B.C. delegates call for 'green new deal' as federal Liberals debate future of climate policy

As the federal government pushes to lower greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the transition to cleaner fuel sources, delegates at the Liberal Party's policy convention will debate how to crafta "just transition" for energy workers who will lose theirjobs as a result.

Andafter the Canada emergency response benefit(CERB) kept millions of people afloat with monthly cheques during the first wave of the pandemic, some Liberal members now want to see a similar program become a permanent feature of the country's social safety net.

Thousandsof Liberal supporters have gathered online for a three-day policy convention a chance to debate new ideas and craft a platform ahead of the nextfederal election.

Beyond talk of new social programs and a more ambitious approach to climate change, delegates will debatemore than 30 other proposals that made it out of policy workshops to the convention floor for a final vote including pitches forhigh-speed rail and improvedinternet infrastructure.

Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney and the prime minister's wife, Sophie Grgoire Trudeau, are among the keynote speakers for today's program.

CBC News will have coverage of the Liberal and NDP policy conventions onCBC News Network, CBC Radio's The World at Six, The World This Weekend and World Report, The National andCBC.ca.

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The B.C. chapter of the party is asking delegates to back a "green new deal" policy in Canada a reference to an ambitious climate change plan proposed by some progressive Democrats in the U.S. Congress.

That plan, which failed to pass through the Senate, would have committed the United States to generating all power from clean, renewableand zero-emission energy sources over time, among other proposals.

B.C. members say Canada needs a "10-year national mobilization" plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 because "a changing climate threatens human life, healthy communities and critical infrastructure."

While the proposal is light on specifics, backers of this "new deal" are callingforan "urgent, transparent and inclusive consultation process" with affectedworkers, labour unions, academicsand businesses to come up with a way forward.

The federal governmentlaunched the Canada Coal Transition Initiative (CCTI) to fundeconomic development, training and career support forcoal workers who will lose their jobs as coal-fired power plantscome offline over the next decade.

Western Economic Diversification Canada has flowed money to communities in Alberta and Saskatchewanto attract new businesses and create jobs.

Butthe Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers estimates that roughly500,000 people are employeddirectly or indirectlyin Canada's oil and gas sector. Asudden shift away from this sector could result in the loss of many more jobsand severe economic disruption.

The Green Party has said Canada needs "to retool our industry, retrain our workers" to give communities dependent on fossil fuels "the opportunity to put their vast skills and knowledge into the transition to renewable, responsible energy."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was pilloried by some in Western Canada for suggesting in 2017 that the country needs to "phase out" the oilsands over time.

"We need to manage the transition off of our dependence on fossil fuels. That is going to take time. And in the meantime, we have to manage that transition," Trudeau said at a town hall meeting in Peterborough, Ont.

Asked today about the resolutions at a pandemicbriefing with reporters, Trudeau said he would stay neutral on the policy proposals and tooka swipe at Conservative delegates who voted down a resolution at their partypolicy conventionlast month to acknowledge that"climate change is real" .

"I think it's a wonderful opportunity. We know in the past that challenging proposals brought on the floor of Liberal conventions made it into policy and have shaped Canada over the past number of years," Trudeau said.

"I'm not going to comment on any specific resolutions, but I know that what Liberals are going to do this weekend is talk about a wide range of great ideas that will help move Canada forward. What they won't be doing this weekend is debating about whether climate change is real. That debate is settled for Canadians."

Criticism of the Conservative convention climate vote has been a recurring theme at this Liberal get-together.

During a panel discussion on climate matters Friday, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson called the vote "astonishing" and said the Tories were "abandoning" workers who will be part of a green-friendly shift. Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan said Tories have failed to meaningful address climate issues and have rather "stuck their head in the sand."

Liberal MP Marci Ien, a co-host of theconvention,said the Conservatives "refuse to admit [climate change is]even real."

While Conservative delegates narrowly voted down the "climate change is real" resolution last month, the party's policy book already makes mention of climate change and includes some environmental policy options for a future Tory-led government.

Despite the resolution's rejection, Conservative LeaderErin O'Toolehas promised to release a plan to drive down Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. O'Toole hassaid he'd repeal theLiberal government's carbon tax on consumers but supports levying a tax on large industrial emitters.

'They need a basic livable income'

Delegates will also debate a proposal, backed by the party's youth wingand the Ontario provincial chapter, that would commit the party to supporting a universal basic income (UBI).

With 8.7 per cent of Canadians living below the poverty line and thousands more struggling to make ends meet, backers of this policy say a UBIwould"ensure that communities at risk (including Indigenous peoples) are able to feel financially secure."

"Be it further resolved that, given the success of the CERB program, that a UBI will assist seniors and low-income Canadians maintain an adequate standard of living, regardless of working status," the resolution reads.

Some senators appointed by the prime minister, including Sen. Kim Pate and Sen. Frances Lankin, have been urging the federal government to implement such a program, which would send cheques to families each month to supplement money earned through work or other sources.

"We urge you to consider endorsing guaranteed livable income at this week's Liberal policy convention," the senators wrote in a letter to Trudeau.

"As each day passes and we all work to build necessary health, economic and social supports and repair our tattered social safety net, we are all well aware of both the unmet needs and wide public support for ensuring support for the 3.5 million people still falling through the cracks. They need a basic livable income."

While the idea of a UBI has gained traction in progressive circles supporters maintain the massive price tag of such a program could be offset by disbanding existing provincial social welfare schemes academics who study poverty reduction are split on its value.

A529-page report authored by researchers at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and the University of Calgaryconcludedafter a three-year investigationthat a basic income for all is not the best way to address poverty and other social ills.

Rather, the report said, governments should improve existing social support programs for vulnerable groupswith improved disability assistance, dental care programs and more money to help the working poor pay rent. A more targeted approach to help the disadvantaged, as opposed to a universal program like UBI, would do more to lift people out of poverty, the report concluded.

The Conservatives seized on a policy resolution from the Liberal Party's Alberta chapter. In a press release, the party condemned theproposal to forgive post-secondarystudent loansin exchange for volunteer work, saying such a program would amount to a revival of the ill-fated Canada Student Service Grant.

That program was disbanded in the face of intensecontroversy over the government's decision to giveWE Charity a contract to administer the program an organizationwith closeties to the prime minister's family.

"There is only one reason why the Liberals would want to recreate the Canada Student Service Grant, and that's to reward their friends and well-connected insiders," Conservative ethics criticMP Michael Barrettsaid in the statement, adding thatif the government pursues this policy, Trudeau must "recuse himself" from decisions about student supports.

"The government of Canada must ensure that the Kielburgers are prevented from bidding on any student volunteer contracts provided by the Government of Canada," he said, referring tothe brothers that run WE.