Tag: National Conversation

Open letter: 105 groups call on PM Mark Carney to build Canada’s east-west electricity grid with renewable energy

105 environment, labour, Indigenous and community groups, including CRED-NB, released a letter today, July 3, calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney and the federal government to prioritize building out Canada’s east-west electricity grid with renewable energy, while upholding workers’ and Indigenous rights. 

The following is a summary of the priorities listed in the letter. The full letter can be found HERE.

  • Commit significant federal funding toward permitting, planning and construction of strategic interprovincial and intra-provincial electricity transmission projects.
  • The Green Budget Coalition, Green Economy Network and Climate Action Network Canada each identify a funding commitment of at least $20 billion over five years while the Canada Electricity Advisory Council recommends significant investment and reducing barriers for these transmission projects.
  • Uphold legal and inherent Indigenous rights for Indigenous communities throughout Canada.
  • Implement key labour supports as a condition for federal funding on electricity projects.
  • Alongside the work on transmission and generation, the federal government should strengthen its financial support for energy efficiency, demand-side management, energy storage and other electricity system upgrades.
  • With these priorities in mind, the federal government should update and implement Canada’s Electricity Strategy. This includes implementing the Clean Electricity Regulations, and continuing to advance Canada’s work to achieve a net-zero electricity grid.

See the press release HERE.

Climate groups react: Bill C-5 becomes law, setting a dangerous precedent

CRED-NB is a member of the Climate Action Network Canada that condemns Parliament’s reckless passage of Bill C-5’s controversial Building Canada Act. The Act erodes democratic principles, runs roughshod over Indigenous rights, shuts Canadians out of decisions that could affect them, and puts the environment at risk.

Bill C-5 sets a dangerous precedent. It gives sweeping and potentially unconstitutional powers to the federal Cabinet to bypass environmental laws and legal safeguards. The Bill allows decisions to be made about “national interest” projects with little public participation, without robust environmental impact assessments, and without the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples.

Read the full media release HERE.

As the G7 Leaders’ Summit concludes, Canada fails a test of climate leadership

CRED-NB is a member of Climate Action Network Canada that issued a statement condemning the glaring absence of climate change, and climate solutions, from any of the G7 statements released today.

“The leaders of the world’s richest and most powerful countries published a statement on fighting wildfires that completely ignores climate change—the root cause that’s making wildfires so much more deadly and extreme,” said Caroline Brouillette, Executive Director of Climate Action Network Canada.

“What’s the point of a coalition of like-minded countries if it isn’t even capable of mentioning the existential crisis facing humanity? Instead of showing leadership, Canada’s G7 Presidency catered to the lowest common denominator—for the sake of appeasing a President who couldn’t even be bothered to stick around to the end of the summit.

“Canada was smart to invite other leaders from Global South countries, but it is past time to imagine coalitions that maintain multilateralism without exposing ourselves to the whims of climate deniers like President Trump.

“The G7 Leaders’ Summit was a test of Canada’s climate leadership, and Prime Minister Carney failed.”

Tariff threats spur need for “east-west” electricity integration

Canada must focus on increasing our energy security.

Unfortunately Ontario is increasing reliance on the U.S. by building four U.S. GE-Hitachi nuclear reactors which require U.S. enriched uranium fuel.

This is not the time to increase our economic and energy dependency on the U.S. Sharing renewable electricity interprovincially can cut that dependency.

As Prime Minister Carney has suggested, Canada can be an energy superpower, but only if we follow the world by focusing on low-cost, reliable renewable energy.

We do not need a power corridor from coast to coast. We need more east-west interconnection of regional and distributed transmission systems. This would allow the growth and sharing of new community-based, low-cost renewable energy, creating local green jobs while meeting Canadian needs.

CRED-NB is a member of the coalition of groups that publish the SMRs Information Task Force Bulletin. This information is from the June 2025 bulletin. Read the full edition HERE.

131 Civil society groups send open letter to PM Carney supporting renewable energy and opposing new nuclear

In a open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, 131 civil society groups expressed support for renewable energy and  opposition to federal investment in new nuclear reactors. Fourteen groups from NB including CRED-NB were among those signing the open letter which was sent on May 21, 2025.

To see the letter click here.

En français, clique ici.

The nuclear divide: Why are women cautious of nuclear energy?

Commentary by Emma Fackenthall in the NB Media Co-op

As many countries scramble toward a net-zero future, some are betting on nuclear energy to reach their goal. However, a quiet but profound gender divide is growing around nuclear energy. 

While nuclear power is often hailed as a critical tool in the climate fight, a growing body of research suggests that fewer women than men support nuclear power. This divide can be explained by safety concerns, ecofeminist ethics of care, and the nuclear industry’s macho culture. 

The striking gender divide is another reason to question the viability of nuclear energy to attain climate justice and energy democracy.

For the whole article, click here.

Climate Action Network Canada: Letter to PM Carney and Election Priorities

CRED-NB is a signatory to the Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac) letter to Prime Minister Carney sent the day after the federal election. The letter congratulates Prime Minister Mark Carney and urges him to use this opportunity to build a fairer, more resilient society grounded in reliable, renewable Canadian solutions.

Prime Minister Carney has long been involved in climate initiatives; now, he has the chance to enact change at a national scale to make Canadians’ lives safer, healthier, and more affordable.

Read the full letter HERE.

Before the election, CAN-Rac released Made-in-Canada Climate Solutions: 2025 Election Priorities, setting out its calls to action for federal parties this campaign. See more details here.

Nuclear energy means climate action delay

What is the best way for utilities to delay the transition from fossil fuels? Propose to build nuclear reactors.

Electricity utilities wanting to “decarbonize” have several options for replacing the fossil fuel (coal, oil and gas) plants on their grids: aim to increase energy efficiency and productivity; add new renewable energy and storage resources; consider adding carbon capture and storage (CCS); or propose to build new nuclear reactors.

By objective measures, building new nuclear power plants will cost more, take longer to deploy, and introduce catastrophic accident risks—relative to improving energy productivity, expanding renewables with energy storage, and developing distributed energy resources. CCS suffers from limits of appropriate geology, reduced plant efficiency, and high costs.

However, if the goal is to keep fossil fuel-fired plants operating as long as possible, promising to build more nuclear energy has definite appeal.

Read the complete article here.

Dr. Susan O’Donnell is a core member of CRED-NB, on the board of the NB Media Co-op and adjunct research professor and lead investigator of the CEDAR project at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. Dr. Mark Winfield is a professor at the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University in Toronto, and co-chair of the faculty’s Sustainable Energy Initiative.

Climate Action Network Canada releases Election Priorities

Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac) has released Made-in-Canada Climate Solutions: 2025 Election Priorities, setting out its calls to action for federal parties this campaign.

The calls to action are based on six pillars:

  1. Strengthen Canada’s independence and economy by shifting to clean energy.
  2. Build on Canada’s climate and nature progress.
  3. Make Canadians’ lives safer, healthier, and more affordable.
  4. Center people and communities.
  5. Protect our public institutions and tackle billionaire power and greed.
  6. Champion international cooperation amidst geopolitical chaos.

See the CAN-Rac press release HERE

CRED-NB is a member of Climate Action Network.

Climate Action Network – Réseau action climat (CAN-Rac) Canada is a coalition of over 180 organizations operating from coast to coast to coast. Their membership brings environmental groups together with trade unions, First Nations, social justice, development, health and youth organizations, faith groups and local, grassroots initiatives.

Do not sacrifice Canada’s climate progress

Canadians are heading to the polls on April 28th, in a moment when we’re facing the human & economic costs of both climate change and the trade war.

Climate Action Network and civil society groups from coast to coast are calling on parties not to sacrifice Canada’s climate progress to Donald Trump’s destructive agenda during this election & beyond.

See Climate Action Network full statement with quotes from civil society by clicking HERE. CRED-NB has signed onto this statement.

Pour le français cliquez ici.