Tag Archives: Elizabeth May

Animals, Politics

House of Commons Exchange: Ongoing Neonicotinoid Insecticide Controversy

Neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics) are widely believed to be the most effective chemical insecticides and in one study their usage was linked to a 70% crop increase in the United States. Yet numerous scientists have pointed to their lethal impact on beneficial insects like the honeybee. According to a study published in the National Library of Medicine, “neonicotinoids can affect the reproduction, foraging, and flying ability of honeybee and other insects including pollinators.” Many believe they are a principle contributor colony collapse disorder. The EU banned three key neonicotinoids (imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxamin) 2013 and, starting in 2026, will prohibit imports of products containing even trace amounts. In North America, there are partial bans in Ontario, Quebec, Illinois, New York, Rhode Island and California. So far, the federal  governments of Canada and the United States have not taken action. 

Green Party leader Elizabeth May has brought this issue before the House of Commons many times since 2014, often requesting that Canada follow the lead of the European Union, exercise the precautionary principle, and remove the authorizations for neonicotinoid insecticide use within Canada. May raised this issue once again on the  snowy evening of December 4, 2025. 

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Cost of Climate Change, Energy, Politics

MOU with Alberta: The Poll, Pipeline, Tanker Traffic and Global Temperature Rise

(Part 2 of 2)

In the conclusion of a series about Canada’s MOU with Alberta, four local leaders delve deeper into specific issues: the pipeline itself; whether Canada needs British Columbia’s support; the proposed lifting of BC’s tanker moratorium; and an Angus Reid poll suggesting a slim majority of British Columbians may be in favour of the MOU. 

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Energy, Environment

Four Local Leaders React to Canada’s MOU with Alberta

(Part 1 of 2)

Canada’s MOU with Alberta, a proposed new pipeline in British Columbia, and the possible lifting of the tanker ban have been hot news items over the past few days. Steven Guilbeault resigned from cabinet over his opposition to the way Prime Minister Mark Carney is handling these issues. In the first episode of a two part series about the MOU, Cortes Currents asked four local leaders for their take on these events. 

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Politics

Liberal Budget survives Non-confidence vote

On November 17, Canada’s Liberal Government narrowly survived a non-confidence vote on the Budget: 170-168. It passed because Green Party MP Elizabeth May supported the motion and four other opposition MPs abstained.

May told reporters that up until Question Period on the day of the vote, she had not seen any evidence that Prime Minister Mark Carney was going to try to address the climate crisis, or Indigenous reconciliation. Many Greens urged her to help bring the government down. 

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Politics

Liberal Minority; the Race in North Island Powell River

The Liberal Party’s anticipated landslide failed to materialize on election night. Mark Carney has been elected Prime Minister of Canada, but up until this afternoon it was not clear that he will form a majority or minority government.

Fair Vote Canada described the results of this election as a ‘tsunami of strategic voting.’ 

On Vancouver Island

Green Party leader Elizabeth May was re-elected in Saanich–Gulf Islands and is now her party’s only remaining Member of Parliament.

Two days ago, the NDP held six ridings on Vancouver Island; after election night, only Courtenay–Alberni remains in NDP hands. 

The expected Conservative surge on the islands was weaker than what the projections had suggested. They only captured three ridings from the NDP: North Island–Powell River, Nanaimo–Ladysmith, and Cowichan–Malahat–Langford.

The Liberals won the NDP’s old southern Vancouver Island seats in Esquimalt–Saanich–Sooke and Victoria.

North Island-Powell River

In North Island–Powell River, Conservative Aaron Gunn won with 31,356 votes (38.8%).

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