Dear Editor,
It may seem precocious for me to write a climate speech for Mark Carney. There is precedence.
I wrote a speech titled Planet in Peril: Canada at the Climate Change Crossroads. This speech was delivered by Bruce Hyer, MP on March 4, 2009, in the House of Commons as a Second Reading Speech for Climate Change Accountability Act, Bill C-311.
On May 5, 2010, the House of Commons passed Bill C- 311, the Climate Change Accountability Act. The “Act”, requiring that the Government of Canada set science-based Greenhouse Gas (“GHG”) reduction targets that are more aggressive than any proposed by Canada’s ruling Stephen Harper Conservative party. The Act passed its third reading in the House by 149 to 136. (NDP's Climate Change Accountability Act bill passes in the House of Commons - Lexology)
There is a climate emergency that poses an existential crisis at many levels.
Canada presently has a Prime Minister that could further fuel this emergency or hopefully, given Mark Carney’s past experience and accomplishments could diminish some of the threats of climate change.
The following is an imagined speech delivered in the House of Commons that addresses increasing severe weather events, especially wildfires:
Building a Better Climate World for All.
All of us are interested in building a better world. Perhaps some of you have read my book Values: Building a Better World for All. It would be helpful in this discussion if you have. I will try not to repeat myself too often.
The frequency and intensity of wildfires in Canada have increased markedly over the past 65 years. The forest area burned in Canada has doubled and redoubled between 1959 and 2024. Given the high-severity burning in this year, another doubling is under way. The Fort McMurray fire of 2016 is a grim highlight which required the evacuation of 90,000 people. One might hope this would be a once in a lifetime experience but in 2024, wildfires near the city prompted more evacuations.
The extraordinarily active 2023 fire season featured 180,000 sq. km. of forest area burned, more than two Lake Superiors. Eight firefighters were killed, and over 200,000 people were displaced. The journal Nature concluded that the June–September 2023 Canadian wildfires caused more carbon emissions than any individual country except China, the US and India. Needless to say, these carbon emissions accelerate more future climate change.
The July 2024 wildfire in Jasper, Alberta, grew to about 60 sq. km in few hours in the evening. It forced the evacuation of 25,000 people through the night on one main highway. This was too close to being tragic disaster.
2025 has not provided a reprieve. More than 60,000 sq. km of forest (the size of Lake Huron) have burned to date. “Mega fires” may be the new normal. Multiple wildfires in Western Canada have exceeded 1,000 sq. km and more than 50,000 people have been displaced so far.
Poor air quality because of smoke from wildfires Is now a routine part of weather forecasting in Canada. The Canadian boreal forest is literally on fire.
The total forested area burned in Canada in the last four years, from 2021 to 2025, is just over 350,000 sq, km., that is about one quarter of Manitoba.
The consequences of these year-after-year fires are far reaching with smoke seriously impacting air quality to many communities and cities, even those far away. Cities like Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal vie for the most polluted urban areas in the world status.
Wildfires and smoke, although especially severe this year, are not the only severe weather threats to Canadians. The frequency of flash flooding, severe wind events and hailstorms are also trending upwards. The primary reason for the increase in severe weather is the increase in greenhouse gases that are warming our world. As you know, the increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of oil, gas and coal is the main culprit.
Knowledge and evidence about the perils of climate change is increasing. Policies are discussed but rarely fully implemented. Laws will be required. Is this an opportunity for Canada and individual provinces to lead on the world stage? It is especially timely right now.
On July 22, 2025 the International Court of Justice ruled that countries must act on the “urgent and existential threat” of climate change. This opinion was affirmed by all 15 of the Court’s judges. The Court said, “a healthy environment is a human right, and governments could be violating international law if they fail to act on climate change”. This sets a precedent for potentially thousands of legal cases against fossil fuel companies and governments.
The judges declared “that supporting fossil fuels — by the production, the issuing of fossil fuel exploration licences, fossil fuel subsidies — constitutes an internationally wrongful act.” The potential international ramifications can't be overstated.
There are also national concerns. Most of the most intense wildfires are taking place in the boreal forest. During this current wildfire season daily air quality warnings routinely posted from northern British Columbia to Labrador, throughout Canada’s boreal zone. First Nations and northern communities have suffered the most from extended times of dangerous air quality. Will this reality lead to litigation?
Dangerous air quality is an issue for millions of Canadians now. Your government is studying a program to supply all housing in Canada with air cleaners to remove toxic smoke from the air we breathe.
I know about climate finance and climate risk. And now, as prime minister, I am preparing our economy, our society for the future. As a responsible government we have to act. We will embark on a path that will put us on track to meet our 2030 and 2050 carbon reduction goals and that will provide opportunities for all of us.
We will become energy efficient, and we will electrify. For example, we will adjust our project approval process and advise the provinces and territories to do the same. The federal government will quickly phase out subsidies for producing fossil fuels. We will phase in resources to build a clean energy economy and underpin workers and industries in this transition. The previous government committed to connecting everyone to high-speed internet by 2030 and we are on track for that. We will now connect households and communities to practical energy solutions such as heat pumps, solar panels and batteries for storage. This is part of the process for Canada to meet our targets.
The world has new challenges. We will meet them and be stronger.
- Graham Saunders
