know first hand the importance of supporting a Made in Canada economy that supports safe and prosperous communities. We are on the front lines of the growing risks to this safety and prosperity as climate-caused disasters threaten, harm, and even destroy the places we live. Indeed, your meeting with the Premiers occurred against a backdrop of climate-induced wildfires in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario, where today more than 225 fires are burning, 100 of them are out of control. Tens of thousands have been evacuated. Our communities are at serious risk, again. And again, Indigenous communities are first and most impacted, forced to leave their lands. Canadian wildfire smoke has reached as far as Greece, and is a serious health hazard across central Canada and the United States. 

We cannot normalize this. 

We cannot—as leaders and as a country—continue to deny the severity of these risks by investing in ways that make the problem worse. We can make Canada prosperous through nation-building projects that meet life-saving climate priorities while also creating thousands of good local jobs across the country. Doing so is both imperative and achievable. Count us as your partners in making these projects happen. 

As noted in our open letter, our recommendations for such projects include:

• A national East-West-North clean electric grid;
• A national high-speed rail network;
• At least two million non-market, energy-efficient homes;
• Retrofits and heat pump installations across the country; and
• A national resilience, response and recovery strategy.

You have said, in response to the fires, that you are prepared to mobilize every resource to keep Canadians safe. These resources include responsible climate policy. Canada has an opportunity—and a responsibility—to be a leader in reducing both the causes and effects of the climate crisis. We want to work with your government to ensure that Canada becomes a clean energy super power, united through nation-building projects that create good jobs in communities all across our country.

We look forward to discussing our proposal in more detail and welcome the opportunity to meet to do so, as requested in the email associated with this letter.

On behalf of more than 250 mayors and councillors across Canada,

Richard Ireland, maire de Jasper

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Spencer Coyne, maire de Princeton

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Dan Kutcher, maire de Summerside

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Ben Hendriksen, maire de Yellowknife

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David Miller, ancien maire de Toronto

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