Canadians continue to deal with COVID-19 and all of the problems that come with it. The rush to secure PPE for frontline workers, the tragedies taking place in long-term care homes, the scramble to make ends meet in the face of business closures. The list goes on.

But there is another issue that needs to be part of the conversation: climate change. 

On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day GreenPAC's Executive Director, Sabrina Bowman, shares her thoughts on how political cooperation during COVID-19 can also be applied to cooperation on working towards a healthy environment.

We are thrilled to be working with environmental champions from across the political spectrum, from coast to coast to coast!

With a background in environmental policy and a keen interest in Canadian politics, I was so excited to begin the 2019-2020 GreenPAC Parliamentary Internship for the Environment. I was eager to learn more about the Canadian parliamentary system, work alongside environmental political leaders, and help raise the profile of the environment at the ballot box. 

Last night, we saw a confirmation that environment was a ballot-box issue. GreenPAC endorsed 27 environmental leaders from four major parties (and one independent) and we are delighted that 16 GreenPAC-endorsed candidates are on their way to Parliament Hill. 

In September 2018, we launched Canada's first Parliamentary Internship for the Environment, a leadership development program that places young environmental stars with MPs from across the political spectrum. For nine months our interns immerse themselves and learn the inner workings of federal government, as well as attend workshops, committee meetings, leadership development training, and sit-downs with environmental champions. 

We’re excited to introduce to you our five new interns taking part in the 2019-2020 Parliamentary Internship for the Environment! This is a highly ambitious team with experience in everything from political campaigns to student leadership to grassroots organizing -- and they plan to take Ottawa by storm. 

It’s a big, game-changing idea. Issue-based debates have never been done on this scale in Canada. On any issue. Not even close.  

This federal election, GreenPAC is launching an unprecedented national initiative to bring the environment to the forefront. On October 3rd, debates on the environment will happen simultaneously in 100 ridings across the country – from Vancouver Island to Charlottetown to Yellowknife.

Before the 2015 federal election, we released 18 candidates endorsements from across the political spectrum. We looked for candidates that had a proven track record of leading on environmental initiatives and moving the needle forward on environmental issues. We've since been tracking the 14 endorsed MPs that were elected and want to share what they've been up to recently. 

Note: these are not our endorsements for the 2019 federal election; those will be released later in the summer. 

GreenPAC endorsed Mike Schreiner in the 2018 Ontario election because of his lifelong commitment to the environment. Mike was one of five MPPs (from all parties) our supporters helped elect in Ontario. One year later, we’re sitting down with Mike to talk about his journey to politics and what he’s been up to since his election.

This interview has been edited and condensed.    

Coming into the GreenPAC Parliamentary internship, I wasn’t sure what to expect. My education is almost exclusively in ecology and evolutionary biology, meaning that I could happily tell you about biostatistics, conservation, and natural selection, but not about how a law is made in Canada. However, I couldn’t help feeling frustrated that politicians refuse to incorporate the increasingly grim climate change predictions into their political machinations.